magic kitchen

update (10 dec2017):
we frequented this restaurant (at some point, almost every week, and sometimes even twice or thrice a week) since our first visit, and it is still a good place for casual chinese food dining. it’s great to see now more people have discovered this place, come to this restaurant and enjoy their dishes, which they all deserve.
however, probably due to this, i find the level of service has deteriorated somewhat, if not drastically, and a serving size has become smaller almost across the board. thought it just so happened, but when i revisited the place, it was also the case, so i guess that it is the case moving forward.
it is still a good place, but i think we would go there less often. ;-)

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previous rating - 4.5 (due to being value-for-money)

casual asian/chinese dining place (great for snacks too), and definitely a value-for-money restaurant.
great service, friendly staff, and yummy dishes. we visited this place twice so far, and enjoyed their food and service on both occasions. from congee to dumpling, to claypot, and to various meat and vegetable dishes. all good.
this is a casual dining place and not a fancy restaurant, but if you simply want to enjoy decent asian/chinese dishes at an affordable price in wellington, it would be worth trying.

my favourite cantonese restaurant in town. i'm cantonese and have been coming here regularly, never disappointed. the dishes are very authentic and i absolutely love the oriental pancake. we ordered a variety of dishes and they were all really good. i can't eat duck but my chinese friends who do were delighted to find their peking duck is also delicious and good prices too comparing to other outlets. comparing to the wide range of options of chinese food in london, i think magic kitchen is still miles better. it's for anyone who appreciates authentic cantonese food.i guess if they want to attract more local / western customers they could redecorate the place to a little dimmer so it doesn't feel like eating in a canteen.

their business is hugely affected during this climate, i really don't want this awesome place to close down. i genuinely think their food is amazing, i have stopped using zomato for awhile and this place is already well known to chinese people in welly. but i thought i'd give them a shout out here. even their desserts are great!!

everytime my partner and i come here, the food is always so delicious and cooked well. we are never disappointed :) i always get the combination roast duck and pork which never fails.

dropped by here sunday night, quite busy inside but still able to get a table. ordered a snack plate: 2x wontons 2x fried squid 2x spring rolls. beef brisket hot pot, salt and pepper prawns, roast duck and rice and combination gravy ho fun. food arrived within 15min so pretty quick. all good portions except for the prawns ($18) which was rather small however everything tasted great. good value overall, will return.

it has been a year since i went to welly and i miss hk so much.
thanks to magic kitchen for having me taste like at home again with all kinds of food and yuanyueng!

first time going to magic kitchen last night with my partner and friend. the place was nice and clean and the staff was really lovely and made sure you felt welcome there. the food there was amazing ! every dish we ordered was so fresh and delicious. we all enjoyed our meal and recommend this place a five star. i can’t believe we didn’t know about it earlier. a bit guttered that we didn’t take a picture to show .

i don't usually write restaurant review but i feel i need to write this one because the magic kitchen is so under-appreciated and there are some unfair comments here.

in one sentence : this is simply the best chinese restaurant in town!

taking into account the cozy environment and friendly service, i'd even say that this is among my top ten favourite cantonese restaurants in the world. that means a lot because i am a chinese grown up in hong kong, and i regularly visit cities like toronto, vancouver, new york, melbourne and sydney where you can easily find more fancy, expensive chinese food.

i believe that those reviewers who gave a low rating are not chinese/cantonese and hence do not know how to appreciate real cantonese food. this is understandable because most chinese restaurants in wellington do not serve authentic chinese food and hence locals get the wrong impression that good chinese food is defined by dim sum dishes served in yum cha places.

magic kitchen is a restaurant that serves authentic cantonese food. if you are from southern china, you should definitely try it. trust me, you will definitely like the food there. for dinner, the best dishes are steam blue cod and whole duck in three styles. very good quality and cheaper than other restaurants like regal and dragon. you should better call in advance to order. for lunch or breakfast, i would recommend soy sauce chicken, meat patty and salty fish in clay pot, chicken congee and beef brisket with rice noodle rolls.

again these are authentic cantonese food, so i can imagine that these might not be ideal choices for a non-chinese who is a bit risk averse. in that case, i would recommend olive and egg white fried rice, rice noodle soup with roasted duck (for lunch), pan fried fish with ginger and spring onion (for dinner). these are safe choices with very good quality.

finally, while the owner and his wife are not fluent english speakers, they are very kind people and are passionate about food. chat with them i'm sure you will agree too.

it's not easy to find a good priced authentic chinese restaurant in welly but this one was a pleasant surprise. dishes were done in the right chinese way and price was very reasonable. mostly southern cantonese dishes but some inclusion of spicy food to satisfy others.

we were just looking for some simple asian food for lunch and we came across this asian restaurant and takeaway.  it was typically a chinese type of restaurant.  don't expect much of the place but it was pleasant and spacious.  understand from the owner they just started business not too long ago.  the service was as expected but friendly.  surprisingly the food was quite tasty.  so if you would like to have a simple chinese lunch with reasonable price, this place is definitely recommended.

the food is reasonable and the menu selection is enormous. the portions are very big and given the price this is considered to be good value. we shared our dishes so the large portions suited us perfectly. the service was great, the staff bought the appropriate cutlery and dishes for the meals, we didn't even have to ask.

had the beef brisket noodle soup from here (takeaway). it was quick, service was friendly and the beef was tender and flavourful. a wide ranging menu and delicious traditional hk dishes here.

the decor and layout of the restaurant looks like a chinese takeaways, but the quality of the food elevates it to a fine dining establishment.  my wife and i decided to try this place out on the spur of the moment. at first glance the prices seemed a tad expensive, but it was well worth it. overall, when compared to some of wellington's other fine dining chinese restaurants, the prices are actually pretty fair, with the quality of the food easily comparable. we ordered the pork and cabbage dumplings for a starter. it was good, but not memorable. i ordered the combination roast with a mix of bbq and crispy pork. the waiter gleefully pointed out that rice was extra, which seemed odd seeing as the single orders of meat came with rice. regardless, it was probably the best crispy pork i've ever had in wellington, possibly anywhere, certainly recommended. my wife ordered the chinese mushrooms with seasonal vegetables, which she greatly enjoyed. the portion size was generous and probably indicative of family style dining typical to most sit-down chinese restaurants. my combination pork was a bit on the small side though, or maybe i just wanted more, hehe. definitely worth a try if you're hungry on courtenay place!

great fresh food, seasoned well (nothing too salty or too sweet), authentic chinese-taiwanese flavors, generous servings. waiter knowledgable about the food too, very helpful. had the hot pepper beef served on sizzling plate with lotus root, celery, and other veg all cooked perfectly with still some crunch to it. also yang chow fried rice not on menu but they made for our table....very fragrant, likely fried in duck fat oil, with slivers of chinese sausage and roast pork bits. ordered half roast duck, tasty and delicious (my 7 yo only ate that plus rice). we will be back!

great new asian restaurant that has opened on courtenay place. had the pork dumplings to begin with which are best ones i've had in wellington. followed by the clay pot rice which was delicious. i would highly recommend this place and i will be going back!