ortega fish shack & bar

great food with almost too good service!. never thought i would say this about a restaurant, but the service here was almost too good! the food was delicious and the waitstaffwere happy to accommodate our dietary restrictions to create a special dish. the food came out so quickly, that our romantic dinner ended too soon!

ortega combines everything you would want in a good restaurant - great food, great staff, great ambiance, and a feeling of being looked after. in the evening, the decor and lighting give a warm, cosy and intimate feel. there are four dining areas, either by the entrance, at, or by the bar and an upstairs room. all are good but a table downstairs, is possibly best if you can get one. ortega has a loyal following and a quality that is well known in wellington. therefore if its a special evening you'll need to book a week or so out, especially on weekends. thestaffdo not change often, some seem to have been there for years and clearly that is a sign of a healthy restaurant and good management, as well as knowledgeable but relaxed service.

ortega's menu focuses on, but is not limited to seafood - while fish is generally perfectly cooked, so is a fillet of beef. the dishes are not fussy or overworked, but concentrate on presenting the ingredients honestly for maximum flavour and enjoyment. to my mind the sashimi entree is a national treasure, and the cafe de paris butter which tops the beef is incomparably good. personally i find the chocolate mousse with the sweet px sherry is gluttonously perfect to finish. a cheese course comes by the gram so don't overdo it.

the wine list is extraordinarily good. however if you can't think of what to have, ask the maitre'd - davy - one of the youngest looking institutions in town. let him offer a suggestion - he has never put me wrong so far. tapping into his knowledge and passion for food and wine is a must.

this is a remarkably good restaurant.

dinner date with hubby tonight and our first time at ortega.
a nice restaurant tucked away from courtenay place, we were seated at the front by the window.
we both enjoyed our starter - natural oysters which were so fresh & delicious. our entree - garlic prawns....we absolutely enjoyed, the creamy garlic sauce was amazing. mine was a little salty but still edible.
for our mains, we ordered the flounder and the blue moki.
my partner enjoyed his flounder, my blue moki looked amazing on the plate, the downfall was the saltiness from the beautiful cooked skin of the moki. i was pretty gutted at this point because i couldn't enjoy the rest of the fish.
ordered a cocktail - the patient lady....so yummy that i ordered another 🤭
our waitress for the evening was very friendly, polite & provided such a great service along with the rest of thestaffwho greeted us when we arrived and bid us farewell when we left.
overall, we will definitely return to ortega to try more dishes from the menu which may differ from time to time as their main cuisine is seafood that is caught daily.

so packed but so good. i saw many unfortunate people turned away from this place so a booking is 100% recommended.

the venue. gorgeous. thestaffsuper friendly and well versed. the table wasn’t ready for 10mins so they threw champagne at us. nows thats hospitality.

this is in my top three. the food is out of this world the whole vibe of this place is amazing.

i will be back many many times. great job ortega

i had an absolute fantastic experience here, great food, great atmosphere and environment but what i thought was most outstanding was thestaffservice, they were so nice and helpful, i even gave them a tip at the end of the night

great food and service - read some of the other reviews which built my expectations and made me cautious. fish meals were great and the beef was delicious.staffare great. will be back.

a friend and i visited ortega during august and had the woap fish meal and shared a king prawn pasta starter.

hands down the food was delicious. they packed so much flavour into both meals and i was extremely impressed.

thestaffwere very friendly, checking on us at appropriate times and very polite. for the price we paid i felt like we got an amazing deal on the food. we left full and very satisfied and will definitely go again.

we each gave our waiter a $5 tip as well because the service was really top notch.

if i could give this restaurant a 6 out of 5 i would! that's how much my wife and i enjoyed our evening there. the wine list is one of the best i've seen in terms of range and price (i.e. german rieslings, chablis, coleraine etc) with many offered by the glass. the service was informal but very friendly and thestaffare very knowledgeable about what's on offer. cant recommend this place high enough!

ortega fish shack has stolen my heart, appetite and wallet. wonder if i should set up a direct debit??

ventured there on the last weekend of wow so we had to book but i understand bookings at anytime are probably the safest bet as this place was humming with people.

the decor is this well appointed kitsch that works in an odd way. the walls are heaving with random pictures but it works well and great for anyone with ocd.

the service is awesome. my water glass was never not full. the waitstaffare super friendly and we had a couple of laughs with one of them. hope they got the tip i left!

the food is next level. if you don't like seafood, there are limited meat and vege options but, if i'm honest, i would pick somewhere else. i am a seafood fiend. the seafood was just out of this world. i would hate to try and pick anything wrong with it. the ceviche i had as an entree set the tone for the food - it was just chilli infused heaven.

for any riesling fans, try a glass of number 29 on the list. it is a french riesling and by far the nicest i have ever tasted. can't remember the name of it.... something fancy and french!

we had been recommended this restaurant by a friend and as were a girls group down for a few days for the world of wearable arts we decided to give it a try. we were not disappointed.

this is a smaller bistro style restaurant. it has a small but well thought out menu beautifully cooked. it is primarily known for its fish dishes but there were also other gems to eat -the pate was particularly good if the expressions of delight on our faces were anything to go by. everything we had was fabulous and amongst the 4 of us not a single complaint was to be had. plus girls - do try their ladies of leisure cocktail ..oh yeah..

we were so impressed we rebooked immediately to come back two days later - each of us trying something different second time around and once again left well pleased.

i would like to also compliment thestaff-in particular kim the manager and tamsin our waitress -who went above and beyond. but all thestaffwere friendly and efficient and when we returned for a second time two days later treated us like we were frequent visitors- even down to remembering our names and what out beverage preferences were - that blew us away. and if i lived in wellington i would definitely be a regular!

they have the best seafood. the fish is cooked to perfection. thestaffare friendly and they have a very nice sweet wine that they recommended to us.

we've been wanting to eat here for ages, but always struggled to get a table. tonight we managed to score a table for 2 at really short notice. the food was good(ish). hubby loved his steak and chips, my prawns in garlic sauce were over-rich, even as a starter, the wine was good though! but the big issue with ortega is the lack of space. our table for 2 was tiny and tipped up every time we leaned on it. the neighbouring tables were so close you got nudged every few minutes and the waitingstaffhad to lean over you to serve the table behind. this restaurant needs to understand that more often equates to less, experience wise. we won't be returning.

this place is so awesome.staffare so friendly and the atmosphere is nice and cozy (good place for a romantic date). there were 5 of us and we all enjoyed our meals. we went for my son's 17th birthday and they gave us complimentary truffles and his one had a candle to blow out which he was happy about. food is really nice and i cant wait to go back next time.

wow. ortega you continue to provide. the first time i came here was a couple of years ago. very attentive waitstaffwho really know their menu. i love the fit out, with character and a more relaxed nature the service and food really shine without having the stuffy fine dining air about it. the waitress suggested a blonde pinot noir as a wine match for the fish. genius. have been hunting it down ever since. great service, food and drinks. will always recommend

edit: came here tuesday 29th aug 2017. busy night. mains took longer than expected so if dessert was something we intended to order?... it would be on the house for the whole table. the service was brilliant in that sense. honest and apologetic. thank you again team ortega

i was looking for somewhere nice to go for a birthday meal and looked on zomato and trip advisor. ortega comes in as #1 in wellington on both (at time of writing) - that made it a must try!

we booked for 5:45pm on a friday, which was fortuitous as it fills up real quick from 6pm.

great ambience. not pretentious, great decor, cool, yet relaxed vibe.

even though we were just a party of two, they accommodated us by letting us order from the group menu.

the sommelier helped us with our wine choice. very knowledgeable and quick to identify what wines may suit our expectations. they offered us tasters and sure enough, they hit the spot and we made our choice.

for entree:
* soft-shell crab, roasted pork belly, sweet tamarind, peanut slaw, coconut dressing
* corn fed duck liver pâté, pedro ximenez syrup, feijoa & saffron chutney

both were delicious. the pate was soft and creamy. plenty of everything.

the crab and pork belly was great. i don't know how they got the pork so tender. it was like cutting butter, and flavoursome. the crab was delicate, very enjoyable.

for mains we both ordered:
* beef fillet, café de paris butter, fries. my partner medium rare, mine rare.

the steak was the finest i've eaten in new zealand. it was rare, but firm. and it didn't leave blood on the plate. exceptional.

the café de paris butter was quite strong but it complimented the dish well once i figured out how much was enough.

plenty of fries, and as we were on the group menu, we received for the table- organic mixed leaf salad & duck fat roasted potatoes, sage, parmesan & truffle mayo

for dessert:
* chocolate mousse, espresso marscapone, dark ghana ganache & chocolate crumb
* catalan crepes with orange caramel sauce, vanilla ice-cream

the crepes were superb, soft sweet and light. moreish. the chocolate mousse, was rich, decadent and thoroughly enjoyable. it was comprised of various consistencies of chocolate .

a real nice touch - my partner must have mentioned she was booking the table for my birthday. they bought us two matching desert wines and a truffle with a candle in it.

thestaffwe great and catered to our needs all through the evening, even as we left, holding the door open for us and wishing us well.

the whole experience at ortega was phenomenal. we left extremely satisfied and discussed our favourite aspects of the night on the way home.

will definitely be back...soon!