pravda cafe

review updated below:

a cold wellington saturday. somewhere for coffee in the cbd. hangar and memphis too far away - pravda just round the corner sandwiched between zambezi and moochi. alwaysgoodin the past.

large glass windows and doors at the street entrance lead into a bar area with a dozen small cafe tables; at the back steps lead to the long main dining area and kitchen.

enormous ceilings, polished concrete floors - from some major commercial past. faux-dirty apricot walls, long red leather banquette seating. huge gilt mirrors, dark tables and chairs, red cloth hangings with lenin in profile. eastern european railway station feel.

excellent, friendly service - two large trim caps arrived quickly. perfect texturing, almost asgoodas memphis belle,goodflavour, unburnt - didn't peter out in the mouth or cup.

a quick look through the breakfast menu was tempting in the extreme but unfortunately lunch is booked elsewhere. the sautéed new potatoes and black pudding with spinach, tabasco and poached egg beckons next weekend.

23/5/15: returned in expectation to find a new breakfast menu !!! ok no problem - by a combination of eggs and sides i'll try to reconstruct the now defunct dish. ordered two poached eggs, potato hash with wilted spinach, some slices of shoulder bacon, black pudding and a little tabasco.

as usual the service was excellent- friendly and accommodating / the coffee (immigrants son) was perfectly textured and pleasant but without huge character.

the eggs were perfectly poached and provided a perfect sauce for the sides. the bacon was pleasant / black pudding rather homogenous in texture - bit flabby . the potatoes were rosti/hash browns that looked very tired with a flavour to match - as if the oil they were cooked in had already done significant service. the spinach had another slightly off unpleasant flavour that i couldn't identify.
the plate wasn't brilliant in fact very disappointing - rescued only by the egg and bacon.
my partner had porridge, mascarpone and honey with goji berries - rather bland and uninspiring - salt improved it a little.
all in all on this occasion pravda didn't come up to scratch - sorry.

had a not sogoodpatch but 4 of us thoroughly enjoyed all our meals here recently. bruschetta , chicken, steak all delicious!! recommend!!!!

beatiful venue and very verygoodhosts. had the steaks bought out for an introduction which was nice. food is 10/10. get the bread hand down. one of the best squids ive had. hanger wagyu is ace absolutely beautiful.

had agoodlunch experience here. it’s a beautiful space and we had verygoodservice. the meals were prettygoodwithout being exceptional - we had the burgers, so perhaps not hitting their main speciality (steaks etc). had two truly amazing cocktails.

starting with a last minute decision to visit pravda cafe and an absolute gentleman of a host who did his best to accommodate us to a monday evening that found themselves booked solid due to local events

drinks selection was more than accomodating for all tastes. my wine selection was a muddy waters (waipara) pinot noir , asgoodas i remembered it to be.
i had the lamb with pear with yams, the yams were a little on the firm side but the flavours were superb.

we even had a little room to share a berry sorbet with creme brûlée - sublime and well presented

the decor was luscious and refined with an old world feel, wait staff were adorable and attentive

would highly recommended

came here for breakfast a few days ago. food and service was really good. i ordered the eggs on toast with sides which was bacon, tomato and half an avocado. it was really good. my partner got the green eggs benedict with salmon and his lookedgoodtoo. coffee was nice.

went to pravda tonight to try the jervois steakhouse take over that they were offering for the month of march. this offered several cuts of meat unavailable in wellington so i was keen to try them out (yes wagyu). the service was excellent and our waitress was very attentive. she suggested a lovely pinot for my wine match (gibbston valley) which was perfect. to start we ordered the crispy squid. great flavour, light and crispy. was a hair in it but didnt alert the staff as we didnt really worry too much. i ordered the aus wagyu 8+ grade. my companion ordered the scotch fillet. both rare. the scotch fillet was bordering on slightly blue but still buttery and smooth. the wagyu was lean and tasty. recommend. for sides we ordered the steak fries and onion rings. large serves. crispy and golden. all in allgoodnight and will be back again

update: am back for dessert and ordered the feijoa creme brulee with granola, feijoa sorbet. please whatever you do drop everything and try this. just pushed my rating up. holy damn. brilliant dessert!

we'd been wanting to dine at this iconic venue for what seems like an age, but haven't been able to make it work with a trip 'across the ditch' until now.
it was great!
unusually we both ordered the same menu items as a main, but i'll get to that in a minute.
we started with a shared plate of house prepared cold smoked salmon. the texture and taste were both on point, without a hint dryness, or over infusion of flavours. further investigation revealed the salmon is sous vide, before being cold smoked on site. we ordered the house baguette with the salmon and while it was very good, the salmon could have stood on its own as a starter.
as for the main, we were in wellington on family business for a couple of days, so had been snaking non-stop. as a result neither of us felt like anything too substantial as a main and opted for the caesar. georgie added the $5 chicken to hers, but i opted to take it as it comes, which was with a scotch egg!
both salads were of agoodsize and with the welcome exception of a perfectly cooked scotch egg, were, as you'd expect 'proper', as in not swimming in that awful creamy dressing that has somehow become the norm when it comes to this classic. the only criticism was for the chicken, which consisted of two small, over-cooked tenders, which didn't add anything to the dish.
the atmosphere was buzzy, the service friendly, if a little too attentive; which is hardly a criticism, the wine list adequate and the value high, with the bill coming in at $130 including four glasses of quality nz pinot.
it's any wonder pravda has been part of the wellington for so long, it's good. really good!

a place to be if you want a serious and tip-top service, huge selection of nz wines. exceptional service, withgoodfood. the only thing i wanted more was a wider selection of beer on tap, some exotic/imports wines and wider selection of cocktails. me being a alcohol admirer, love having something new every-time i go out.
      may turn out to be a boring place, better come with some friends or family. friendly customers service, i think there is no bar tender, because i was alone and bored all the time. they do some free sides (cheese, olives and pickles) on thursday (i guess).
    worth coming, especially if on a date. will end by saying, sweet, not so loud and warm place to have some drinks and food....... :)

if i had had 3 courses i would have given a 5. i will have to go back and rectify this. 
i went here before an event to catch up with a friend. we went through the entertainment book and decided this was the place we wanted to try. neither of us had ever been and it was agoodchoice.

we walked in not knowing the layout and were met by a lovely staff member. we were taken to an excellent table in a corner where we both got to sit on the comfy chairs. the room was lovely and warm and the noise level was just right. for our entire meal the service was excellent, professional and just right.

for my meal i chose the vegetarian option that i would never cook at home, this was a verygoodchoice as it was very much my kind of thing. i enjoyed every mouthful and was very impressed with the perfect balance of flavour . i had-
-roast moroccan eggplant
braised barley lentils / tomino / crispy spinach

my friend had the pork belly and very much enjoyed that too. there were empty plates all round.

i look forward to going back and eating more of the menu.

a nice venue for wellington, with agoodservice. i went for breakfast, were the menu is unfortunately boring, and unoriginal and quite expensive . the coffee was good, although a little too much foam for a flat white. i had the egg on toast with bacon, which is a classic that anyone can make at home i must say and was ok.the service was prompt and efficient, and water was offered on arrival, which is a nice touch. i am yet to try the lunch menu, but next time in town, i may pay them a visit.

been here for degustation a few times, great service, great food, not overbearing on the service but just enough.goodfood knowledge and very well prepared. most recently dined under adam r so been a while but will head back and recommend to others.

pravda is one of the things i've loved discovering about wellington.   it's just one of those *fabulous* places, and i frequently recommend pravda to others.   it's always reliable - both in terms of slick service and ridiculously great food.  i've been to pravda for breakfast, we frequently go for lunch, and recently enjoyed a drink and a few plates after work with a girlfriend visiting from auckland.   pravda is nothing if not consistent - each of those visits comprised the same elements : slick service; damnedgoodwine; great food - all of which is entirely what i'm after, and makes for a very happy pixie at this end.  the decor is european sophistication, the napkins are white and crisp, and the wait staff are friendly and obviously highly trained.   it's something a wee bit special, right in the middle of wellington.   a firm favourite and totally recommended.

express review: came here for lunch, i've heard consistentlygoodthings about pravda. was greeted by friendly staff and we received warm and attentive service throughout lunch. the menu looked good, but i opted for the special - the burger, with 300g of angus beef. the burger didn't disappoint at all - there was plenty of meat and melted cheddar to go with the buns, salad and onion rings, taste was well balanced with nothing too overpowering nor bland. left as a very satisfied customer.

pravda has been a long time favourite of ours so when friends suggested going we jumped at the chance.
not only did they ask if we wanted to pre-order any bluffies (those amazing oysters) they managed to double our order once we got there.
served to our table for mains were risotto, buffalo & lamb rump. the buffalo eaters could not fault theirs & i have to say it tasted yummy, the lamb hadgoodreports but the risotto, while very tasty, had crunchy rice mixed in. not ideal.

affogato, chocolate fondant & tiramisu really did hit the spot.

but - a certain pravda something was missing. just can't quite figure out what it was.
we were 4 and do not feel that pre-dinner drinks then a bottle of white then red is excessive but it was difficult to get the waitress to note that our glasses were empty & we were ready for our red wine. we also prefer it if our plates are not cleared until everyone has finished. picky? i'm just not sure.

i was going to go for a 3 but, really, it was probably just one of those nights & the oysters were fantastic. will just have to go back to make sure!