pravda cafe

great but not exceptional....

after reading all the reviews that gavepravdaa 4 or 4.5 i needed to try it for myself.

the decor was neutral and classic. the wooden tables and warm lighting made the room feel inviting. the tables were full, so the atmosphere felt social but intimate. think typical european.

now the food.

my partner and i had the pork belly tostada starter. i had the fillet steak for my main and he had the lamb rump. we shared a side of garlic and chili veggies. i finished with a blue cheese plate. he was tempted by the bread and butter pudding.

the pork belly was tender, and the cabbage salad had a nice nam jim sauce. i felt it was slightly overdressed, but my partner said he loved the strong flavours. the cabbage kept the salad crisp. all in all a nice fusion dish.

my eye fillet was grilled to the perfect med rare (more on the rare side). it had a lovely crust and sliced as easy as butter. however, the red wine jus was nothing special and overpowered the beef. a simple butter sauce would have better highlighted the expensive cut of meat.

the lamb rump was cooked well, to a nice medium. the gremolata a tasty side that gave the lamb some needed saltiness. the courgette slices helped to cut down the richness of the dish.

the let down of the evening was the veggie side. broccoli, courgette and beans with garlic and chili. each vegetable was overcooked and slightly mushy. i could mash them with my fork. in addition, all i tasted was garlic, the chili was not present and it lacked any salt seasoning.

the final dishes of the night were pleasant.

my blue cheese was what i expected (though stone cold). i love kingsmead cheeses and the fresh fruit was refreshing after such a rich dinner. next time i would recommend letting the cheese warm up a bit before serving.

i am told the pudding was good. not too heavy and not too sweet. the dried raspberries added a nice hint of tartness.

we finished the meal with coffee and another glass of wine.

total bill = $220 with wine and coffee.

a nice evening out.

review updated below:

a cold wellington saturday. somewhere for coffee in the cbd. hangar and memphis too far away -pravdajust round the corner sandwiched between zambezi and moochi. always good in 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 as good as memphis belle, good flavour, 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 occasionpravdadidn't come up to scratch - sorry.

i recently celebrated my 5 year anniversary and emailedpravdaand asked about the possibility of a degustation. i received a call from the functions manager who said that she chatted with the head chef and they would be delighted to accommodate my request. i had a quick meeting with him the following week to discuss the evening, state that i have an egg allergy, and he said he can take care of everything.

we arrived on the night and were taken to our seats, a wonderful cosy corner with the outlook of the entire restaurant and the kitchen. we had custom made menus just for our special night. the menu looked incredible and the wait staff were always so happy to serve us and answer any questions - we didn't have to ask for anything the whole night and were really taken care of.

the head chef came out to personally serve us a couple of dishes and talk about the food which was fantastic, so incredible that he was able to do this and that there was a bit of a fuss - this made us both feel on top of the world.

we got a touch nervous at certain parts of the meal because there was 'mayo type sauces' and gnocchi but without eggs! i'm often i'm reduced to having no sauce to speak of or very run of the mill, packety, type stuff - this was fantastic for me and the head chef shared a few nuggets of gold 'cheffy' information on how to's (fantastic!).

the food was absolutely terrific, the head chef is truly an artist and you can see the passion on the plate when we were presented with the meals. we were so impressed.

we have been foodies since before it was 'mainstream', we have travelled far and wide, close on 30 odd countries with a passion for tasting everything we could. our mind over the evening and for the week since has turned to our best dishes and dining experiences, the food and our experience atpravdais right up there.

the head chef (adam) is a ridiculously passionate and fantastic chef.

in wellington we have dined at the chameleon, boulcott st bistro, logan brown, shed 5, white house, matterhorn among others andpravdawould be one we would revisit and recommend to our friends in a heartbeat.

starting with a last minute decision to visitpravdacafe 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 , as good as 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

went topravdatonight 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 all good night 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 a good size 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 wonderpravdahas been part of the wellington for so long, it's good. really good!

the first thing you notice aboutpravdawhen you step in is their decor. it's largely european-influenced, with magnificent glass chandeliers and warm lighting. it's spacious too, so you can have a decent conversation without being afraid you'd disturb the next table or be overheard.

we came in slightly before dinner time and only wanted dessert (yes, before dinner). we were promptly served, and all the waiters who stopped by our table were friendly and welcoming.

our orders were the chocolate fondant and truffle fries. the chocolate fondant came gorgeously plated, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a chocolate biscuit shard, and little bits of sticky caramel pieces. one touch of a spoon was enough to dent the warm chocolate dome and the thick, gooey chocolate filling oozed out like a river. it was so beautiful to watch, and even more beautiful to eat.

the truffle fries were also generously drenched with truffle oil, which in my opinion, is the only way to do the dish (none of that truffle mayo crap). they were a little on the smaller side portion-wise, but crispy and well done nonetheless.

seeing that the dessert's been so great, i'd love to come back here to try their lunch or dinner menu.

showstopper: the chocolate fondant is to die for.

overall grade: a-

had a short visit to this cafe to fill my sweet tooth cravings.. i had thepravdatiramisu which was just divine.. the staff were lovely too

pravda is one of the things i've loved discovering about wellington.   it's just one of those *fabulous* places, and i frequently recommendpravdato others.   it's always reliable - both in terms of slick service and ridiculously great food.  i've been topravdafor breakfast, we frequently go for lunch, and recently enjoyed a drink and a few plates after work with a girlfriend visiting from auckland.  pravdais nothing if not consistent - each of those visits comprised the same elements : slick service; damned good wine; 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.

for this catch up, we decided to try out the wellington on a plate menu atpravda. we excitedly explained travel plans over a beetroot mousse salad- the mousse was light, the baby beets sufficiently tangy, the walnuts slightly caramelised and sweet. the main of slow cooked lamb allowed us to mull over open homes and house offers. then came dessert- as a lover of chocolate fondants, this was my favourite course. it went down a treat with the port style pinot noir and talk of wedding plans and quirky supermarket habits.

i went with a group of people a few weeks back for a meal after a meeting. having not eaten atpravdafor a while as no longer being in central wellington quite so much i was intrigued to see if the place was as i remembered it. the meal did not disappoint the food was excellent. in addition no one in our party was disappointed either.

the atmosphere was excellent and the service was satisfactory.

pravda continues to justify itself as a restaurant worth visiting. reliable food and wine in a pleasant location.

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 had good reports but the risotto, while very tasty, had crunchy rice mixed in. not ideal.

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

but - a certainpravdasomething 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!

the ambience is the big thing here: i understand that the building used to be a gentlemen's club.pravdais always busy and the meals nicely done. a good place to take visitors as part of showing off wellington's sophisticated dining scene. good coffee too.

we were in wellington for wow and given the crowds that pour in for this event, i booked a table atpravdaa few months before the big night. they were helpful when i booked and even suggested coming in half an hour earlier to ensure we would be done in plenty of time before the show.

the place was buzzing when we arrived. the staff were excellent throughout the night. even though they were busy, they noticed when our drinks needed topping up and were spot on with the timing of each course. it was much appreciated.

we ordered bread and dips for the table to start and i have to say it was the best bread and dips i have had in a few years. lovely fresh warm bread, olive oil, balsamic and an amazing truffle and marscapone dip. could have kept eating this all night.

we skipped straight to mains. i had the lamb which was lovely. two others had the steak and could not stop raving about it even later in the evening. it is not cheap here, but you do get what you pay for.

my only downside was the toilets, which could do with freshening up, but that is pretty minor overall.

my husband was the only one still able to think about the dessert and opted for a bowl of gelato. it was a fabulous as the rest of the meal.

we were very impressed overall and definitely recommend pravda. a note that they do have a special set menu if you are heading out to a show. we opted for the standard menu, but appreciated that it was available.

i took part in a "christmas lunch" for six atpravdain november - having the special set menu.

the food was good, breads, then a tasty starter followed by confit turkey leg and christmas pudding, and the service kept things flowing well.

we had a couple of wines from the list as well as a glass of port at the end and the atmosphere made for a good christmas feel despite the fact there was still a month to go.

the christmas menu is $60pp and we spent a further $60pp on drinks, but it felt like money well spent on a festive meal.

well donepravda- i'll certainly return.