restaurant 88

this place was recommended to me by a friend who lives in wellington. there were 6 of us. when we arrived it wasn't busy yet. customer service was very good. staff were all friendly and had smiles on their faces.

their aromatic roast duck wraps when plum sauce were awesome. stuffed chicken wings with pork and prawns were such a great idea! tasty too.

but their banana leaf wrapped baked fish with prawn and papaya salad -which i ordered was a tad too salty and strong in terms of flavour. quite hard to swallow alone. and correct me if i'm wrong, but i was expecting to have papaya in my salad which i saw none of.... so i don't know what happened there.

overall, a nice place to dine at. food in general is very good.goodportions. will definitely be back.

we were disappointed wth our meal at restaurant 88. my husband's tofu was very overcooked and dry. my chicken was mediocre: basically chicken and coleslaw. not reallygoodenough for the price.

food was really good, but the restaurant wasn't busy and i still waited 1 hour for the food. not impressed by the slow service. the duck taco-inspired wrap as an entree was reallygoodthough. the rest of the food was warm and got cold pretty quick. staff were not really well trained. the waitress asked me if i wanted another beer as my glass was empty, having finished my beer. i said i was ok and she didn't take the glass away! lol

this is not your standard vietnamese. the dishes are refined and definitely a bit different. the fresh rice paper rolls came with a very tasty dipping sauce. a delicate pancake filled with crispy lemongrass chicken was full of taste and texture. there was also agoodwine list.

some of friends recommend me this restaurant . so, my friends and my had lunch in here.goodfood but served with small proportion of rice. .

suchgoodfood and service. have been a few times to resturant 88 and have always enjoyed my meals. the spring rolls to start are yummy and my favorite dish is the shaking beef.

this place is incredible!! having just got back from a trip to vietnam i wasn't holding my breath for food asgoodas i'd had there. but this place completely delivered. i had the ca (fish dish) which came with a gorgeous papaya salad (zingy, spicy, perfect) and rice. was faultless, the flavours were out of this world. had the creme brûlée to finish which was great although i wasn't a fan of the black sesame ice cream it came with. i tried a friend's dessert - waffles with coconut ice cream. divine!!! (and a very generous portion). great service too. get yourself here!!

always agoodfeed. lately foods been a bit slow but wasn't a bother. always fresh and tasty. staff are welcoming and efficient and the menu has enough doe even unadventurous- always plenty

have been there few times now and seen couple of iterations of the menu now. every dish is packed with excellent vietnamese flavours. i remember the prawn dish my wife had before a change in the menu and that was to die for. the chicken dishes are all verygoodand enjoyable. i remember the rice which came as an accompaniment to one of the dishes. it was cooked and served in some leaves and had coconut and mushrooms in it. delish!

nicely decorated with friendly greetings from staff. beautiful food presentation andgoodselections. quite and cosy environment isgoodfor romantic dinning or friends gathering. 👍🏻

yummy authentic vietnamese food! 

the first impression is positive, we were shown our booked table straight away, in intimate dark corner,goodfor couples or small groups. 

not too bad drinks list, and the well portioned food was great! highly recommend most dishes we got, including duck wraps and stuffed chicken for entrees, lemongrass chicken for main and creme brulee and black sesame ice cream for dessert. yum! the prices are on the higher end, but worth it. 

the only things that were a bit off were mains taking awhile to come out, but as someone with experience in hospitality, it was a busy night and not everything goes according to plan. one of the staff was wearing short shorts which did not suit the classy restaurant itself, but it wasn't a bother. what mattered was that they were friendly, polite and attentive.

overall it was a great dining experience and would definitely go back. 

thank you for having us!

it's been many years since i came here - not long after it started i think. back then it was ok, but not startling, and for that reason it lapsed out of memory. the street frontage is pretty underwhelming - it could be any old office building except for the lime green 88 on the door.

however flicking through the zomato reviews i realised it scores very highly - higher than i would i have imagined - 4.4 suggesting either its verygoodor its patrons are stupid. it seems to be the former.

anyway last night on a friends recommendation, it came down to a toss up between a cheapy in petone or restaurant 88 - 88 won.

i confess to hating trying to find a park in the area but yesterday we found a dream park very close to the restaurant.

it is exactly as i remember it. high ceilings, slightly clattery and not particularly warm - it was a cold night. but the decor and general ambience was pleasant and had the actual temperature been a little higher it would have been cosy.

a bottle of rabbit ranch pinot noir arrived quickly and we decided from the menu to go for five entrees rather than entree / mains.

vietnamese caramelised sticky baby-back ribs: lovely, gooey long cooked - delicious.
roast duck wraps with plum sauce: my favourite, the wrap was excellent but in combination with the dipping sauce was inspired.
stuffed chicken wings with pork and prawns: good, pleasant, slightly predictable.
vietnames fresh spring rolls: fresh yes, but the wrapping rather rubbery - the thought "vegetarian condom" came to mind, but nice, and again with the dipping sauce quite moreish.
"glorious" vietnamese crispy mini pancakes: so interesting - a strange mix of flavours and textures.

by the end of those five, we were completely full. any possibility of going further with main or dessert had disappeared.

service was great, lovely wait staff - very very helpful and suchgoodadvice. nothing too much trouble, very efficient and accurate.

overall highly recommended for an informal dinner, i could imagine older kids loving it. agoodalternative to and probably slightly better than chow down the road

date night: yes
kids: yes
big groups: yes
parking: hmmm but probably ok
foodies: yes

tempted by the high rating, we went for a lunch at (vietnamese) restaurant 88. it was a sunday & we were not the earliest customers. we ordered beef noodle soup with bean sprouts, rice crepe with pork & prawns & crème brûlée with black sesame ice-cream for sharing. rice crepe wasgoodbut a bit bland; there must be too much msg in the beef noodle soup; the dessert was the best part of our lunch.

although there were already quite a lot of customers by 12:30, there was only a waiter running up & down, taking orders, filling waters, taking calls, greeting guests, and there was time and again that he seemed to “ignore” his customers. lack of staff is not an excuse for the slack service – in the hospitality industry. (food - 4/5; service - 1/5; ambience – 4/5)

i very nice place to eat.  good service and great food.  always reliable.!  had the lemongrass chicken with coconut noodles, sogoodand worked well together.  if you want a my full review visit my website.

good place for a group or just two people. food is alwaysgoodandgoodportions. atmosphere is always good. baby chicken and rice a high favourite