the larder

went to the larder on a saturday morning for brunch. the staff are very attentive and friendly; filling up water glasses and asking if we needed more coffee. the menu is fairly light on veggie options but they were more than willing to swap the bacon for avocado, which was great! the food tasted incredibly fresh and prepared to a very high standard. they know what they're doing! i'd like to see some smoothies on the menu and a few more veggiefriendlyoptions but i'll definitely be back again soon!

for our saturday lunch, we decided to visit @thelarder_nz. the cafe is in darlington road (miramar, wlg) near weta workshop. they serve tea ☕️, coffees, sweets 🍰 🍪, themed + breakfast/lunch dishes.

tea/coffee + sweet ☕️🍪🍰 $4-5
the spicy hot chocolate 🍫was refreshing, had a good balance of spiciness from the chilli 🌶 and sweetness from the milk/chocolate. the peanut and salted caramel cookie had a good amount of peanuts and the sugar/caramel had the right sweetness. my father also enjoyed his feijoa cake. a great serving of almonds with a soft texture in the cake and you can taste the hint of lemon 🍋 + feijoa.

buttermilk chicken burger 🐓🍔 $16
visually, the burger size instantly caught our eyes 👀 and we resorted to using knife/forks🍴 rather than hands to eat. a great serving of buttermilk chicken breast, well-cooked, juicy, and easy to bite into. the spicy mayo was a welcome addition to deliver a creamy and mildly spicy flavour to the chicken. definitely worth the money, consider adding pickles or onions 🧅 as popular choices to further compliment the burger.

chicken risotto $16-18 🍲
the risotto was cooked right, texture was not mushy or grainy. the portion with the risotto and chicken was decent as well. my letdown was that it was not seasoned to my own liking. the dish could have used a pinch of salt🧂and less parmesan as sometimes it often overpowered any taste of the thyme/herbs.

final words
special mention goes to their fantastic service. the vibe was cosy and it looked like everyone was enjoying their experience. front of house staff wasfriendlyand engaging with their customers from menus, arranging tables, to even small talk. lastly, our food was delivered promptly and there was a perfect time gap (10-20 minutes) between our coffee/sweets and then our mains. overall, i would mention this eatery as consideration to locals or tourists in the area.

stopped here waiting for ride back into town after weta tour. ordered the brocolli side and was blown away. the most beautiful brocolli we have ever had.friendlystaff, pumping on a saturday, clean and fast. highly recommend. thank you for having us!

fastfriendlyservice. good food. adjusted the menu for kids which was excellent.

my husband said this was his favorite cafe when he lived in wellington, so when we returned for a visit he was very excited to take me there.

we walked straight there from the airport, it was a nice sunny day and the walk there was lovely. we were greeted by a superfriendlystaff followed almost immediately by our coffee.

we ordered the whitebait ormlette and the special cheese toasty. both dishes were perfect from presentation to taste to little details, such as the perfectly toasted sourdough.

good food, good coffee, good atmosphere and good service. what more can you ask for!

it was a very cool menu with unusual options that were all great. all meals were generous portions. the champagne battered oysters were amazing, as well as the elk fillet and blue cod. the dessert menu was especially unusual- we had liquorice parfait, sea urchin ice cream and duck egg soufflé. overall a great night andfriendlyservice, although a reasonable wait for food.

we were actually aiming to go somewhere else but parking was diabolical ...however that turned out to be a good thing! i had the crepes with tea, the hubby eggs benedict with a moccha & a side of potato cakes. all we can say is superb! the little potato cakes came with a lovely harissa sauce - i normally won't eat either but could've quite happily eaten double. my crepes were awesome - stuffed with peaches and yoghurt. the only reason for the .5 short of the perfect score is because my crepes were cold. hubby enjoyed his eggs benedict very much. all meals we had today are as pictured. nice decor andfriendlystaff. we will definitely be going back...

28 days later ... we went back. hubby had the same meal as last time; i again had the crepes but they were with plums and hazelnuts this time. not cold this time and even more delicious! if the crepes are going to keep changing i will never have anything else as i will try each new version. this is the place to go for crepes for sure :-) upgraded to 5!

excellent food andfriendlyservice.
had the wapiti burger (wellington on a plate burger competition) which was absolutely delicious served with the perfect thick cut chips!!
i would certainly go back and try other things from their menu.

came here for dinner last friday night with my wife and son. it was to celebrate my wife's birthday. we have heard so much from friends previously about how great the food is here. and now having dined here, i can personally endorsed that. we were simply blown away by all the different flavors of all the yummy food that was presented to us on the night. evey dish including entrees and mains were "delicious". the entrees which shared included scallops, a delicious cheese souffle, and a whitebait omelette.
the mains included snapper fish with clams,lamb rack,and the venison dish. vegetables sides included the cos lettuce, gruyere cheese and bacon salad, and brussell sprouts and grilled bacon. contrary to public opinion, where many may have thought that we would be still hungry, the mains were actually quite large. and with the vegetable side dishes we ordered, there certainly were no hungry tummies felt on the night. so much so, that there were no room for desserts. every dish were immaculately presented. the place was very busy, with not a empty seat was seen. and the head waitress sarah was quitefriendlywithout being too over-attentive. the chef jacob brown even came out to say "hullo" as we were about to leave. it was good to know that the larder support the local suppliers in miramar. having said that, they must have a very good local greengrocer there as all the vegetables on the plates looked so fresh and tasty. the whole bill came to $201 including food and drinks....so it wasn't over expensive for the whole enjoyable dining experience. summarizing, the larder in suburban miramar is a great place to dine out at and especially on special occasions.

we eat at the larder regularly and are always reminded when there what a fantastic eatery it is. greatfriendlyservice, welcoming atmosphere and absolutely outstanding food.

how very lucky we are to have such a great restaurant at our back door step. sarah, jacob and the team at the larder do an amazing job and it is very much appreciated.

we love thefriendlyservice, the exquisitely combined tastes and textures of the meals and the warm atmosphere. our favourite wellington restaurant.

jacob's head to tail policy includes some animal parts i would try nowhere else but in his expert hands. we also love his and sarah's commitment to local farmers, and the photographs included tastefully on the walls.

if you are out in the eastern burbs this is a fantastic place for brunch. with a group of eight we managed to get through most items on the menu, and all were excellent, especially the standards.

relaxed andfriendlystaff, good value, easy parking, i'll be back for diner soon.

we love the larder! my husband and i moved to miramar just before the larder opened and have been going ever since. jacob and sarah arefriendlyand inviting and the food is delicious! i take friends and family whenever i get the chance and they love it too. we don't bother to go across town for brunch or a special night out - we have a fantastic place on our back door that we intend to make the most of!