Portlander - Wellington

Witness our straightened times at Portlander; food and staff shortages and high costs lead to a lunch menu of burgers and chips and few diners. We had one waiter who had the best fine dining attentiveness but was let down by what was on our plates. A burger for $29.

Booked my mum 's birthday dinner here for a party of 8. Previous experience was really good, however this was before they had shut down and renovated. I had high hopes for the dinner, ambience was good and staff was relatively attentive initially. However, some improvement points to note: I asked specifically for our mains and steaks to be served to share , but seems that this was not relayed and the steaks and mains were plated individually. After having sharing plates for our entree 's which were served to share , they took our plates and cutlery away but the staff did not replace the cutlery (We had to ask). We also had to ask for more plates as again, we wanted to share our food. I also had to ask for them to take the unused wine glasses away to make more space on our table. These are all small things, but add up and brings the experience down. They were inconsistent with filling up our water, and a general lack of finesse from the staff really. Food was OK, however as we know for steakhouses it is as much for the service as it is for the food. We basically ordered the whole menu, all was exceedingly OK to decent . The pictures used on the website are not reflective of what they have on the menu, nor is it reflective of their capacity to serve the food in the way that they advertise (see earlier comment about serving to share). We 're not really into desserts as a family, so we only ordered two desserts to share (one cake slice modified for mum 's birthday). However, as they again took our cutlery away without replacing them, I then had to ask again for more cutlery after they 've taken our dinner plates and cutlery away. Surely have a look first at what your diners are going to use to eat the dessert you just served... Honestly, had I not experienced what it was like to dine here before or if I had never dined at other places around Wellington that offer similar food at similar prices, I would think Hmm..average . But I have done these things, and this is why I 'm disappointed. As the person that vouched for Portlander, I am sorry mum. I didn 't even want to write this review. My logic being that, they have just recently re opened, and maybe they are still working up to speed. Fully understandable if so. But it 's been 3 months now, so I don 't know if that can still be a reason... I even got up to take a picture of our party for my mum, and 4 servers just stood there, not offering a hand at all whatsoever, despite the restaurant being relatively quiet (even KAZAGURUMA and their tiny staff numbers have offered to take group pictures in the past, feels bare minimum to do something like that really for a place where servers have to wear black shoes) Last bit I went up and paid and somehow felt that I was inconveniencing the person that took our bill. Sorry that you had to be at the till instead of hanging out w the bros and that the restaurant wasn 't dead even though it 's raining hard and it 's a Sunday night. Sorry for coming here. We 'll know next time.

Generally great steaks and amazing food for dinners! And generally an amazing buffet breakfasts! But sadly on our last visit, which we intentionally chose because of their buffet breakfasts which we have previously enjoyed, there was only a continental breakfast on offer. Complicating matters were the morning staff's inattention. They were clearly under trained. And my pancakes from the menu were frozen ones mass produced from my home town. Dang. Hmmm...

Steak was average, served up with more butter than steak. Staff already wants to close down when we just arrived they asked for a coffee because they are closing the coffee bar and same with cocktail bar. Please review your staff.

After trying 3 other restaurants looking for a steak I stumbled across the Portlander and upon browsing the menu I saw the steak I was looking for. Once seated, I enjoyed the dark ambiance of the dinning room, and was the excited when I saw the seared venison special put in front of me. As a Chef with 30+ years experience I was pleasantly surprised when the dish arrived. It was perfectly cooked and the balance in flavours was excellent. Bravo for throwing a dish out there that most restaurants would not. Congrats to the chefs working a Monday night, they crushed this dish and I am super happy and thankful that did. Touché Chefs