Surprise! There is a beautiful bar on the ground floor of Zibibbo. I had no idea! But we had no time, it was after 8.30pm and we were hungry so we dashed upstairs to the cosy dining room to be greeted by a complete lack of service. Great.
Unfortunately placed at the top of the staircase at the cash desk a waiter was sorting out a bill with two gents, and there was a problem so he didn’t make any eye contact with us at all, but we didn’t feel we could brush past the gents standing at the desk – a quick glance and a “I will be with you in a moment” would have done to improve our impression. After some dithering about, involving 3 staff, we were finally seated at our table of 4 – phew, that was hard work!
There seemed to be a lot of staff but not much in the way of good, efficient service, so I was irritated before I even ordered, then we made eye contact with one waitress, “You ready to order?”, Yes we are, “I’ll get someone to take your order”. Em, how about YOU do it since you are right here?…tut.
Popular choice was Confit Duck with Smoked Bacon Lentils and Celeriac Mash ($34), and one order of Rotisserie Lamb Loin with Roasted Potatoes, Savoy Cabbage and Salsa Verde ($34). We were strongly encouraged to order some entrees and when we didn’t the waitress seemed a bit sniffy about it AND my old favourite, would you like some veg with your meals? Why, don’t you provide me with a complete meal at $34 a plate??! Grrrr, my old bug-bear is back.
The confit duck had some nice crispy skin in the middle (I would have preferred a bit more crispyness, thanks) and the smoked bacon lentils were nice but perhaps on the scarce side and the celeriac mash was pleasant. We all thought it was nice, but nothing to rave about. The Lamb looked lovely and we decided that may have been the better choice.
The Kiwi and I were facing the kitchen and watching the plates coming out. The Tapas Platter for two starter looks fabulous and should we return we will give that a go.
The dessert menu really didn’t hit the spot for us, but it had been a long day and I had been holding out for a dessert, it was too late to try somewhere else so I had the Apple and Feijoa Crumble with a yummy vanilla ice cream. The balance of fruit was lovely, but the crumble was more of a sawdust and frankly my own version is better. Disappointing, but serves me right for having something I make myself. The Dark Chocolate and Cherry Mousse was given the thumbs up by our friends, so it seems I should have gone with that.
The ambience is great, but I felt the service missed the mark and the food was fine but nothing to rave about particularly for the price point. We had the Entertainment Book card so the discount made it a fair price.
I can’t wait to visit the bar as it looked great but as for the restaurant, … I am not in any hurry to return when there are so many options in Wellington yet to try, which is a shame as I would like to feel otherwise about Zibibbo.
Zibibbo, Old Police Station, 25-29 Taranaki Street, Wellington, New Zealand
