Rooftop restaurants in Wellington, NZ?

November 18, 2019 2:23 PM

Requesting recommendations of fine dining rooftop restaurants in Wellington, NZ. Hoping for view of Wellington Harbor. Restaurant atop hotel preferred.
posted by John Borrowman to Travel & Transportation around Wellington, New Zealand (8 answers total)

Wellington resident and semi-frequent diner here. I can't think of a single one, though I'm polling my friends and may report back. Wellington can be very windy and inclement and so fine dining is cosy and indoors and ground level, generally. There are some nice places around the harbour/waterfront where depending on seating, you can have a good view. But not rooftop.

There are two rooftop bars that do quite acceptable bar food: https://dirtylittlesecret.co.nz/menu/ and http://www.thearborist.co.nz/rooftop-bar/ . Both are closed in bad weather, which is more often than you might hope.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:55 PM on November 18, 2019 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Addenda: the Museum Hotel and the Copthorne in Oriental Bay both have top floor, but not rooftop, fine dining restaurants with views, called Hippopotamus and One80 respectively. Also, a plug for Hiakai, which has neither views nor rooftop but is The Current Hotness.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:17 PM on November 18, 2019

Another Wellington resident here who looks out the window can confirm the "Wellington can be very windy and inclement" comment. There are certainly no fine-dining rooftop restaurants I'm aware of.

Would also recommend the Hippopotamus at the Museum Hotel. If you can swing the expense, the degustation option with wine-matching is superb.
posted by maupuia at 8:32 PM on November 18, 2019

What others have said; it’ll be one or the other, but fine dining + rooftop doesn’t exist. The Arborist has a decent rooftop view. Mockingbird (was Basque) has a rooftop with no view.

My current favourite fine dining places are:
* Hippopotamus
* Jardin Grill
* Logan Brown
* Charley Noble
* WBC
posted by lemon_icing at 3:50 AM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you one and all. In hindsight, "rooftop" was a misnomer. "Top floor" is more accurate. Will be in Wellington only one night and wanted both dinner and good view. Unfortunately, Hippopotamus is not open on the Monday night we will be in the city.
posted by John Borrowman at 8:48 AM on November 19, 2019

Here’s a place that’s open on Mondays and right on the docks. I hadn’t listed Coene’s because it’s casual, but the kitchen is solid and the view is lovely.
posted by lemon_icing at 9:19 AM on November 19, 2019

I really enjoyed a meal at One80 about a decade ago when I lived in Wellington. The views were great and the food was fantastic.
posted by hootenatty at 3:59 PM on November 19, 2019

Posting here for Wellingtonians: drove by The Hop Garden and saw that the roof top garden has vines and a glass roof!
posted by lemon_icing at 11:47 PM on November 19, 2019 [1 favorite]