Fine Dining Isn’t Worth It 🍽 Welly Exit List EP. 6/8
Welly Exit List 🍽 EP. 6/8
These are the meals I refuse to leave behind.
I came to Welly in 2016. I’ve eaten my share of fine dining since – some worth it, plenty not.
Highwater is one of the few where the price actually makes sense. Great food, attentive service, comfy seating and great vibes.
@highwatereatery has been open for 7 years on lower Cuba Street. Today, the chef’s set menu is $87, and most places charge over $120 for something less considered.
The difference:
nearly everything’s made in-house – bread, pickles, sauces – cooked over a charcoal oven they imported from Spain.
Owner-operated, seasonal, ethically sourced.
That gap is the whole point – it was never about being cheap, it’s about being worth it the time, belly space, and money.
Caught it on their 7th birthday: from 19 May – 16 June, a FREE glass of Vallformosa Cava or the cold apple crumble with any set menu.
If you’ve been meaning to go, this is the window.
Tapas-style, everything shared:
🍞 House sourdough + organic butter, Poaka rare-breed coppa – exactly what it needed to be
🐟 Long Line fish crudo + Mills Bay mussel escabeche – acidity, sweetness, freshness all in balance. My pick of the savouries
🥩 Pure South Angus inside skirt – cooked to a perfect rare. The charred onion crisp got me – evenly crisp and transformed into something I didn’t see coming, still no idea how the chef pulled it off
🥬 Endive, pickled pear, Ossau-Iraty, NZ walnut, lemon
🍟 Hand-cut Agria fries – parmesan, chives, truffle oil, house ranch
🍎 Cold apple crumble – usually $10, free for their anniversary. Probably my favourite of the night: they took a dessert with a hundred years of history and rebuilt it – whipped cream, apple sorbet, jam at the base, crumble on top.
6 weeks left, leaving for Osaka in July. 10 years here, and the things I’ll miss most aren’t the views – they’re the tables.
What’s the one Welly eatery you’d never let someone leave without trying? 🍋
#finedining #expatlife #movingcountries #foodphotography #storytelling #slowliving #craftbeer #wellyexitlist #wellingtoneats #nz