A Rad Grad Night At Jardin Grill & Bistro

A few weeks ago, ya’ cafecrawler girl here graduated! Only $46,000 for a sheet of paper, bargain, right?? One thing that comes along with graduation other than an overpriced piece of paper is food. Everybody knows that when you graduate, it’s a family affair, and when your parents come to town, they shout dinner. It’s a perfect scenario for the still-poor ex-student looking for blog content! Now with about 2,500 people graduating plus all their families, you gotta’ get in months earlier to seal a seat at a restaurant. After days and days of trawling the gram and analyzing menu’s, I secured a table at Sofitel’s Jardin Grill.

Even after living 4 years in Wellington, I hadn’t heard of this place, and after stalking their ‘gram and Facebook, I don’t think a lot of people have either. This made me even more curious to try their food, and when my grad’ night came around, my tummy was filled with excitement and hunger. When we first arrived, all I can say is that the place was beautiful. Jardin’s dining room has incredibly inviting and grand atmosphere, which is created by their elegant and semi-avantgarde rustic interior. We were sat right next to their open grill kitchen, that as a former chef, I absolutely love, and it filled the room with the most amazing aromas that tantalized the senses. Since I hadn’t eaten since lunch and I had just sat through a stupidly long ceremony, you bet this girl was hungry. But before I even looked at the menu, we were happily surprised with some little devilled-egg bruschetta amuse bouches to tickle our appetite. Service was off to an incredible start, and I couldn’t wait for my main course!

As I pondered over the menu, I noticed that they had heaps of vegetarian and pescatarian options, which is something I really appreciate. There’s nothing worse than only having one vegetarian option (which is ALWAYS a mushroom risotto). That being said I actually opted for their Milanese risotto, WHICH in my defense, had two super bougie types of mushrooms, and a whole lot of other ingredients that took it from a bog-standard dish to something god-like. One bite of the risotto, mushrooms, goats cheese curd, crunchy baked walnuts, Parmigiano Reggiano, and kale chips altogether in one mouthful was enough to send me to flavour paradise. The balance of all those rich and umami flavours was incredible, and it was by far the best dish in the dining room – I didn’t want it to end!

After this palatable plate of food, I thought I’d be full, but heck a graduation ceremony really sucks the energy out of you, and I knew dessert was a mandatory requirement if I was going to hit town after.  We of course chose their signature Jardin Grill Autumn Garden Dessert, which consisted of a beautiful maple layer cake, with white chocolate mousse, macadamia caramel, macadamia nut brittle, and a crème fraiche ice cream. I love a dish with a small pool of ingredients made into different textures, and this dessert definitely ticked my ideal dish boxes. The crunch complimented the mousse, which complemented the cake, which complemented the crumb, and so on, until all the flavours made a full circle of bliss on your tongue.

But that’s not everything, apart from some cheeky tequila shots and a few bottles of wine, our incredible waiter surprised me with a beautiful complimentary coffee cake as a little extra graduation celebration. How amazing is that? Places that go the extra mile to show they care are my favourite. It’s never all about the food, it’s the whole dining experience – and Jardin Grill definitely made sure our night was nothing but superb. After summing up all of the fabulous food, delicious drinks, tongue-burning tequila, and second-to-none service, I can definitely say it was a wonderful place to dine. An 8/10 for me on the ol’ CCL scale. The whole evening was wonderful, however it’s a little further out of the CBD, and pretty heavy on the wallet for the dishes. Apart from that, a hidden gem that you need to check out if you’re ever in need of a good meal and a class Instagram pic (the wallpaper is EVERYTHING).

Boquita – Wellington’s Plant-Based Mexican Maverick

I’ve been walking up and down the Kent Terrace laneway for months on end, only ever soaking up the sights of car dealership after car dealership – until one day, and petite little precinct popped up out of nowhere which instantly caught my attention. When I approached this new establishment, the smells instantly warmed up my body and made me crave whatever was cookin’ up inside there. Being the nosy parker, I am, I had a glance through the window to see what could possibly be creating such a serendipitous smell, and that’s when I found Boquita.

From that moment onwards, I would risk looking like an Olympic power walker marching down Kent Terrace just get another sneak peek into Boquita to see what marvelous Mexican meals they were concocting. This restaurant quickly became known as the pioneer of Mexican cuisine within Wellington central, with their parent restaurant, La Boca Loca, equally taking the outer suburbs of Miramar and beyond by storm. After near-criminally stalking their Insta feed, I decided that enough was enough – I needed to ditch the supermarket shop and instead blow my paycheck on a proper authentic feast. So, a few weekends ago, that’s what I did. And it was mind-blowing.

Me and the boyf. Arrived at Boquita with our tummies empty and my wallet ready to drop some fat cash on tacos. This place is pretty snug and always heaving with hungry peeps, so we had a little wait on our hands for seats and food – but believe me when I say the wait was totally worth it. So now that we’ve set the scene for the night, let’s talk taco.

To kick off our feast and tease our appetites, we ordered their daily special which was a Mexican take on thick and crunchy loaded fries, with 2 variations of creamy hummus and a dollop of refried beans taking the place of your average T-sauce. This was the perfect little starter to snack on whilst we were hungrily waiting for the main event – but it also teased our tummies as the combination of flavours in those little fried patatas were immense, and they disappeared in minutes, leaving us even thirstier for tacos. After what felt like hours (we literally didn’t eat all day just to appreciate the meal more and eat double our weight in tacos) – the plates hit our tables, revealing 3 of the most beautiful tacos I’ve ever seen. After ravishing the plate with our eyes, we tucked on in.

I started off with their spicy scrambled tofu taco, whose fiery heat warmed my body in the right places and got my taste-buds craving more. The next I devoured was their chipotle tempeh taco, whose combination of flavours danced the salsa on my tongue and took the meaning of taste to a new level. I was filling up at this point, but I had one more to go and I wasn’t about to go and commit a food felony – so I ignored the slight overeating tummy cramps and hit that last taco, which was a beautiful combo of rich refried beans and lentils that was perfectly complimented by the fresh slaw and tangy tomatoes. If you asked what my fav taco was, I couldn’t tell you. Each one brought a different and foreign flavour to my palette and took me on a new flavour journey that I never wanted to end.

This place exceeded all expectations I had for it, and I can’t thank the owners and chefs enough for bringing us something so authentic, communal, and special to the Wellingtons Mexican food scene. Sitting and dining in this place felt like you were eating at somebody’s house, the long sharing tables and open kitchen creates a vibrant social atmosphere where strangers became firm friends over the course of meal. If Boquita is the start of Wellington’s new food scene, Imma need to get a bigger scale because this place absolute smashed it! I can’t award anything lower than a 10/10 for this place, but I know they definitely deserve higher. Everything was perfect, and it goes to show that even the humblest of places that don’t stay with the grain or follow those nasty food fads, really do make waves in the food scene and provide us with innovative dishes that quickly become all-time favorites.

If you’re reading this and haven’t yet been to Boquita – what are you waiting for?? Whether you have cash in the bank or deep in the reds, the extra splashing out to get a taste of the food here is worth every penny.