Spring Kitchen – Wellington

Momma Bear told me that she went to try Spring Kitchen and managed to get a Grabone deal for a two for one express lunch. So I thought as it was a new eatery that I would give it a try and bought a voucher. I asked She-Ra if she wanted to try and because it was a crazy week at work we went and had a bit of fun and a great debrief.

Spring Kitchen is the restaurant connected to the new DoubleTree by Hilton in Wellington. The restaurant is located on the first floor and I thought the restaurant would be slightly bigger but is relatively quite small and would sit roughly less than 80 people, but I suppose because Wellington has so many places to eat why would you want to have a big restaurant associated with a hotel. The menu is Indian and European fusion and they must have a tandoori oven in the kitchen.

Wild Mushroom Cuppincino

Truffle Mouse, Sourdough Melba

When this came to the table, I did wonder if it was going to a hot or cold dish. However, it was nice and hot. The mushroom taste was really nice and quite strong and when you mix in the truffle mouse you get this real richness and does become quite a heavy dish but the serving size was spot on. I now do wonder though where is a sourdough melba.

Charcoaled Fumed Tandoori Salmon 

Daikon & Mint Chutney, Lentil Cracker

When I read this on the menu I was interested in trying this out. A really liked the smokiness of the charcoaled tandoori flavour in the salmon. Although it was a small piece it was just right. For me, the salmon was slightly overcooked as I like my salmon medium rare. However, it was really nice and I liked the mint in the chutney, which give the dish a bit of freshness. On the menu, it did say that the salmon was chilli hot, but it didn’t even register on my radar. Finally, loved the lentil cracker and give the dish a bit of texture.

Mild Spiced Coconut Rice Pudding

Served with Aromatic Poached Pears

I was still quite hungry after eating the cappuccino and salmon. However, I knew the dessert would fill me up because it was a rice dessert. The mild spice was mild and not spicy at all, but the rice was nicely cooked. I loved the coconut that was in the dish and the chopped up pastachio pieces. The poached pears were really nice and added a bit of different sweetness to the dish.

Flat White

I don’t know why, but international hotels always use international coffee beans. Here they use Vittoria Coffee. The coffee was good. It did have a slight burntness to it. However, it had a good body to it and I did like that it was a double shot, otherwise I would have not drunk it.

Overall, I was really impressed with Spring Kitchen and I can potentially see this place doing quite well for the lunch trade if they keep up this express lunch. You get three options to choose from, but the downside is that you can not mix and match between the different items. She-Ra had the Beef Tataki, Tandoori Chicken Canneolli and the Creme Brulee and was very impressed with her selection. The service was good, but not fantastic and the restaurant does have a nice open feel to it. Great place to it, but personally not sure if I would go back, purely because there are just so many other places to try out in Wellington.

Address: 203 Lambton Quay, Wellington

Website: Spring Kitchen