Unfortunately, I was not entirely satisfied with what the guide purported to be the best of Wellington\u2019s affordable eateries. <\/p>\n
I have been to three out of the four restaurants that got a Bib in Wellington: 1154 Pastaria, Hummingbird and Indian Alley. <\/p>\n
The meals have been good but I\u2019ve never salivated at the thought of eating their food or had an over-the-top enthusiastic yarn about the menu with my friends.<\/p>\n
(My colleague Ethan Manera has been to Cicio Cacio, the fourth restaurant that got a Bib, and assures me it is more than deserving.)<\/p>\n
To me, a restaurant that makes its way into the Michelin Guide should be a conversation starter and a reason to take a detour \u2013 that is, after all, why the guide exists. <\/p>\n
Many online punters and food content creators agreed with me: there were many deserving restaurants that missed out on the Bib, for reasons unknown to us. <\/p>\n
A Taste of Home is a hole-in-the-wall noodle bar in the capital. Photo \/ A Taste of Home<\/p>\n
A Taste Of Home<\/p>\n
The eatery I most wanted to see receive a Bib Gourmand was A Taste of Home. <\/p>\n
The hole-in-the-wall-esque noodle bar on Vivian St would be a well-kept secret if it were not for Wellingtonians everywhere raving about it. <\/p>\n
A Taste Of Home is most famous for its fresh and luscious hand-pulled noodles, which you can order either in a delicious chicken broth ($16) or tossed in chilli oil, peanuts and vegetables ($15).<\/p>\n
It focuses on executing a small number of dishes to a high quality, with its current menu comprising nine mains, three sides and two sweet treats.<\/p>\n
The mere prospect of ordering dinner from A Taste of Home gets me inexplicably excited because I know the quality will be high, the price will be low and the flavours will put other comparable joints to shame. <\/p>\n
Newcomers should be warned \u2013 their wait times can be long and anything above a \u201cmild\u201d on their spice scale is not for the weak.<\/p>\n
KC Cafe owner and chef Michael Chan. Photo \/ Wellington NZ<\/p>\n
KC Cafe<\/p>\n
If A Taste of Home\u2019s menu is careful and controlled, KC Cafe\u2019s menu is a burgeoning behemoth and one I would have loved to be awarded a Bib.<\/p>\n
The Cantonese-leaning Chinese eatery sits near the end of Courtenay Place and is nothing short of a local legend. <\/p>\n
The portion sizes are generous and the restaurant is always buzzing with people. <\/p>\n
It offers more than 160 items, which could be a challenge for a Michelin inspector to properly evaluate, but add to its charm. <\/p>\n
Its most popular dishes include crispy pork on rice ($24), mapo tofu ($24) and anything with duck in it.<\/p>\n
KC Cafe has a dedicated fanbase that enjoys eating its way through all of its offerings, with many of them posting on social media about the restaurant being \u201crobbed\u201d of a Bib.<\/p>\n
I and my undying love for its crispy squid ($21) have to agree. <\/p>\n
KC Cafe is a popular Chinese restaurant in central Wellington. Photo \/ Wellington NZ<\/p>\n
Well-known Wellington foodies weigh in<\/p>\n
I checked in with some local food content creators to see what restaurants they wished got a Bib Gourmand.<\/p>\n
Alice Pornsirichaivatana from @eatoclock has been reviewing food in the capital since 2015.<\/p>\n
Her pick for a Bib was the newly-opened Apapacho, a Mexican joint on Ghuznee St that hones in on homey, traditional dishes. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey prove that incredible food doesn\u2019t have to be expensive, just authentic, welcoming and consistently delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryer Oden from @healthsensation hosts an ongoing series called \u201cCheap CBD Lunches\u201d and regularly posts about affordable food in Wellington.<\/p>\n
She wanted to see bistro The Ram get a Bib for its \u201cperfect blend of Wellingtonian chic with homeliness and comfort\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a real knack at elevating universally loved classics in a way that makes your dining experience feel intentional and refined, yet underground and unpretentious at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim Yamat from @titty.eats also wanted to see KC Cafe make the Bib list, while Sherlene Ho from @yumyumwelly shouted out Forbidden City in Lower Hutt.<\/p>\n
Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unfortunately, I was not entirely satisfied with what the guide purported to be the best of Wellington\u2019s affordable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[24752,3471,2346,1882,14227,4731,81902,156,1888,65769,228,1345,137609,27124,54677,3025,111,139,69,1118,252928,13181,48499,1361,1529,1347,52,3608,1316,2963],"class_list":["post-507309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ago","tag-among","tag-award","tag-cafe","tag-category","tag-days","tag-eateries","tag-entertainment","tag-first","tag-gourmand","tag-guide","tag-home","tag-invested","tag-kc","tag-michelin","tag-most","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-overlooks","tag-released","tag-taste","tag-that","tag-three","tag-wallet","tag-wellington","tag-were","tag-when","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}