Christmas Day restaurants Wellington and sample dinner/lunch menus
Learn which Wellington restaurants are open on Christmas Day and read about some of the food items that could be listed on lunch or dinner menus including the price to eat.
If you’re looking to visit Wellington during Christmas time (December in New Zealand) and are uncertain as to whether restaurants are or aren’t open on Christmas Day, I can tell you that many, if not almost all, non-hotel restaurants are closed.
Most restaurants that open on Christmas in Wellington are those that are part of a hotel. There are less than a handful of non-hotel restaurants that are open on Christmas Day, and if they do open, their hours of service are very limited.
Last year I contacted a few Wellington hotel restaurants and asked them whether they were serving Christmas lunch and/or dinner and what their prices were. A good few Wellington hotels responded with some providing samples of their menus.
What I should mention is that all of the Wellington hotels that provided their menus, had "set menus". A set menu is a predetermined menu and lists only those items that are available on the day or night at a fixed price. This is unlike a daily menu, which varies and which usually has a variable price that depends on the items you choose from it.
In this article, I would like to highlight a few food items that were listed on the menus of 3 Wellington hotels that were kind enough to provide me with this information, and which I thought looked very appetizing.
I’m not affiliated with any of these Wellington hotels, neither do I get paid for listing this information. The sole purpose of this article is to help you decide which Wellington hotel’s restaurant you may want to make a reservation at to have Christmas lunch or dinner.
And remember, Christmas lunch or dinner reservations at Wellington hotel restaurants are essential, with some having to be prepaid. Do not wait until the day before Christmas to make a dinner or lunch reservation. Make sure that you’ve contacted the hotel and booked at least 2 weeks in advance, because seats fill up quickly for Christmas.
As mentioned previously in my 2009 Christmas dinner in Wellington article, I would have gone with the James Cook hotel’s menu if I had to choose, so let me list a few items from that menu first.
What I liked most about the James Cook Hotel Wellington restaurant menu is that it appealed to vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. If you’re not into eating meat, the James Cook Hotel (Whitby’s Restaurant) offered fish (salmon, New Zealand fish and shell fish) and other seafood (oysters, mussels). If you’re not into fish, but like meat, the James Cook hotel restaurant offered roast beef, pates, ham, and steak. There was chicken and turkey for those who don’t like fish or red meat. And for pure vegetarians, noodles and vegetables were on the menu. What I missed from the menu, though, was a varied selection of carbohydrates, which came mostly in the form of potatoes. But then the dessert looked fantastic with Pavlova and ice cream. And if you don’t like that, there were also fruit salads, Christmas pudding, pastries, and Christmas mince pies listed. All in all, I found the Whitby’s Restaurant menu at a price of $135 good to have a Christmas meal. Whitby’s Restaurant offered both lunch and dinner on Christmas Day.
At $80 a head, the Copthorne Hotel Wellington on Oriental Bay had a less extravagant but nonetheless still appealing menu with turkey, fish, and beef for dinner. Vegetarians could go with leek and goat cheese tortellini. Desserts included ice cream and pudding, but missed Pavlova and Christmas mince pies. The lunch menu of the Copthorne Hotel Oriental Bay was a bit more extensive and also cost a bit more at $95 per person. While there was no ham on the dinner menu, it was listed on the lunch menu together with Pavlova and Christmas mince pies. But what I missed from both menus was the inclusion of chicken. One thing to note is that the Copthorne Hotel pointed out gluten free and vegetarian food on their menu, which the other hotel restaurants did not do.
The Bay Plaza Hotel Wellington had the shortest menu of all, but at $55 per person for dinner, it was a bargain! Their entrees contained basics such as soup and prawn salad. Their mains included ham, turkey, and fish (no other meats or chicken). Desserts included Pavlova, ice cream, and Christmas mince pies like the other two restaurants.
While these menus will most likely change for 2010, I hope this article has given you an idea of the value for money you receive if you have lunch or dinner at a Wellington hotel’s restaurant on Christmas Day.
For a list of other hotel and non-hotel restaurants that are open on Christmas Day, see my 2009 article on having dinner in Wellington on Christmas.
You can contact any Wellington hotel by email (or phone) and ask to see their menu and price list. They’ll be more than happy to send it to you.
Note: This article was accurate when it was published and/or updated. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the hotels and restaurants in question before planning your trip.
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