Avida - Wellington New Zealand

We had to evacuate the hotel just when we're about to prepare dinner due to a fire alarm. So we thought of going to Avida while the firemen were busy checking out the hotel. Service was prompt and friendly. We love the empanadas, meatballs and roasted pumpkin.

I have to be honest I am having a rather intense love affair with this place.  I 'm generally there at least once a week for a drink after work.  I just can 't help myself I TRY to share myself around, but it 's now become my firm 'go to ' place.  It 's the ridiculously good service (I 've even had the tapas menu read to me in 'Sam Hunt ' poetry style to be fair, I had initially asked for it to be done as a rap, but the Sam Hunt version was even better .  And the impeccable wine list.  And the faultless food (as a vegetarian I often draw the short straw when I 'm dining out but never at Avida Goat cheese puffs drizzled with honey?!  Roasted pumpkin and feta?!  Parkvale mushrooms in sherry vinegar!?!!  what 's not to love?!    The only thing that drives me a little crazy is that everyone else seems to love it as much as I do, so unless you 've reserved a table well in advance, or arrived ridiculously early in the evening, it can be a little difficult to get a seat.  Having said that the wonderful people at Avida have always managed to find me a spot somewhere.   Don 't change a THING, Avida this really is true love.  X

We were heading to see AC/DC at Wespac but first we were looking for somewhere to eat. CBD was over run with AC/DC fans and we were turned away from several places. We wanted a decent meal so popped into Avida. We got a table straight away. We ordered and received our meals in good time. Waitresses were helpful, knowledgeable and friendly<br/ <br/ There were four of us, we ordered six craft beers and a bubbles.<br/ <br/ I ordered the Empandas (tapas dish) for the table and a Angus Sirloin for main, rare to medium.<br/ <br/ The Empandas weren't what I was expecting. I didn't realise they were pastry parcels, but they were tasty. A bit heavy on pastry to filling but they were good.<br/ <br/ The steak was a little disappointing. The steak itself was good, but it was quite cold. Thankfully it was very tasty so it passed. The potato rosti wasn't great but the eggplant was very good and complemented th esteak well.<br/ <br/ The other dishes on the table looked fantastic. My partner had the beef cheek and it was delicious. Rich deep flavours. The calamari and the paella looked great but I didn't try them.<br/ <br/ Although I was a little underwhelmed by my dish, on the whole it was a good meal which everyone enjoyed.<br/ <br/ For four of us it came to $200. Reasonable.

Loved this restaurant.  Had lovely tapas on Saturday night and great service.  Particularly recommend the tostada, calamari and the warm puffs.  Good wine selection and fantastic waiter brought us a couple of wines to try before we decided what we wanted.

This is still my favourite local dinner option by virtue of its convenient location, tasty dishes and comfortable atmosphere. There's not much to fault in all honesty... Although I do think my pork intake doubles whenever I visit Wellington, exclusively attributable to this particular restaurant. I find their pork dishes irresistible, which may be more of a reflection on me than Avida itself.