Le Metropolitain, Wellington

Okay I promise this is the final post on Wellington. Sure my trip to New Zealand was bordering on two months ago, but this meal, the last hurrah before my taxi to the airport, was so delicious and good, I remember it like yesterday.

Besides look at the photo above. Plump Toulouse sausages, how they glisten so! This meal, long since digested, deserves to be shared.



Le Metropolitain was a cute little French bistro halfway up Cuba Street. For someone who eats at a French restaurant perhaps once a year in Sydney, this was to be my third French meal in Wellington in a matter of six days!

Frosted glass windows let in plenty of light to the dining room. Ochre red walls, polished floorboards, dark wood bistro chairs and Parisien prints set the mood. The menu, typed in typical French curly cursive script, was a hungry wishlist, but it was hard to go past the value of the formule dejeuner, two courses with coffee for only NZ$20!


Flat white coffee

The charming French waitress manned the coffee machine after delivering a complimentary bread basket with a dish of olive oil and salt flakes. The sourdough was soft yet dense; my flat white coffee was robust and sweet with crema.


Potage forestier
Wild mushroom soup

Potage forestier was a huge soup tureen of wild mushroom cooked in cream and brandy. Soup isn't usually my thing (unless it's winter and the soup is homemade with chunks of carrot and smoked ham hocks) but I finished every last spoonful of this rich and elegant offering resplendent with leeks and mushroom.

Even the waitress smiled with surprise when she collected the empty vessel.


Saucisse de Toulouse, Lentilles, Confit d'Oignons et Lardons au Jus
Toulouse sausage with lentils, onion confit and lardons jus

The saucisse de Toulouse arrives in heady plumes of steam, sturdy plump pork sausages gathered on a mound of aromatic puy lentils. The smoked bacon, wine and garlic in the sausages is mirrored in the flavours of the lentils, firm yet yielding, and garnished generously with lardons (smoked pork belly) and meltingly soft ribbons of caramelised onion.

It's a glorious end to a gastronomic high in the tasty streets of Wellington. And in spite of the altitude I'm brought back to earth with my return flight dinner on Qantas: curry chicken with rice anyone?


Qantas dinner: curry chicken with rice, salad and bread roll



Le Metropolitain Restaurant
146 Cuba Street, Wellington, New Zealand
Tel: +64 (04) 801 8007

Monday to Friday: lunch and dinner
Saturday: brunch, lunch and dinner
Sunday: brunch and lunch.

Formule dejeuner / lunch set menu NZ$20
2 courses with coffee
Available Tuesday to Sunday 11.30am to 3pm




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