The best of
Wellington. Ranked.

The Tory Street yum cha institution — trolleys, har gow, and the busiest weekend dim sum service in the city.

Local tip: Go before noon at weekends — after that the wait for a table is the main event.

Wellington's best-known dumpling maker — handmade, ethically run, and a fixture at the markets as well as its own sites.

Local tip: The frozen packs are the move if you are self-catering — same dumplings, cooked at home.

Big Cantonese banquet hall on Wakefield Street — round tables, lazy Susans and a yum cha service that has fed Wellington for decades.

Local tip: The room takes big groups better than anywhere else on this list — it is built for banquets.

Courtenay Place Cantonese kitchen doing roast meats and clay-pot dishes alongside the standards.

Local tip: Order the roast duck — it is the reason to pick this over the neighbouring options.

Pan-Asian bar and eatery on Tory Street — share plates, a long cocktail list and a room that runs late.

Local tip: More bar than banquet hall — good for a group that wants drinks with the food.

Hannahs Laneway pan-Asian favourite — fast, punchy Taiwanese-leaning street food built to share.

Local tip: It is a laneway spot — small, loud, and better for two than for eight.

Tory Street Cantonese restaurant with a full banquet menu and weekend yum cha.

Northern Chinese kitchen doing hand-pulled noodles and dumplings rather than the Cantonese standards.

Local tip: Go for the hand-pulled noodles — that is what the kitchen is built around.

Sichuan cooking with the numbing heat left in — a different proposition from the city's Cantonese default.

Local tip: Ask for the heat level you actually want — the default is not toned down.

Lower Hutt's long-running Cantonese heavyweight — full banquet menu and weekend yum cha for the Hutt Valley.

Local tip: The reliable option on the Hutt side of the harbour when town is booked out.