Review Cha - Wellington

Great place will definitely come back to try some more of their dishes.

Great restaurant, good for come with friends. I like spicy food and this just a right please to have spicy food and Taiwan style food.

Huge selection of food and drink. Both good and drink were very good. Menu has some pictures. Ambience could be improved with a bit more light, but feels romantic. Girl working out front was amazing - works very hard and fast!

10/10 Foodgasm. Cheap, delicious. Fave place to come with friends for a great affordable meal

best Chinese spicy chicken in town! If you want some authentic Chinese food, this is the place you should not miss. Also very decent amount, I couldn't even finish it :) Will definitely come back for another time.

Been here twice. Delicious and authentic Chinese food at very reasonable price.

Good menu, especially the specials board. Good food, quantity was generous. The tofu in my fish & tofu soup was missing, but was quickly fixed when pointed out. Friendly FOH. The cakes look delicious (but I haven't tried). I will definitely go back.

Nice food and reasonable prices.

Cha was my favorite Courtney place restaurant until Covid closed it. The replacement Chopsticks is fine but no blackboard menu or million varieties of tea.

Love the chicken and corn soup, and really good selection of tea. Also tried the dumplings in chilli oil which were tasty too. Has a nice atmosphere, low lighting, and friendly staff. Taiwanese style food, they do a pretty good job of it too!

This is the best, most authentic, delicious, Chinese restaurant in Wellington. Their dishes are full of flavour, with fresh ingredients, beautiful spices and perfect preparation. Every time I visit I find a new favorite dish. The tea is in another class, every kind you can imagine with refills included. The staff know their teas and are always ready with a recommendation. They are friendly, attentive and dedicated. I come here every time I'm in the city and it's always exactly what I was hoping for. Well worth a visit.

Passionfruit bubble tea had good flavour, would be nice if the boba was a bit more soft/gummy as it was hard.<br/><br/>Steamed chicken 🐔 with chilli 🌶 sauce had a good kick, chicken was cooked well but would prefer it to be boneless.<br/><br/>However the sizzling satay chicken dish was a letdown. Though the flavour was there, the Veggies were undercooked and I did not get that “sizzle” heat that you might expect.<br/><br/>Overall an average experience and hope this feedback helps. I will wait a bit to come back again. But I do enjoy the cakes 🍰 and desserts.

Happened to be walking on courtenay place and the cakes in the glass caught our eye so we decided to check it out.<br/><br/>Bought 3 slices from 3 different cakes.<br/><br/>1. Cookies & Cream<br/>2. Black Forest<br/>3. Tiramisu<br/><br/>All cakes tasted lovely. Full of flavour and the icing was rich.<br/><br/>A must try if you're ever in Wellington.<br/><br/>Although each slice was $8 ... a bit on the steeper side, they were worth it.<br/><br/>Ambience : ⭐⭐<br/>Staff : ⭐⭐⭐⭐<br/>Price : ⭐⭐⭐<br/>Food : ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Love here, no matter food or bubble tea.Opening late, huge selection on menu, and totally affordable,for when you need a big feed with an overwhelming menu (in a good way). S&P squid recommendable, sichuan chicken, and so forth.

We came here on a Thursday night craving for milk tea and as we weren’t from the area this was the first place we found. <br/><br/>My issues are: <br/>1) pearls weren’t cooked and were practically rock hard <br/>2) signs above the counter displayed various milk tea flavours available. We ordered - what was assumed - matcha and red bean. Only to receive 2 seperate drinks. When we asked the guy why we got two drinks he replied yes one is matcha and one is red bean. If that were clear in the signs as well as his communication we wouldn’t have had that problem. <br/>3) milk tea in general was the worse we ever had <br/>4) before all that happened we decided we’d eat in only to be told they were closing at 11pm despite signs saying 1130pm. It was only 1038pm - we would’ve left in a timely manner. <br/>

Our regular whenever we visit Wellington. Love their tea. Most of their dishes are extremely oily though. The mains come with rice and quite reasonably priced.

Use to come here 3ish years ago and was one of our favourite places in Wellington. Went here last night for the first time in awhile and menus have changed and was gutted with the food. <br/><br/>My noodles tasted like 2 minute mushy noodles with pepper on them. sweet n sour, dumplings & won tons were all 1 star but service was great as usual hence the extra stars.

I don’t think i’ll come back or recommend this restaurant after last night. After a long day strolling around the city, We decided to give this restaurant a try since all of us are really hungry. Staff are friendly and accomodating. Not until we received a plate that has lived slug underneath the plate. My sister touched it since she’s passing the plates to our table. It was moving and we showed and told the staff that there was a SLUG underneath the plate. They came back telling us that they were only shredded beans underneath it. We would accept if they actually acknowledge it. We left and cancel our orders since we don’t know how dirty it would be inside their kitchen. We weren’t able to take a photo since it was really fast and we just want to get out of there to look for another restaurant.

Greeted warmly by the staff member and really attentive towards customers need. Personally I didn’t fancy the peach milk tea I ordered but I love the pork belly on rice. Would go back for the pork belly on rice 👍🏻👍🏻

Came to the restaurant after dinner for dessert. Ordered myself a slice of pineapple cake from the front counter. The sponge cake and the cream on the top didn’t taste fresh. Thought I was overthinking, but then we found that inside of the cake went mouldy.... also I accidentally had a bit of the off part. I got really disappointed and we mentioned it to the waitress, after her apology,we been offered for another slice of cake.... from the same cake<br/>I’ve been here for dinner a few times and they were good. But I will not try their cakes again.<br/>

Went in with a group of friends late on a Saturday night. Fantastic that it was open and had quite a few done in customers.<br/>Friendly service. Waitress moved two tables together to incorporate out group of 6 without us even asking.<br/>Area was relatively clean and waitress was quite patient and friendly when taking our order. Food came out quite quickly which was great.<br/>I ordered deep fried spicy chicken with rice. Was not really a fan of the food. There was no flavour to the chicken and all it had was dried chillies and peanuts thrown throughout it with no sauce.<br/>Chicken was cut into bit sized pieces but was full of bones most of which were splintered making the dish really difficult to eat.<br/>Others ordered pepper chicken, sweet and sour fish fillet, dumplings, wontons and some other chicken with gravy.<br/>These other dishes were also not really up to standard. Wontons were very greasy (felt like oil wasn't hot enough when they were deep fried. Same problem with the sweet and sour fish. Dumplings were soggy and the chicken.... well it was uneatable due to how many bones there were.<br/>A bit of a shame really as the location of this eatery is fantastic and the price of the food is quite reasonable.. Could be just us being fussy but I would rather enjoy a meal out then have to fight with it.<br/><br/>Service - 8/10<br/>Ambiance - 7/10<br/>Price - 7/10<br/>Food - 2/10<br/><br/>Would I return - Unfortunately No.

I found the place to be quite dirty. <br/>The service wasn’t that great either. <br/><br/>I don’t recommend coming here, as the food options aren’t that great too. <br/>

Absolutely loved our time at Cha. Ordered bbq pork egg fu yong, deep fried squid and roast duck on rice. I loved the squid and nearly demolished it all by myself. It was accompanied with their secret recipe sweet and sour sauce, that was real yum!!! Service was great and happy all round!!!

I wanted to try out the dishes here but I had already eaten with my friends when we walked past here. But I get a bubble tea (taro) for dessert! It was hot outside so I asked for ice but 1/4 of my cup was ice, that was too much for me. As for the service, I find it ok the waitress did everything that needs to be done. oh, I recommend the watermelon bubble tea but don't have in warm or hot!

If you want some traditional Asian food, if you want good cake and milk tea. Come here, they never let me down.I came almost every week with friend or family.

One awesome chinese spot which is pocket friendly as well. Went there for an early dinner and it was crowded on a normal monday evening. The chicken and chinese mushroom soup was soft and the broth was good, i ordered fried chicken noodles which was awesome and packed with flavours but the chicken was very less in quantity ( very few pieces could be seen) when had with chilli oil it was mouth smacking . Tried fried hot chicken which was very average which was oily and didn't taste that good. Beef fried rice was good and tasty as well .My friends tried pork stir fry which was nice and chilly chicken sizzler was one dish to look out for. Great taste when had with rice. A must try restaurant . Service is quite slow as it was expected on a busy evening. But very friendly staff and good service . Definitely will go their for the food and price

Ordered takeaway. Took 25 minutes from call to receiving my order. Only ordered Chicken and Sweet corn soup as well as spring rolls. Food was great however. Big serving of soup and spring rolls were very nice also.

Probably one of the most authentic and best restaurant in town if you are looking for the "real" deal. We had spicy chicken and fish with bubble tea. Service was attentive and quick. Would recommend if you are in the area.

Had some not so great experiences here before but chose to give the benefit of the doubt. Came here with a few friends in the evening. The food was average, but customer service was beyond horrible. Probably the worst I've ever experienced. Not only did they get our order wrong twice, but when we told the young female waitress, she rolled her eyes and then stormed off with the food. <br/><br/>We also ordered bubble tea but they didn't come out at all. We were thinking they might had forgotten about it since the restaurant was fairly busy. So we asked the same waitress if we can have a little update on our drinks. She replied in a very disrespectful manner, as if we were in the wrong for disturbing her.  <br/><br/>Honestly a shame since the food wasn't all that bad. But will not be returning here because of the poor service.

Was really looking forward to eating here but alas, when I had the chance this lunch time, the service was as terrible as they said. The other girl was friendly to us but the other one dropped our orders like we have offended her, brought me rice when I asked for noodles, and glared at us for no apparent reason. Food is all good though. Didn't get to try out their cakes because of the poor service.

I've been here twice, had the bbq pork the first time. The portion was big but taste was average. The second time I went, ordered the mapo bean curd dish, which turned out to be one of my favorite asian dishes in Wellington! It comes in a hot pot(be careful not to touch, it's very hot) with rice on the side. A little spicy but not too much. I am a fan of the Mabo tofu fish, so I know it's good when it's good. Hidden menu, must try!

Incredible tea selection here and just a great place to just hang out and enjoy some snacks. Food is a bit hit and miss and the cake selection isn't as good as I remember but go even for the bubble tea alone.

Ordered the wonton soup, it's very filling but flavour is so-so. I'd rate it a 3.5<br/><br/>However, the tea selection is off the chain! So they earned another 0.5. Definitely coming back for some more tea sipping! My mate ordered the kumquat and ginger tea which smelt heavenly. I was craving a bubble tea so ordered my favorite: taro. Don't knock it till you try it kids!

We waitted in the front of the reception for 5 minutes, two waitress just standed there and did nothing, even say hello. Then I said hello first,one of the waitress said hello and looks very angry.

A huge selection of Chinese and Taiwanese dishes, and a whole separate menu for drinks and desserts. Try the chicken with grilled cheese and peanut sauce on rice.

I suppose one of the main pull factors to visit Cha is its very reasonable prices (and as a student that is always good). But there is much else to appreciate too. I love the décor and set-up of the place and I've always had great service here too. Regarding their drinks you can't really go wrong with their bubble tea. <br/><br/>Last time I was there I ordered the roast duck with egg noodles in sauce. The duck itself was for the most part ok but it did taste a little stale. My friend had the same problem with his meat dish so perhaps that might be an area for improvement. But I will say that the egg noodles were absolutely delicious and funnily enough the best part of the meal.

Had this place recommended by friends as able to manage a group booking, but arrived to find tables hadn't really been put together. The waitress attending us all night had a dreadful attitude, she was storming about the place with a black look on her face and everything seemed an inconvenience to her. I went up to the counter to order entrees for the group, no one came and asked if we wanted drinks so we had to keep grabbing her when she walked past. I asked for small plates when the entrees came out and she signed and walked away shaking her head. We asked the other waitress for napkins, who must have asked the one serving us as she came and slammed three down on the table, hardly enough for the 11 of us! We had to ask her to take our mains order after we'd been sitting there with the entrees finished for at least 20 minutes. It was clear when we were ordering that she was struggling to understand, I kept trying to confirm aspects of the order but she was really difficult to talk to. We all were worried about what food would come out as we did have vegetarians in the group. Lo and behold, two things we didn't want turned up, with one main missing. I'd already reconfirmed the order when the first wrong item turned up, but she still came back with the second wrong plate and tried to give it to us, when I'd blatantly said "the only thing still missing is xxxx" five minutes ago. She was sighing, glowering at us and shaking her head the whole time. The other long-haired waitress, who I've dealt with before was great and helped fix the bill up, but this short-haired waitress really ruined our evening, everyone felt on edge and stressed out by it. The food was great, but this place isn't worth the embarrassing service if you're organising a group meal or trying to impress guests. Such a shame.

Been there quite a few times in the past few years when we travelled to Welly. I have to say on the first few visits this was such a nice place to eat out. However during this year's visit, food became less nice and didn't taste the same as before. Have doubts of coming back next year.

I really love this place. Have dinner there twice per week. The spicy dumpling is the one you must try. Big portion and cheap price with huge range choice. Makes me have some many difference experience for food. Open until midnight. The pearl tea and wonderful cakes is unique in Wellington.

My friend told me Cha is very good!<br/>I tried it and I'll say it wasn't amazing as what friend said.<br/><br/>It was very average and the portions are small for the amount paid.<br/><br/>The only dish I really liked were the dumplings, they were nice. The fried spicy squid wasn't anything authentic and it was pricey too. The sweet and sour pork, was a disappointment, with a cheap takeaway flavour but inside the batter was more meat which I like, rather than a fat in a fat - yah know.<br/>Got the fried noodles, wasn't that nice, it could have been a bit better with thicker egg noodles. The fried rice wasn't nice too. It was quite bland and didn't have that Chinese authentic taste.<br/><br/><br/>Would I go here again no.

A bit disappointing really. Don't think we'll go there again. We had sweet & sour pork which was ok'ish, albeit a bit on the un-saucy side. And chicken cashew nuts which was bland as – it even looked it. See photo. In short, meh. How do places like this survive?

A secluded hole in the wall on Courteney place that serves tempting cakes, bubble teas and addictive dumplings in chili oil. Dark and drab interior I'd brightened by friendly staff and tasty food.

One of my favourite places to visit in Wellington. Been here several times now. I absolutely love their Bubble Tea selection. Hard to choose which ones. My favourites so far is Taro, coconut and also the durian bubble tea. I love the food here too. So many different meals to choose from. If you love Asian dishes - I highly recommend this restuarant in Courtney Place.

Love their bubble tea, it's absolutely refreshing. Haven't had much of their food yet, though some of their dishes (I had a fried noodle dish) are of huge portions so word of caution for people who are not big eaters or big eaters who prefer variety (like me).

Visited Cha today with a group of friends and was pretty impressed, and will definitely return again to try more of their extensive menu. <br/><br/>I got the Won Ton BBQ pork Vermicelli noodles soup, and it was alright. There wasn't much flavour to the broth, which I feel is the central foundation of a good soup dish. But the portion size was good! <br/><br/>Everyone was pretty happy with their meals, but not blown away hence the above average rating. The hazelnut bubble tea is also a highlight. <br/><br/>Interesting place, will certainly be back to try again.

I dined in here once only. There was a special dish for that night - barbecue ox tongue. Memorable dish. Loved it. Ambience was pretty different than a peaceful restaurant. Everybody sitting there were in a party mode and there was lots of noise but it gave me a sense of endless energy of life that makes you live happily.

I really love the cakes they have on display, especially green tea flavour. They are also so beautiful. My favourite thing from Cha is their congee, really one of the best I've had. Good bubble tea and steam buns, and the environment is really nice and relaxing!

Cha is a Chinese restaurant and tea house in the heart of Wellington City that offers a massive variety of Taiwanese cuisine, cakes, and tea (including bubble tea!). The setting and atmosphere is average, and the customer service is also average, but I love eating at Cha because of its large food portions AND the fact that the food is absolutely delicious. My favourite is their orange beef and their black pepper beef fillet! Always well made, fresh and delicious!<br/><br/>I also love their Death by Chocolate cake, rosebud tea (served with a teapot and pot), mango bubble tea and peach bubble tea. I really can't fault anything at Cha; everything always tastes good, arrives in a reasonable time frame and is generously portioned. The only thing I'd improve about Cha is their customer service to be more friendly and professional. Otherwise, Cha is a restaurant I'm happy to frequent for no-nonsense delicious food, all at a reasonable and affordable price range. :)

I should have written a review a long time ago, but I'm a regular and I love it. I have noticed changes over time, i.e. The most recent price increase (and new menus). But always consistent with food quality. <br/><br/>Favourite dishes: probably the black pepper beef grilled cheese (when this dish has the beef executed properly and it's nice and tender, it's awesome), duck noodle soup, orange beef (which could have a stronger orange flavour, but the beef was tender and had a crunchy outside like it should be) and the steamed dumplings. <br/><br/>I am (somewhat) happy they have increased their prices because people are obviously going to pay, and they are in a prime location so I can't imagine the rent is cheap. But the key thing is the service is always really great and I hope the increased prices will be passed onto the good workers.

Been going to CHA since I discovered it, Staff are so attentive, the food's exactly what you want from Chinese/Taiwanese Cuisine, the Atmosphere is unlike the other Chinese Restaurants you can go to here in Wellington.<br/><br/>An Excellent Selection of Tea/Cha (Chinese word for Tea, according to their drinks book)<br/>and it's loose leaf tea in real teapots.<br/><br/>I've tried a fair few meals on the menu, but the Congee, the Chicken Corn Soup, the Marinated Mince Noodle Soup (Taiwan Specialities Menu) and the Mixed Veges Meals are some of my Go-to Favorites.<br/><br/>can't fault CHA from any of my experiences, one of my regular places.<br/><br/>and the ONLY place I've found in Wellington that actually gives you a proper selection of Teas and Drinks that isn't all western typical cafe teas, such as English Breakfast etc.<br/><br/>Keep the good food coming CHA.<br/><br/>I'll keep coming back.<br/><br/>- Curtis

Straight up best place in Wellington. Been my local for the last 3 weeks and service is great.

Amazing place to have meal. Nice food and cheap price, spend less than 50 for two people with entree, main and drink. <br/>Try the dumpling in chili oil, and salt&pepper squid. Huge choice for drinks and cakes. Really unforgettable!

i went to cha for lunch on a Saturday with a group of my university friends. i found the exparience to be disrespectful of peoples dietry requirements. I order a soup with seafood dumplings which was described as hot and spicy. The soup was terrible quality and vinger was overused. The soup was full of pork and i cant eat this because of my beliefs and the soup was not advertised as being a pork soup. i tried to ask for my money back and they refused to give it to me. The previous time I went there i had a cake which was stale so i had to send this back also.

My friends and I had given this restaurant three chances and we are definitely NOT going back there ever. Food was bad and service was horrendous for all the three times we went there. The first time we ordered porridge and it was unfreshed. The second time we ordered some sort of tomato chicken and it was served cold. The last time we ordered fried noodles and some of the ingredients were half-cooked. The waitress(es) was very rude when we were providing feedback to them about how the food was badly prepared; her reaction was a condescending remark, "ok, so you want us to cook another plate for you or not to charge you for it?" Instead of taking the feedback positively as a way to improve, they just got all defensive and treated us as if we were intentionally complaining in order to get free food. That was the WORST dining experience i have ever had so far. THE WORST! There are plenty of Chinese restaurants in Wellington that are far more better than this one. I would recommend NOT to waste your money there.

I use to LOVE Cha (as in eat in about twice a month). Delicious milk drinks, fruits teas, amazing cakes in the front display and the food was so good. However, for the last 12 months or so the roast duck is no longer crispy and other dishes are no longer as tasty. Because of this I no longer go to eat but I'll stop in now and then for some take away cake.

Surprisingly great!<br/>- great friendly staff<br/>- delicious food<br/>- quick service<br/>- excellent tiramisu <br/>- generous servings<br/>- very reasonably priced. <br/>We will definitely come back to eat!

I went there on Sun 17 Feb. I've been here several times previously, but the service was not that great all the time. The attitudes of the staff vary, but generally they were not friendly. However, I noticed that the service on the day was very friendly and particularly one staff was very bubbly and friendly. I also noticed that there was a middle aged man checking the floor and sometimes clean the table. I wonder whether he is the new owner or manager. Anyway, my impression was the service changed a lot in a positive way. Food was good as always! I give 4 star today because of the improvement of the service.

I too eat here often! Great value for money - big servings and great selection! The Chilli dumplings are divine; Salt and pepper squid delicious; the shredded pork and tofu hot and sour soup (at just $5) is my favourite asian soup in all of wellington. Be warned tho - you might get lost in the menu as they have so many amazing choices! Great staff too!

I eat at Cha at least once a week. <br/>The staff are friendly and efficient. <br/>The food and drink variety is so big, that you never seem to tire of it.<br/>It is also fantastic value for money and I would well recommend trying it out. I particularly like the sizzling hot plate menu.<br/><br/>The new chef has made a difference, the food is now better than ever