Kisa

I have walked past Kisa quite a few times since it opened and it seemed very classy as well as good enough to be always busy. I didn't really know more than that though, not even what cuisine it was . So when we were walking around looking at options we thought we'd see if they had a table. The staff were super friendly straight away and said that while they didn't have a table, we could sit up at the benches. We decided why not. Then we surveyed loads of delicious looking food come out of kitchen before deciding on a starting dip with flat bread and 3 sharing plates. It all tasted great, although we wish we'd gone for the chickpea dip instead of the muhammara. The lamb kebabs were sensational. Only other thing we wished was that the sharing plates came out together. Overall though we felt so well looked after and checked in on. The decor was also so light and friendly. Definitely a top tier dining experience.

We are an Australian-American couple who visited Wellington during the Fifa Women’s World Cup and came across Kisa simply by chance. We knew many of the places in Cuba street were recommended but my partner choose randomly… and how glad we were that we tried Kisa. It was the best restaurant experience we’ve probably ever had. We came along on a busy night and so the only seating left was at the counter; we were utterly fascinated by the kitchen and having the chance to watch them at work. It was cool to see the different stations at work, to see the meat sizzling, the salads being created. It all flowed. The restaurant worked perfectly and the wait staff were so professional, as well as kind and educational. The food was exceptional. It’s been a few months so I can’t remember each meal by name but I remember saying I wish I could eat the salad I had every day. We tried elk, which we hadn’t had before, and it was good. Just everything we had there was stellar. Thus, why, 4 months later, I just wanted to give Kisa’s staff a shout out because we’re still thinking about our experience all this time later. Hopefully, one day, we’ll get to visit again!

Great service and atmosphere with excellent food. We really enjoyed the range of different sharing plates here, with some unique flavours and dishes not often found in New Zealand restaurants. The art deco interior is stylish and comfortable and staff were friendly.

I've heard friends saying that the Vivian Street side of the tables are very noisy and they had to yell at each other, but we were luckily placed on the left side of the front entrance and it was quiet, the music wasn't too loud and we were able to hear each other talk, which was better than many other tables. Most of the dishes were amazing, The table particularly raved about their mozzarella boreks, the cured trevally was a bit too strong on the onion front but the flavour was beautiful. The brussel sprouts came highly recommended and the sauce they used was amazing but to someone like me who is very sensitive to bitterness, I could still taste the bitterness of the sprouts. My highlight was the beef flank kebab, it was beautifully charred while being juicy and tender. For the mains, the beef short ribs were raved by the table, as for the lamb, I must say since we've heard great things about their lamb shoulders, (but unfortunately it wasn't on the menu this time) their lamb leg was disappointingly dry. I don't usually rate ice cream highly on any menu as it's something quite basic, but we ordered all 4 desserts and the ice cream stood out by a mile, the chocolate was too salty, the custard was pretty good and the lemon tart was very sickly, so get the ice cream!

Love this place! The dippings, spreads, mezze, large plates and desserts are tasty! All meat are also Halal and free range, perfect for me and my family! We tried many and our favorites are the hummus and Lor cheese dippings, Mozzarella boreks (like deep fried mozzarella sticks) tabouleh salad, and lamb kebab. We also enjoyed the beef ribs, which was juicy and yummy. For the dessert, we love pistachio ice cream with crispy filo and walnuts. Can’t get enough of it. The ambience is lovely, packed with people enjoying and sharing their food. The bar is also cute. They do serve alcohol. I really love the dinnerwares. So cute and very Turkish. The staff is friendly and helpful. Service is great and fast, food comes flawlessly. They have high chairs for the kids and the restaurant is also disability friendly, from the entrance, dining tables and seats, as well as toilet. Parking can be a bit difficult as it’s located in the famous Cuba st. I Happy to be back here again.