Rata Cafe

Great little Cafe attached to Zealandia. There is a menu with made to order food and a display case with pre-made sandwiches and pies for about half the price of the made to order. Nice choice of seating. Food was very good and the portions were well sized, if you're a light eater you probably could split most things.

Lovely warm atmosphere in a glass room with views, although very busy at lunchtime. Life under covid has made service here difficult. We had to sit at a table (which was well spaced for social distancing) and have the menu explained even though we then wanted to go up to the counter to choose food from the cabinet. I observed a worker with a spray bottle wiping down the tables as people left. The staff were friendly and have perfected the expressive eye twinkle above their masks. I was surprised that a café in a family expedition place had gourmet type food at quite high prices but maybe it's a Wellington thing. I chose a box from the chiller that read raspberry & chocolate organic milk but it turned out to be a chocolate iceblock with a jelly tip which had begun to drip by the time it was my turn to order food. The restroom sign is tiny and high up so we completely missed it and went down two flights of stairs to the main one.

We went to Zealandia for our marriage anniversary and started our day with brunch there. The service was absolutely amazing: kindly staff, nice and prompt service. Food there was average and the portion size was ok. We ordered three mains and one dessert which just fueled us but not to a complete satisfaction. Overall it's a good experience.