NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

<i>Ella Cafe & Lounge</i>, Ponsonby

NZ Herald
9 Mar, 2010 03:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Rating: 3½/5
Address: 118 Ponsonby Road
Phone: 378 7979
Website: ellacafe.co.nz

Heaven forbid that I would generalise about the English - some of my best friends are Poms - but I have to say the Professor has some mates from the Old Country who are on occasion given to whingeing.

Four of them visited in February and we had a pair
in tow when we went to check out the newest eatery on the Ponsonby Rd strip. This was my good fortune: if I slipped in my critical duty, I could be confident that my companions would pick up the slack.

Ella occupies the former home of Stella, which was evidently a very cool place to be seen. This will explain the fact that I never went there. And there are shades of Stella in Ella, and not just in the echoing homage of the name: owner Erwin Zimmet is a Stella alumnus, who grabbed the lease on the building when it came up.

The walls are lined with many dozens of bottles of wine, arrayed at attention. The effect is more gentleman's club than hip wine bar, if you ask me, but together with an eclectic and original wine list, it feels like a good place for a glass or two.

What a shame then that our waiter seemed completely bamboozled when asked about the right wine to accompany Pommy No 1's food choice. He looked around in panic and, having established that no one was present who knew any more than he did, fetched us a very thick wine guide from a shelf.

He was terribly nice, you understand, as were all the staff - with the possible exception of the unsmiling guy with clomping boots who kept looking at himself in the mirror and barked "Yes!" if I caught his eye. It's just that with all that wine about, I rather expected someone to know something about it.

The menu, like the wine list, is an appetising blend of the familiar and the novel. Pommy No 1 chose squid stuffed with capsicum and remarked ruefully that she "didn't expect it to be stuffed like that".

I toyed with the idea of asking her whether they stuffed the tubes of squid differently in the UK - from the other end, perhaps? - but it looked fabulous to me and anyway I had parmesan-crumbed sardines to attend to.

The parmesan crumbs beat the sardines and the result was a touch drier than it should have been, but I must have been in the mood for crumbs because I chose the excellent veal schnitzel which came with a delicate potato salad. Perhaps it was a nod to Zimmet's German roots, but it was certainly a cracker.

Elsewhere on the table there were good reports: the Professor was much taken with a piece of crispy-skinned snapper and Pommy No2 was delighted with his slab of pork belly which he said was "quite good, really" (an ecstatic assessment, trust me). Pommy No1 was looking a bit wan about the pappardelle with lemon but I tried some; it was great.

The desserts - we had one of each - almost deserve a review of their own but I will confine myself to saying that the Professor praised the pav. This is the first time she has had anything nice to say about any pav other than her own, so it is a matter of note. Particularly when you remember that her parents were Poms.

Ambience: Cosy
Vegetarians: Several starters, one main
Watch out for: The wine guide
Bottom line: Solid performance

THE BILL
$271 for four
Entrees $12.50-$13
Mains $22.50-$27.50
Sides $5.50 each
Desserts $12.50 each
Wine (five glasses) $48
Water $6

Discover more

Lifestyle

<i>The Blue Bird Vegetarian Cafe</i>, Mt Eden

08 Feb 03:00 PM
Lifestyle

<i>Red Brick Kitchen & Bar</i>, Parnell

14 Feb 03:00 PM
Lifestyle

<i>Kamakura Restaurant</i>, Bay of Islands

02 Mar 03:00 PM
Lifestyle

<i>Saison</i>, Epsom

22 Mar 03:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
Lifestyle

Why the ageing process spikes at 44 and 60 (and how to stop it)

03 Jul 12:00 AM
Lifestyle

Affordable superfoods: How beans can boost your health and budget

02 Jul 11:57 PM
Lifestyle

Woolworths issues major recall of contaminated mince

02 Jul 10:36 PM

Sponsored: Get your kids involved in your reno

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
Why the ageing process spikes at 44 and 60 (and how to stop it)

Why the ageing process spikes at 44 and 60 (and how to stop it)

03 Jul 12:00 AM

Telegraph: A new study challenges the traditional idea that we steadily age over time.

Affordable superfoods: How beans can boost your health and budget

Affordable superfoods: How beans can boost your health and budget

02 Jul 11:57 PM
Woolworths issues major recall of contaminated mince

Woolworths issues major recall of contaminated mince

02 Jul 10:36 PM
Princess of Wales opens up about cancer recovery's 'new normal'

Princess of Wales opens up about cancer recovery's 'new normal'

02 Jul 08:02 PM
Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP