Merepeka Raukawa-Tait: Keeping things simple is best

Keeping things simple can be like bread and butter, writes Merepeka Raukawa-Tait. Photo / Getty Images

It makes sense. If you have a winning formula, why change?

This must definitely be the case with the Green Parrot Café in Wellington. It opened its doors in 1926 and when I recently visited, is still going strong. People often refer to it as Winston Peters' Café, his favourite haunt, he's known for enjoying the dining experience.

Well good for him. People return to a restaurant when they know they will have a good meal and get value for money too.

New Zealand First Party leader Winston Peters at one of his favourite haunts, the Green Parrot Cafe in Wellington. Photo / File

On the midweek night I was there, my group numbered eight people, the place was humming with out-of-towners such as ourselves. We knew people at all the other tables.

So it's not just a favourite place for Wellingtonians to have a meal, everyone it appears knows the Green Parrot Café by reputation.

What makes it so popular and after all these years? You see restaurants come and go. Some do well for a short time then fold while a few carry on and on.

I don't know many restaurants these days that give you a plate of bread, the kind you make sandwiches with at home. There are plates of butter too with a bottle of Worcestershire sauce on each table. The sauce was liberally applied to the bread and meals served at my table.

But the knockout at the Green Parrot Café has to be the meals.

Flounder, oysters, scallops, whitebait, calamari, groper steak. If you're not into seafood then you can have lamb's fry and bacon, lamb's fry, kidney and bacon, chicken livers and a selection of huge steaks.

I don't know who would put away a 1kg T-bone steak though? All mains are served with fries and salads although most of my group still ordered eggs, mushrooms and onions with their meals.

It's your old-fashioned, down-home restaurant not often seen these days. The café doesn't pretend to be anything more than a comfortable place to eat a hearty meal with family and friends. With prices that won't break the budget and with prompt friendly service.

When I lived in Wellington the Green Parrot Café was an institution. Popular with people from all walks of life.

You never knew who you would run into, particularly later in the night. It's obviously still a popular place. Restaurants come and go but for the Green Parrot to survive this long they know the winning formula. Keep it simple and customers will keep coming.

Simple since 1926.