>Monsoon Poon, 12 Blair Street, off Courtenay Place, Wellington
www.monsoonpoon.co.nz

Our first dinner out in Wellington was a bit of a disappointment. Whilst Monsoon Poon is a lively, sociable place to eat, with friendly staff and colourful decor (including signed plates on the wall from its celebrity diners), the food was a disappointment.

The shared start platter wasn’t half bad, with chicken wings, vegetable pakoras, spicy calamari and spicy minced chicken, but the main courses underwhelmed us. Helen’s pumpkin korma was so rich she could not finish more than a few mouthfuls, Orlando’s “two types of chicken tikka” was one type and a very small portion at that, and my South Indian fish curry was fine but not at all flavourful enough. Claire’s mushu chicken was OK, but Garry’s nasi goerng was pitiful. He soldiered on but left most of it.

Not a place to return to.