Munch

Guy van Egmond

Nau mai and welkom to Munch, your weekly guide to a bite to eat that won’t devour your budget. I’ll be your taste-tester of Wellington’s finest frugality; your penny-pinching truffle-pig to hunt down dining deals. My appetite is both discerning and decent, so if I’m full, trust that you will be too. But besides taste and portions, I also want to share the places in town that look after you—that feel homely (or surprisingly swanky)—and those that make their meals accessible. However, above all, Munch is concerned with value. 

It pisses me off when food blogs tout deals such as half-price oysters or an $8 bao bun. I’m sure these have a demographic, but if I’m looking for a meal—one of those three-times-a-day affairs—then a gourmet little taster is useless to me. 

Of course, a column about where to eat out will nonetheless cater to a select audience. I am very fortunate that I’ve never truly had to worry about having the money to feed myself, while for other people this is a very regular concern. So Munch will be as much a challenge as it is fun, because I want to find the places that truly anyone could eat at. 

A meal cooked by someone else can be a joy, a convenience—a form of art that sustains you. Bourdain once said something along the lines of, as a chef, I am in the pleasure business. And who doesn’t deserve some pleasure in these trying times? 

Everybody Eats

What: Three-course menu (rotates daily)

Price: Pay-what-you-can

When: Sun–Wed; 6:00–8:00pm

Where: 60 Dixon Street

A safe and socially-conscious place to turn, early in the week. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Let’s start the year with a staple in the heart of the city: Everybody Eats. Just off Cuba Street, this “social dining concept” is open four evenings a week, serving a set three-course menu that changes each day. Each meal is made primarily with rescued food from businesses and charities—what’s donated dictates what’s plated. The cuisine tends to reflect what’s available elsewhere in Wellington: largely Western/European or Asian-fusion fare, always with a vegetarian option. 

On the menu tonight was, to start, bruschetta topped with an avocado-ricotta cream and a tomato-and-pineapple salsa. This was followed by a ham and potato cabbage parcel with creamed chard & orange slaw (vegetarians could swap the ham for green beans), and a banana caramel cake for dessert. 

As meals go, this covered a real dietary range. Everybody Eats will get you your 5-a-day and makes for a dependably tasty, nutritious dinner. The bruschetta was a nice little canapé—nothing radical, but the balance of bright salsa on a smooth cream was well-paired. 

The main course was quite light, mostly salty and creamy in flavour, but it had something homely to it, and the orange slaw brought much needed colour and brightness, like the starter’s salsa. 

The fluffy banana caramel cake was—surprisingly—not too sweet and complemented well by a yogurt drizzle. However, the cake was also the most filling course of the meal, and the bar for that was low. The bruschetta was, in fact, one bruschetta, and the ham parcel was a singular, neat package. Everybody Eats has an incredibly high turnover and they stretch the food they receive a long way, but this does result in portions that err small. 

That is my only critique. It’s a dependable place for a healthy, homely meal that does good beyond just your belly. Their open-plan dining area aims to tackle social isolation and leads to fascinating conversations between people from across in the city. Each meal is offered on a pay-what-you-can basis, so those with more can cover their own meal and another’s, while those with less can eat easy. If you have the cash or time, I encourage you to pay or volunteer for a night. But if you don’t, know that here you will be looked after.