First Choice Restaurant is a neighbourhood Chinese restaurant on Jackson Street, the main strip through Petone, serving Wellington's Hutt Valley side of the harbour. It runs two distinct services: lunch from Tuesday to Friday, and dinner every evening from Tuesday through Sunday, each with its own dedicated menu. The kitchen also offers online ordering for takeaway, with food ready around 30 minutes after an order is confirmed.
The restaurant's own 'highly recommended' list gives newcomers a clear starting point: salt and pepper prawn cutlets, served as a dozen and flagged spicy, and stuffed tofu with pork mince, six to a serve. Beyond these house favourites, the kitchen is known for its grills, a range of dishes so popular that they were brought back by demand — 'Our popular grills are back. Come along and give them a try!' is how the restaurant announced their return.
Operationally, First Choice keeps things simple and honest. Online payment is the recommended method, though EFTPOS is available in store. The restaurant closes on Mondays and on public holidays, and lunchtime online ordering is currently paused pending further notice, making lunch a dine-in affair for now. For a straightforward, dependable Chinese meal in Petone — whether a workday lunch or a family dinner — this is a table worth booking.
First Choice Restaurant sits on Jackson Street, the main drag through Petone, one of Wellington's most characterful seaside suburbs. It's a neighbourhood Chinese restaurant in the truest sense: a kitchen that cooks for locals week in and week out, serving lunch Tuesday to Friday and dinner every evening except Monday, with an extensive menu and a devoted following for a handful of standout dishes.
Everything about the way the restaurant presents itself speaks to a straightforward, food-first philosophy. There are no gimmicks — just an extensive menu, published separately for lunch and dinner and kept current, with spice levels flagged where they matter. When the restaurant notes that prices can change without notice and that photos are for reference only, it reads less like small print and more like a kitchen that would rather set honest expectations than win a sale.
Every restaurant has its regulars' orders, and at First Choice the repeats tell the story. The salt and pepper prawn cutlets come twelve to a plate, carry a genuine kick, and are listed under the restaurant's own 'highly recommended' heading — the kind of dish that arrives and disappears quickly. The stuffed tofu with pork mince, six pieces to a serve, is the other house favourite: soft tofu filled with seasoned mince, comforting and generous.
Then there are the grills. 'Our popular grills are back. Come along and give them a try!' is how the restaurant announced their return, and the phrasing matters — these are dishes with a track record, brought back because guests asked for them. If you're visiting for the first time, they're a natural starting point.
First Choice runs a full online ordering system for people who'd rather eat at home. Dinner orders can be placed between 5:00pm and 8:30pm, Tuesday to Sunday, and the kitchen asks for roughly 30 minutes from confirmation to pickup — an honest window for freshly cooked Chinese food rather than dishes sitting under a heat lamp. Online payment is the recommended route, though EFTPOS is available for those who prefer to pay in person.
Lunch is a shorter, tighter affair: 11:30am to 2:00pm, Tuesday to Friday, with its own dedicated lunch menu. Lunchtime online ordering is currently paused awaiting further notice, so for now lunch is a dine-in experience — or a phone call ahead if you're planning for a group.
A few things are worth knowing before you go. The restaurant closes on Mondays and on all public holidays, so plan around that. Dinner runs from 5:00pm to 9:30pm Tuesday through Sunday, with the online ordering window closing at 8:30pm for pickup later the same evening.
Petone itself is half the pleasure. Jackson Street is lined with shops and cafes, and the restaurant sits a short stroll from The Esplanade and the Hutt River mouth. The restaurant's own directions point you in via Western Hutt Road, Wakefield Street, the river or the waterfront — which tells you people arrive from every direction.
Whether you come for a plate of salt and pepper prawns, a serve of stuffed tofu, or one of the grills that earned their 'popular' tag, the deal at First Choice is simple: a neighbourhood kitchen cooking Chinese food properly, four lunches and six dinners a week, with the same care whether you're eating in or taking away.