Hillside is a plant-focused restaurant at 241 Tinakori Road in Thorndon, Wellington, serving modern dishes built around what's in season, what's grown in their own garden, or what's been foraged. The kitchen describes its food as meatless, vegetarian, plant-focused, or 'call it what you will' — the priority is simply making it delicious.
Because menus follow the seasons and the garden, Hillside doesn't publish its dishes in advance. Instead, diners choose between an Early Sitting or the full Hillside Menu, both served as set multi-course meals. A full vegan menu is always available with advance notice, and the kitchen can cater to many dietary requirements when given notice ahead of a booking, though it does use and store common allergens in its small kitchen.
Hillside's drinks programme is built entirely around New Zealand-made products, including house-made non-alcoholic drinks, and every wine on the list is selected to be vegan-friendly. Each food menu comes with the option of drink matches, spanning both wine pairings and house-made non-alcoholic pairings.
Hillside sits on Tinakori Road in Thorndon, Wellington, serving a style of cooking built entirely around what the seasons, the restaurant's own garden, and local foraging can provide. Rather than working from a fixed menu, the kitchen lets ingredients set the direction of each dish, which is why Hillside doesn't publish its menus in advance — what's on the plate depends on what's ready to use that week.
Hillside describes its food as meatless, vegetarian, plant-focused, or whatever label feels right — the team is more concerned with making the food delicious than with what to call it. That approach runs through the whole menu, and a full vegan menu is always available too, as long as guests let the kitchen know when they book. Hillside can also cater to a range of other dietary requirements with advance notice, though the kitchen is small and does use and store common allergens, so anything too far removed from the usual offering may not always be possible — worth checking ahead if you have specific needs.
Guests choose between two sittings. The Early Sitting runs at 5pm or 5:30pm only, with 1.5 hours allocated for dining, and includes bread, an appetiser, entree, main and dessert. The full Hillside Menu is a longer, more elaborate experience, with bookings available between 5pm and 7:30pm and around 3 hours of dining time, running through snacks, bread, two appetiser courses, an entree, a main, a cleanser, a pre-dessert, a dessert, and petit fours to finish.
Hillside's drinks programme mirrors its commitment to local sourcing: the entire list is made up of New Zealand products, and every wine on the list has been chosen because it's made without animal products, keeping the whole drinks offering vegan-friendly. Non-alcoholic options are largely made in-house, including a Kawakawa Cola, a house lemonade, and an NZ black tea kombucha, alongside Antipodes sparkling water and filter coffee. For something to start the evening, the cocktail list includes a Chef's Aperitif, a Salted Shiso Martini, a Native Negroni built around native New Zealand botanicals, and a classic Gin & Tonic.
Beyond the by-the-glass list, Hillside's sample wine selection spans white, orange/pink, red and sweet styles from regions across the country, including Central Otago, Marlborough, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Waipara and Gisborne, alongside a range of New Zealand craft beer, mead and cider from producers like Panhead, Garage Project, Cassels, BuzzClub and Peckham's. A broader bottle list rounds things out with fizz, white and orange/rosé options. Each food menu comes with the choice of wine matches or house-made non-alcoholic matches, so the drinks pairing follows the same seasonal thinking as the food.
Hillside is open Thursday to Sunday from 5pm. Bookings for up to six people can be made through the restaurant's online booking system, while groups of seven or more are asked to get in touch via the contact form on the website. Hillside also offers gift cards for anyone wanting to share the experience with someone else. The restaurant is located at 241 Tinakori Road, Thorndon, Wellington, and can be reached by email at [email protected].