Jeff Cafe Limited

About Jeff Cafe Limited

Jeff Cafe Chinese Cuisine serves a broad, generously portioned Chinese menu from 163 The Terrace in Wellington, with an online ordering system built around easy pickup. Customers rate the kitchen 4.6, and the menu runs from dumplings and soups to sizzling hot plates, bubbling casseroles and regional Sichuan-style specials — with a serve of rice included with every main. It is the kind of kitchen that covers both the classics and the deeper cuts of Chinese cooking, all cooked to order for the takeaway run.

The top sellers give a good sense of the place: pan fried pork dumplings with crisped golden bases, sweet and sour pork nuggets, orange beef, meat and vegetarian spring rolls, and chicken fried rice or noodles. Beyond those, the fried rice and noodle list stretches from simple egg versions to nasi goreng and bami goreng, while the mains span seafood, chicken, beef, lamb and pork — including hot plate dishes in satay, black pepper or ginger and spring onion sauces, and slow-style casseroles like beef brisket and seafood with fried tofu.

Ordering is a simple preorder-and-pickup flow: choose your dishes and time online and pay securely by Visa, Mastercard or PayPal. Hours follow a two-service pattern, with lunch and dinner Monday to Friday and dinner-only service on weekends. Vegetarian diners are well looked after too — there is a dedicated vegetarian section, and several tofu dishes such as mapo, braised and home-style fried tofu can be ordered with or without meat.

Jeff Cafe Chinese Cuisine: Top-Rated Chinese Takeaway on The Terrace, Wellington

On The Terrace in central Wellington, Jeff Cafe Chinese Cuisine does what good neighbourhood Chinese kitchens do best: generous, wok-fresh food cooked to order, with an online system that makes pickup painless. The kitchen has earned a solid 4.6 rating from customers, and its menu stretches well beyond the usual takeaway shorthand — running from soups and dumplings to sizzling hot plates, bubbling casseroles and regional Sichuan-style specialties, with rice included on every main.

A Menu That Goes Deep

The list is organised into familiar territory — soup and snacks, cold dishes, fried rice and noodles, egg foo young — and then a full run of mains across vegetarian, seafood, chicken, beef, lamb and pork, each served with one rice. Within that structure there is real depth. Alongside dependable favourites like sweet and sour pork nuggets and beef with black bean sauce, the menu reaches for dishes you rarely see on a takeaway board: hot and chilli fish fillets in soup (the Sichuan shuizhu treatment), sour mustard fish fillets, lamb tossed with cumin seeds, Dongpo-style pork belly with soy sauce, and braised dragon balls — the big Lion's Head meatballs of Chinese home cooking.

Hot-plate dishes arrive sizzling, in ginger and spring onion, satay, black pepper or house special sauces, while casseroles such as beef brisket, beef with Chinese vermicelli, and seafood with fried tofu suit slower, heartier appetites. Soups deserve a look too: wonton, hot and sour, chicken and sweet corn, West Lake-style thick beef soup, and a sweet wine and corn soup for something a little different.

The Top Sellers

The kitchen's most-ordered items tell their own story. Pan fried pork dumplings — five potstickers with crisped golden bases — lead the pack, with an eight-piece steamed version for those who prefer them soft. Sweet and sour pork nuggets and orange beef hold down the classics, while meat and vegetarian spring rolls make a quick snack alongside any order. Chicken fried rice or noodles rounds out the list, and the fried rice section runs from simple egg all the way to nasi goreng and bami goreng, with both rice and noodle options on nearly every line.

Vegetarian eaters are well catered for. There is a dedicated vegetarian section — mixed vegetables in black bean or Kung Pao style, Shanghai bok choy with garlic sauce, sweet corn with pine nuts, and the classic monastery-style Luo Han Zhai — and several tofu dishes, including mapo, braised and home-style fried tofu, can be ordered with or without meat. The menu flags gluten-free and vegetarian choices, which makes steering around the list straightforward.

Order Ahead, Pick Up Happy

Jeff Cafe runs on preorder and pickup. You order through the online menu, choose a pickup time, and pay securely with Visa, Mastercard or PayPal. Hours follow a two-service pattern: lunch from 11am to 2:15pm and dinner from 5pm to 8:45pm, Monday through Friday, with dinner-only service on Saturday and Sunday. Timing a preorder to those windows is the difference between dinner waiting on the counter and waiting in a queue.

For anyone living or working around The Terrace and Kelburn, it is a convenient stop: a wide, dependable Chinese menu that runs from quick spring rolls to slow-braised casseroles, mains that already come with rice, and a pickup system that respects your time. Order the dumplings first — everyone else does.

Signature items

• Pan Fried Pork Dumplings
• Sweet & Sour Pork Nuggets
• Orange Beef
• Meat Spring Roll
• Chicken Fried Rice / Noodles
• Vegetarian Spring Roll

Menu

Beef

• Orange Beef — Crisp beef in tangy orange sauce; a top seller.
• Beef with Black Pepper Sauce — Beef in bold black pepper sauce.
• Beef with Black Bean Sauce — Beef in savoury black bean sauce.
• Shredded Beef with Chinese Five Spices — Shredded beef warmed with five spice.
• Beef Brisket Casserole — Slow-braised brisket in a casserole.
• Eight Treasures Hot Sauce — Eight treasures stir-fry in spicy sauce.
• Beef with Special Sauce (Hot Plate) — Sizzling beef in house special sauce.
• Beef with Ginger & Spring Onions (Hot Plate) — Sizzling with ginger and spring onion.
• Beef with Black Pepper Sauce (Hot Plate) — Sizzling beef in black pepper sauce.
• Beef with Satay Sauce (Hot Plate) — Sizzling beef in satay sauce.
• Hot & Chili Beef (In Soup) — Sichuan shuizhu-style beef in chilli broth.
• Beef & Chinese Vermicelli Casserole (In Soup) — Beef simmered with vericelli in a casserole.

Lamb

• Stir Fried Lamb with Cumin Seeds — Wok-fried lamb fragrant with cumin.
• Lamb with Ginger & Spring Onions (Hot Plate) — Sizzling lamb with ginger and spring onion.

Pork

• Sweet & Sour Pork Nuggets — Crispy pork in the classic sweet and sour glaze.
• Pork Nuggets with Special Sauce — Crisp pork tossed in house special sauce.
• Pork Nuggets with Spicy Salt — Salt-and-pepper fried pork nuggets.
• Braised Chinese Dragon Balls — Large braised Lion's Head pork meatballs.
• Pork Ribs with Spicy Salt — Ribs fried with salt-and-pepper seasoning.
• Chinese Style Sweet & Sour Ribs — Ribs glazed in sweet and sour sauce.
• Spicy Pork Belly with Vegetables — Twice-cooked pork belly with vegetables.
• Shredded Pork with Hot & Sour Sauce — Yu xiang-style shredded pork.
• Shredded Pork with Green Capsicum — Shredded pork stir-fried with capsicum.
• Shredded Pork with Coriander Infused — Shredded pork brightened with coriander.
• Sliced Pork with Black Fungus — Moo shu-style pork with black fungus.
• Shredded Pork with Preserved Vegetables — Shredded pork with preserved vegetables.
• Pork Belly with Soy Sauce — Dongpo-style soy-braised pork belly.
• Pork Belly with Fermented Red Bean Curd — Pork belly braised with red bean curd.
• Pork with Satay Sauce (Hot Plate) — Sizzling pork in satay sauce.

Chicken

• Kung Pao Chicken — Chilli-and-peanut Sichuan staple.
• Stir Fried Chicken with Curry — Chicken in a curry-style stir-fry.
• Stir Fried Chicken with Cashew Nuts — Chicken tossed with crunchy cashews.
• Hot and Spicy Chicken (Bone / Boneless) — Chilli chicken; choose bone-in or boneless.
• Chicken with Golden Mushrooms — Stir-fried with enoki mushrooms.
• Stir Fried Chicken with Mushrooms — Chicken with mushrooms in savoury sauce.
• Chicken Cartilages with Spicy Salt — Crispy salt-and-pepper chicken cartilage.
• Stir Fried Chicken Gizzards with Spring Onions — High-heat wok-fried gizzards with spring onion.
• Chicken with Ginger & Spring Onions (Hot Plate) — Sizzling hot plate with ginger and spring onion.
• Chicken with Satay Sauce (Hot Plate) — Sizzling chicken in satay sauce.

Seafood

• Deep Fried Squids with Spicy Salt — Crisp squid with salt-and-pepper seasoning.
• Stir Fried Squids — Tender squid quickly stir-fried.
• Stir Fried Fish Fillets — Gently stir-fried fillets.
• Fish Fillets with Ginger & Spring Onions (Hot Plate) — Sizzling hot plate with ginger and spring onion.
• Hot & Chili Fish Fillets (In Soup) — Sichuan shuizhu-style fish in chilli broth.
• Sour Mustard Fish Fillets (In Soup) — Fillets in tangy pickled-mustard broth.
• Seafood & Fried Tofu Casserole — Seafood and fried tofu braised in a casserole.
• Stir Fried King Prawns — King prawns simply stir-fried.
• King Prawns with Garlic Sauce — Prawns in fragrant garlic sauce.
• Deep Fried Prawns with Spicy Salt — Crisp prawns with salt-and-pepper seasoning.
• Prawns with Satay Sauce (Hot Plate) — Sizzling prawns in satay sauce.

Vegetarian

• Mixed Vegetables — Seasonal vegetables simply stir-fried.
• Sichuan Style Mixed Vegetables — Mixed vegetables with spicy Sichuan notes.
• Mixed Vegetables with Black Bean Sauce — Savoury fermented black bean sauce.
• Kung Pao Mixed Vegetables — Vegetables in sweet-spicy Kung Pao style.
• Mixed Vegetables with Cashew Nuts — Stir-fried with crunchy cashews.
• Stir Fried Green Beans — Dry-fried beans; choose with or without meat.
• Shanghai Bok Choy with Garlic Sauce — Tender greens in garlicky sauce.
• Stir Fried Sweet Corns with Pine Nuts — Sweet corn tossed with pine nuts.
• Chinese Style Vegetarian — Classic monastery-style mixed vegetarian dish.
• Mapo Tofu — Sichuan tofu classic; with or without meat.
• Braised Tofu — Richly braised tofu; with or without meat.
• Home Style Fried Tofu — Pan-fried tofu, homestyle; with or without meat.

Cold Dishes

• Cucumber with Garlic Dressing — Chilled cucumber with punchy garlic dressing.
• Chinese Seaweed Salads — Tossed cold seaweed salad.

Egg Foo Young

• Vegetables Egg Foo Young — Fluffy omelette-style fritter with vegetables.
• Chicken Egg Foo Young — Egg foo young with chicken; rice included.
• Beef Egg Foo Young — Egg foo young with beef; rice included.
• Pork Egg Foo Young — Egg foo young with pork; rice included.
• Shrimp Egg Foo Young — Egg foo young with shrimp; rice included.
• Combination Egg Foo Young — Egg foo young with mixed fillings; rice included.

Soup & Snacks

• Meat Spring Roll — Golden fried spring roll with pork filling.
• Vegetarian Spring Roll — Crisp roll filled with seasoned vegetables.
• Pan Fried Pork Dumplings — Five potstickers with golden, crisped bases.
• Steamed Pork Dumplings — Eight soft, juicy steamed dumplings.
• Chicken & Sweet Corn Soup — Creamy classic with chicken and sweet corn.
• Thick Beef Soup — West Lake-style thickened beef soup.
• Sweet Wine & Sweet Corns Soup — Fermented sweet rice soup with corn.
• Hot & Sour Soup — Tangy, peppery Chinese soup classic.
• Wonton Soup — Wontons served in a clear broth.

Fried Noodles & Fried Rice

• Egg Fried Rice / Noodles — Simple wok-tossed base; pick rice or noodles.
• Vegetables Fried Rice / Noodles — Stir-fried with mixed vegetables.
• Chicken Fried Rice / Noodles — Wok-fried with chicken; a top seller.
• Beef Fried Rice / Noodles — Wok-fried with beef.
• Pork Fried Rice / Noodles — Wok-fried with pork.
• Combination Fried Rice / Noodles — Fried rice or noodles with a mixed topping.
• Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice) — Indonesian-style fried rice.
• Bami Goreng (Fried Noodles) — Indonesian-style fried noodles.
• Shrimp Fried Rice / Noodle — Wok-fried with shrimp.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Jeff Cafe located?

At 163 The Terrace, Wellington 6011, in the central city near Kelburn.

What are Jeff Cafe's opening hours?

Monday to Friday: lunch 11am-2:15pm and dinner 5pm-8:45pm. Saturday and Sunday: dinner only, 5pm-8:45pm.

Can I order online?

Yes — preorder through the online menu, select a pickup time, and collect your order. Online orders are for pickup.

What payment methods are accepted?

Secure online payments are accepted via Visa, Mastercard and PayPal.

Do the mains come with rice?

Yes — egg foo young, vegetarian, seafood, chicken, beef, lamb and pork dishes each come with one rice.

Are there vegetarian options?

Yes. There is a dedicated vegetarian section, and dishes like mapo tofu, braised tofu and home style fried tofu can be ordered with or without meat. The menu also marks gluten-free and vegetarian items.

Is Jeff Cafe open for lunch on weekends?

No — Saturday and Sunday are dinner only, from 5pm to 8:45pm.

Tips

• {"body":"Lunch runs 11am-2:15pm and dinner 5pm-8:45pm on weekdays, with a gap in between — order around either service.","title":"Mind the split hours"}
• {"body":"Saturday and Sunday open at 5pm; plan a lunchtime visit for a weekday.","title":"Weekends are dinner only"}
• {"body":"Orders are pickup only — select a pickup time online so your food is fresh and waiting, not you.","title":"Preorder to time your pickup"}
• {"body":"Egg foo young, vegetarian, seafood, chicken, beef, lamb and pork dishes each come with one rice, so no need to order it separately.","title":"Rice is included with mains"}
• {"body":"The pan fried pork dumplings (5 pcs) are the top seller, but there's also an 8-piece steamed version if you prefer them soft.","title":"Pan fried or steamed dumplings"}

Good to know

• {"dietary":"Vegetarian section on the menu; tofu dishes can be made with or without meat; GF/V items are marked.","payments":"Secure online payments — Visa, Mastercard and PayPal."}