Monsoon Poon

Monsoon Poon
12 Blair St (off Courtenay Place)
T: (04)-803 3555

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One of the reasons Sam decided to move to Wellington for work was because of "Monsoon Poon". I'm not sure how true this is, but I hope it wasn't one of her top 10 reasons... because this place was just as disappointing as the Auckland one.

(Auckland's Monsoon Poon is over-rated. The food is: mediocre to poor; and it really is not worth it.)

Anyway, we decided to try out Monsoon Poon in Wellington because Sam said it was "waaaay" better. Apparently this place is so good it does not take reservations. It relies on the ample amount of walk-ins.

Mathew and I arrived first, and put our name down to join the long list of other patrons also waiting for a table. Jeremy (our maitre d') gave an estimated waiting time of 45 mins, which actually turned out to be 1hr 15mins.

During this time, we had entrees and drinks at that bar. Mathew had the Aloo Naan, and I had the Pepperd Squid Rings. We both ordered mocktails (Punjabi Punch and Bruce Lee). The naan was nice, but the squid was soggy. The mocktails were not bad.

We were finally seated at 8:45pm. Our waiter insist we order mains and side dishes separately because her brain can't handle it.
We ordered:
(1) 25 Herb & Spice Indian Lamb Curry: probably the dish I enjoyed most
(2) Firecracker Chicken (extra hot): taste like chicken stir-fried with malaysian sambal... nothing that special
(3) Maha Rajas Lamb Curry (large size): tasted like rogan josh, and enough to share between two
(4) Butter chicken: I did not taste that

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Experience overall:
- the wait was long
- the food wasn't that special
- the price was ok, but could be cheaper considering the dishes were not exactly that exotic
- the service was ok. The waiter should really wait till everyone on the table finished before clearing the plate. Their eagerness to clear plates showed that there were patrons still waiting, and they want us to leave asap

Conclusion:
Food: 6/10
Service: 6/10
Value for Money: 5/10
Probability of Returning: 25%