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Nicolini’s
 26 Courtenay Place, Wellington802 4442
Good Parts: Reliably tasty meals
Bad parts: The specials of the day always seem to be the same and there are a lot of them. Just put them on the menu please!
Ordered: Tortellini Amatriciana $14.90, Orange Juice
Rating: 80%
Italian restaurants are such a cliché, seems like every man and his dog either owns one or has been to one. The phrase "boorishly contemporary" springs to mind. Well, it would, if I wasn’t crying fat tears of boredom. Now assuming we disregard the previous sentences, and we should, Wellington is blessed with a small, unassuming Italian place on Courtenay Place. It has a well-deserved reputation for good pasta at hot, low prices.
When I go to Italian restaurants I buy pasta. I’m a boring guy, but hell, I’ll go to the heaven of Italians while fish of the day orderers sit in one of the lesser circles of inappropriate meals. I ordered the Tortellini Amatriciana, which is tortellini served with a tomato, bacon and chilli sauce. If you like tomato with a spicy kick then this is the dish for you, I’ve had it twice from Nicolini’s in the last few months and both times it was delicious. To drink I had an orange juice, served with ice, I’d drink it again.
Good food, good prices and a convenient location will lead many to state with feeling "This is a good restaurant", but there is one more element that a truly great restaurant must have to be truly memorable: eccentricity. Nicolinis’s has a standard menu, five or so pasta dishes, four mains with things like steak, fish and the chicken, and of course entrees and dessert (I can feel the tears of boredom prickling my eyes!). But to make the menu reading experience an interesting time for all, Nicolini’s adds all sorts of confusing conditions and disclaimers to the menu items. Imagine reading a contract drafted by a small child with some claim to legal education. Is it really necessary to advise patrons that "WE DO NOT have any agreement with Diners Club Cards"? I smell a heart-breaking story here, possibly involving a forlorn plastic card, raised voices and red faces.
Overall I would strongly recommend Nicolini’s to those who enjoy pasta and are seeking a restaurant down town. I would however take the liberty of booking ahead as it is a popular destination.
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