It really is a disappointing pricing policy, in my opinion. So many other venues, for both sport and other forms of entertainment, offer discounted wheelchair tickets or a buy-one-get-one-free policy, as more often than not wheelchair users have to bring a friend or support person of some description. At $350/ticket (which is what Eric Clapton’s wheelchair-using fans were asked to fork out), it makes a good night out roll in at around $700, not to mention taxis/food/drink.

What are your thoughts? Should the govt legislate that all entertainment venues must provide discounted ticketing options for disabled patrons? Leave a comment below.

Recently, my partner and I went for dinner at the Matterhorn restaurant in Wellington. As we are not located in Wellington, this was a special trip for us. The evening was enjoyable, despite several hiccups. The food was good, and its presentation excellent. The wines were very good. The accessibility was, sadly, far less than stellar.

The Matterhorn Restaurant
Located at 108 Cuba Street, the Matterhorn is wedged between two shops on a pedestrian mall. Don’t expect a wide facade, the restaurant itself is reached through a long (and dark) corridor. Had we not known for sure that it was open, it would have been easy to think it was closed! The Matterhorn’s website (in Flash, may not work for everyone, some browsers are having problems getting to it) offers the food menu and wine lists (downloadable as PDFs only). It also talks about the history of the place. The Matterhorn is a restaurant & tapas bar open seven days a week. It won the “2008 Supreme Winner” as well as “Best Casual Restaurant” titles in the Cuisine NZ Restaurant of the Year awards.

The Matterhorn Dining Experience
This did not begin particularly well… We arrived at approximately 8:45pm. The man at the reception informed us that we could not be seated, but that we could have tapas in the outside bar. It was very cold and windy, and we hadn’t travelled 3 hours to have tapas… We hadn’t made reservations, because two weeks earlier, in an email exchange with the Matterhorn, I was informed that they do not take reservations. I was further informed that the kitchen was open “until late”, so that it would not be a problem for us to come by. I had been assured that we’d have at most 30 or 45 minutes to wait.

We were obviously quite disappointed by having been told that we couldn’t be seated. We explained the situation to the man, and he finally agreed, quite ungraciously, to seat us. We were seated at the very first table on the left when you go into the restaurant. This seemed to us to be one of the worst tables in the place, right beside the utility bench for wait staff to collect menus and clean utensils. It is also on the path between the kitchen and the main dining area, and is right next to the corridor leading to the cash register and the outside door. My partner sat on the bench seat along the wall, I parked my wheelchair on the other side of the table. I was kicked in the wheels no less than ten times during the evening, four of them by staff, the rest by other patrons.

As we were seated, the guy who “welcomed” us informed us that he would have to inform the other people waiting for this table that they were going to miss out. This seemed like information we did not need to know about, and made us feel like we were not welcomed at all. My partner and I wondered why that might be and were concerned that our service and dining experience may be less than ideal. Of course, it could have been that they were genuinely unable to seat us – the place *was* quite busy. But considering that several people came in after us and were seated for dinner, it seems unlikely. My next thought was that we weren’t “the beautiful kind”, not the right kind of people for the restaurant. My partner thought otherwise. She suggested it was the wheelchair. She might well have been right considering the accessibility level of the place.

Click below to read more about The Matterhorn’s below-average accessibility…

We were glad that our waiter was quite pleasant. He was available without hovering. At one point about 2/3rd into our evening, the music was louder than it had been when we arrived, and it sounded like a stuck damaged CD, jumping back to the same spot over and over and over. After approximately 15 minutes of this, I flagged a staff and indicated there might be a problem with their CD. I was informed there was a live DJ! Well, if that’s the “in” thing with DJ’ing nowadays, I must be really getting old… This went on almost as is until we left.

The Matterhorn Accessibility
I must admit, met disapointment on that topic. I had specifically contacted the restaurant a few weeks before going and asked about accessibility. I was assured it would not be a problem. Well… I could not call the Matterhorn accessible, but I guess I could assign it the label “usable”.

It begins at the entrance. Long and dark corridor, approximately 10 meters long. Someone with a visual impairment would probably have trouble with such low-light levels. At the end of this corridor is a set of double swinging doors. Each panel is wide enough to let a wheelchair through, although only just. But as there are no stable handholds and the doors are quite heavy, it is not possible for a wheelchair user to manage these doors independently.

After the long dark corridor is a dark space with no obvious purpose, followed by another set of doors. Then, a long, narrow and dark, although gently sloped, ramp. Barely wide enough to have a wheelchair and someone walking being able to pass one another. The person standing has to flatten themselves against the wall and turn their feet so they are parallel to the wall. Not particularly useful. There is no handrail along the ramp – someone unsteady on their feet, using a cane or crutches, would likely have problems going up it.

Then, there is the dining room. The tables are mostly along the walls with benches on one side and chairs on the other. It is also very dark in the dining room. Each table is illuminated by a wee lone oil lamp. This gives very little light, and it is flickering. The lamp must remain in the centre of the table if everyone at the table hopes to be able to see what’s on their plate. A little more light would have been appropriate and helpful.

There is a cocktail bar, where I was told in an email we would be welcome to await a table. Except that this bar is long and narrow. The bar itself is too high, someone in a wheelchair would be well below the bar and unable to reach the top. Someone walking has the benefit of sitting on high stools. But there is not enough space between the wall and the stools when people are sitting on them for a wheelchair user to move around.

There also is a tapas bar, which is an outside area, which doubles as a smoking area for patrons who are so inclined. The door to the tapas outdoor bar area is too narrow to let a wheelchair through. It looked like it might be a double paned door and if both panes were opened, then a wheelchair could go through, but it was unclear if this is indeed the case. There is a sharp change in level of approximately 10cm between the internal floor level and the level of the tapas bar area, which is not ramped. The entrance is right beside the bar itself with little room for manoeuvering. In any case, there are so many tables in that area that it would be very difficult for anyone in a wheelchair to navigate that space.

Finally, the toilets… I asked where the toilets were. The staff pointed me down the ramp and to the left. So I went down the ramp and looked to the left. The only door was the women’s toilets. I went back up the ramp and asked for confirmation that the only accessible toilet is in the women’s toilets. This was confirmed. I went back down the ramp again, and went in the women’s loo as a woman was coming out, telling me “wrong one matey”. I quickly explained I had no choice as this is the only accessible toilet. She did not appear best pleased. I was not impressed. The doors make it very hard to get in by yourself. The main door to the toilet area opens inside, and the door to the accessible stall opens outside. Both doors are so close to one another that it is not possible to get in and hold both doors open by yourself, and there is not enough space between the doors for a wheelchair to be located in that space when trying to open one door after another. However, once inside the accessible stall, things are much better.

Plenty of floor space to turn around. Handrails that are the right shape, height and location. Proper hand basin. Of course, there is the ubiquituous and expected toilet paper dispenser nested in the inside of the handrails… When I pointed out to our waiter after my “adventure” that it wasn’t really appropriate to have the only accessible toilet in the women’s toilet, he asked “why, did you get scared?”, in a tone that felt somewhat patronising. No, I was not scared, but it was embarassing, and I suspect that women wishing to use the toilet at the same time I was in there would have thought it embarassing as well. At the very least, they should put the ISA on the door to indicate this is where the accessible toilet is.

In conclusion
Despite all the hiccups, we had quite an enjoyable evening. The food was good, the presentation excellent. We would probably go back to the Matterhorn, but certainly not on a Saturday evening.

The Lowdown

• Good to very good food. Some dishes overly complex in their flavour and texture mix.
• Extensive wine lists with selections from all over the world, both by the glass or the bottle.
• Not particularly accessible, although usable.
• Some staff gave us “attitude”, we suspect because of the wheelchair, but nothing specific nor tangible led to that belief.
• Crowded, dark and noisy.
• Bit on the pricey side.
• Overall Accessibility Rating: 2/5

The Matterhorn Food & Wines
The menu is quite interesting and offers a wide selection of trendy dishes. Our waiter told us about the freshness of all ingredients, which is reassuring, but should go without saying in a restaurant of that caliber!
Just after we received the menus, we were given one slice of sourdough bread each, with a small container of butter. The bread was very good – I could have eaten more than one slice though!

My partner selected a half dozen oysters on the half shell to start. I picked a terrine of wild rabbit to accompany her. We both selected the same main dish: Venison. Neither of us ordered desert, opting instead for a glass of Porto.

The wine list is long and impressive. It offers variety with wines from most major wine producing areas of the world. Many choices offered by the glass. This great selection is both an advantage and a disadvantage – it is excellent to have such choice, yet unless you are an expert on all the world’s wine, selecting the right wine to go with your meal could prove to be quite a challenge!

Freshly shucked oysters served natural with a white wine & shallot dressing ($20)
The oysters were from Coromandel, and served on the half-shell which was then arranged on a bed of coarse salt. Unfortunately, the oysters had not been detached from the shell and my partner had to work quite hard at separating the molluscs from their shell. At that price, I would have expected the kitchen to do that for the client, so we wouldn’t have to fight with our starters. At $3.33 per oyster my partner found it quite distressing to lose oysters to the salt bed!
The oysters themselves were quite tender. Coromandel oysters, unlike those from Bluff, tend to have a rather delicate flavour. The white wine & shallot dressing somewhat overwhelmed the flavour of the oysters.

Terrine of braised wild rabbit with a light carrot & cardamon custard & spanish sherry soused mushrooms ($17.50)
This dish was very nicely presented. The terrine was made of rabbit meat in a jelly. The jelly was of perfect consistency, which was a pleasant surprise as most jellies used in terrines are either too soft, or so hard that one might as well chew on rubber. This was just right, and the meat in the terrine was very tender. The terrine was excellent, with a subtle taste that I wasn’t able to identify, but which was quite pleasant. The carrot & cardamom custard was also quite good, and very light. I did not taste much cardamon in it, which is just as well, as I think the flavours would have competed too strongly with the terrine. The mushrooms were also quite nice, and offered a third texture. Unlike the terrine and the custard, the mushroom had a strong and bold flavour.

These three different flavours on the plate were not necessarily complementary. The mushrooms would have gone quite well with the terrine, but they overpowered it a little. Each element on the plate was quite good and despite the competition between each group of flavours, it was a dish I would gladly eat again.

Denver leg of South Island venison with red cabbage & juniper confit, parsnip purée & fondant potato ($32)
This dish was also very appealing to the eye. The portions were generous, yet there was not so much food on the plate that it turned your appetite off! The venison was cooked properly, just a tad on the rare side of medium-rare. The cabbage and juniper confit was tender, and supported the venison well, it was not overpowering. The parsnip was subtle, yet held the other flavours on its own. It was quite soft, however, almost the texture of soft baby food. I might have kept the purée a bit more rustic to go with the venison. The potato was small, although more wasn’t required. My potato was a bit on the dry side, but not enough to make a big difference. My venison was extremely tender, almost melting in my mouth. For some reason, my partner’s turned out to be a bit tough and very stringy.

Domaine Denis Bachelet Bourgogne 2005 (Gevrey & Brochon, Côte de Nuits) ($16.50/glass)
This French Burgundy was very nice. Woody, with complex tastes of spices and sweetness. It went with the venison very well.
It had been several years since I had enjoyed a French wine, having embraced Kiwi wines since my arrival here. Having this Bourgogne (Burgundy) brought the point home that New Zealand red wines have a character all of their own. Kiwi wines are very good, and very different from French wines. Perhaps I will return to French wines more often now, thanks to this Bourgogne.

Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port (Douro, Portugal) ($20/glass)
Graham is a Port that can be counted on to deliver an enjoyable finish to any dinner. This 20 Year Old Tawny delivered, with hints of almonds, licorice, orange, and brown sugar. It was smooth on the tongue, with a long after taste. Definitely not something to gulp down! Ok, so $20/glass is a bit extravagant, but it was most definitely worth it.

Nic Steenhout is a qualified French chef who worked for nearly 15 years in Michelin starred restaurants, private clubs and 5 star resorts. After needing a wheelchair to get around, he focused his energies on accessibility issues and disability rights.

New lifts popping up in corporate buildings (like the PriceWaterhouseCoopers building in downtown Auckland, which we visited today) have no floor or call buttons – you now enter the floor you wish to go to in a separate console and it tells you which lift to take (the cars are lettered). If you press the button with the Universal Access (wheelchair) Symbol, it embarrasses you by shouting the lift letter (hopeless if you are blind because it doesn’t say where it is). Once you’re in the lift there are no floor buttons except to open and close the doors, which made me feel strangely like I had no arms.

Obviously designed for efficiency in car management, where the system really falls down is if you pick the wrong floor. You can’t just push another floor – oh no, you have to get out, find the console, punch (yes, by now you’re punching) the floor in, find the right lift, wait for it and get back in.

It makes you wonder if the nods who design them actually use them. What do you think – do you like these nouvelle elevateurs – or, like me, are you thinking nothing was broken, so who decided to fix it?

So in a nutshell, I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed that provisions aren’t made for a wheelchair user to attend a show with any more than one person. It’s archaic thinking, it’s beaurocratic madness, and it’s just plain insulting. I think the Civic is a fantastic venue, and Chris Rock will put on a great show, but it’ll be a lot less fun knowing one of my mates is sitting on the other side of the venue!

This bar is okay accessibility-wise except for a few faults.

I went to “The Outback” last night with some friends and getting in was fine, ramps and all, there’s only a few problems, such as if you want to order a drink or food and you’re in a chair, make sure someone is with you to get the people behind the counter’s attention as the counter is quite high.

I went to use the toilet, went to go through from the Womens and found my chair got stuck in the door! I then had to ask the manager (oooh the humiliation) to help me through the side door. So off we went out the front of the building, and in front of other people entered the front bar which was not being used.

When in the toilet I discovered the turning circle was not big enough for my chair to manoeuvre very well, anyway after that my partner and I plus the manager returned to the bar.

THE LOWDOWN:

• Friendly people
• Accessibility within the bar near perfect
• Plenty of room to move around
• Access to toilet unacceptable
• Not much turning space for chairs
• Overall accessibility rating: 2/5

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First off, can I please advise all Wellington-visiting wheelchair users to avoid taking a taxi van at all costs! Not only will TM Mobility Card not work (if you’re from Auckland, in other words you’ll have to pay the full fare) but get this, they tack on an extra $10 to the fare because you ordered a van! I’ve never heard of a disability tax before but gosh, that comes pretty damn close…

To top this off, the first key I was given by the lass at the hotel counter was to a room that wasn’t even accessible! It’s like, here I am, in my power chair, struggling with my bags, and she gives me a key to a room with a step up to the shower and no handrails. Thinking this was some sort of joke, I took the key back down and explained to her I needed a wheelchair-friendly room. Without the slightest hint of an apology, she swaps it for one on a different floor. So I have to go back up, and drag all my bags out of one room, into the lift, and into the room I should’ve got in the first place. What a mission! But hey. I’m inside now. Let’s take a look.

Of course, the deal-breaker is the bathroom, so let’s take a look at this first. I would describe it as no more than adequate, for several reasons:

• Check out the handrail on the toilet (pictured right, click on the image to see a larger view). What the hell is that?! I admire their creativity in fitting a rail into that odd setup, but it’s hardly ideal. Because the rail is so jammed in beside the toilet, it was hopeless for transfers, and provided no real help in leveraging myself off it.
• The shower seat, which is attached to the wall and flips down on a hinge, is really small, and at no stage did I feel truly safe or well-balanced. And I’m really skinny! Also, in the photo of the shower a little further down, check out where the soap-holder is. Yeah, I sure can reach that…



• Thirdly, the bathroom sink provides no room for wheelchairs to slip underneath it like the one so brilliantly designed at the SkyCity Hotel. Instead, it has a set of bathroom cupboards/drawers beneath the sink, which means your legs are constantly slammed up against it when you’re brushing your teeth. Unpleasant, to say the least.
• No non-slip flooring!

Mind you having said all that, I should be thankful they have rails at all… Shouldn’t I?

The bedroom is nice and simple enough, but guess what, there’s not enough room for me to fit my wheelchair down the side of the bed! So I had to leave my wheelchair in the doorway at night, and have my girlfriend carry me from the doorway into bed. Humiliating much? As you can see from the picture on the right (as usual, click on it for a bigger version), the bed takes up a large amount of the room itself, and whilst I might’ve been able to transfer onto the foot of the bed and then haul myself up the bed towards the pillows, anyone with cerebral palsy will know that’s easier said than done. That said, the bed itself was nice and comfy

Well after all that, what can there be left to moan about? Not much, thankfully. The living area of the room was nice, we spent a night or two in front of the TV watching Sky, and with a great view of Manners Mall, there was plenty of people-watching to be done! The breakfast each morning was basic continental fare (cereal, fruit, etc), as there was no restaurant on-site bacon and eggs was not an option, sadly! And whilst I may have let out a bit of steam in this review, the room itself was entirely inhabitable, but assistance was definitely required. If you’ve got the money, it may be more advisable to stay somewhere like the Duxton.

THE LOWDOWN:

• Cool: Great location, right in the centre of town
• Friendly staff, on the whole
• Not cool: Room was of a fairly low standard, random tears and scratches on the wall, and the couch had a faint smell of marijuana
• The bathroom was accessible, but not ideally set up
• Bedroom was surprisingly inaccessible
• Overall accessibility rating: (UPDATED) 2 / 5

I visited Hunter’s Plaza the other day with two friends who rely on wheelchairs to get around, and because I (to put it bluntly) don’t, they recommended I borrow one from the Mall, otherwise I would spend the entire visit unable to keep up with them – these are two very fast-moving ladies. Now, I have encountered difficulties at Hunter’s Plaza before while trying to do this, so I was reluctant; but, not wanting to spend the entire day floundering around behind my friends on my crutches, with sinking heart, I agreed and went off in search of the office.

First thing I encountered, to my absolute amazement and anger, was the spectacle of three flights of stairs leading up to the office. Unable to conquer this barrier, I called up the stairs in case anyone could hear me. Alas, after many loud ‘Hello’s', nobody came, and because I really needed a wheelchair, and because my two friends were waiting for me quite a long way away in the Mall itself, I eventually had to resort to asking a passing stranger to dash up the stairs for me, to alert Mall management to the fact that I was downstairs wanting to get their attention. This she kindly did, and returned presently to tell me nobody was around, and the Office door was locked. Thanking her profusely, I left and wandered aimlessly along the hopelessly long corridor leading back to the Mall.

On emerging, I found a Security Guard at his post at K-Mart, who advised me to go to the K-Mart reception desk and ask them to call the Office. This I did. Remarkably, the staff who a few minutes earlier had been oblivious to my cries and to another customer’s presence at the top of the stairs, were available to answer the phone to a K-Mart staffer, and my request for the wheelchair was relayed. Did I have any I.D., they asked? One of my friends had driven me to the Mall, so my driver’s licence was in my car at her place. Offering my house and car keys, even my crutches (both of which are perfectly acceptable whenever I hire a wheelchair or mobility scooter at Westfield West City where I usually shop), I was told no, they needed I.D.

Luckily, I had my Community Services Card on me, or the whole exercise would have been a waste of time, as my friend had given me a lift that morning, so my Driver’s Licence was in the glovebox of my car at her place. The card was duly despatched upstairs, and the wheelchair brought downstairs, by another Security Guard, who then made what must be the stupidest remark I’ve ever heard in my life – “When you’re finished with it, do you want to come upstairs and bring it back?” I can’t remember what my reply was. I think “Grow a brain” might have had something to do with it.

All this time, the two lovely ladies who had invited me on this excursion were waiting for me outside K-Mart. I learned later that the same security guard who had asked me if I wanted to bring the wheelchair back up three flights of stairs had at one stage that day asked them if they needed wheelchairs (this remark made to two ladies who were sitting in wheelchairs). This would be funny, if it weren’t so annoying.

My point (and I do have one) is, why doesn’t Hunter’s Plaza do what every other Mall which hires out wheelchairs does, and have a place downstairs from which to hire them? After all, people with disabilities sometimes like to go out independent of our able-bodied friends, and it must be obvious to everybody with even half a brain that three flights of stairs provides most of us with a pretty impassable barrier. Also, speaking of brains, why do their staff have so little intelligence that they can’t figure out that if they have to go upstairs to the Office for someone, that person pretty obviously doesn’t have the ability to go upstairs themselves? Who hires these people?!

The Grey Lynn Library: Situated on Great North Rd, the Library has ample parking with one mobility car park and a ramp accessing the library. Very tight manoeuvering inside the library, but staff are very friendly and helpful. Sad to relate the library has no public toilets whatsoever. By and large, the library at Pt Chevalier (a few k’s down the road) is a much better deal, full access, room to drive between isles and toilets as well.

The Grey Lynn Post Office: Not so many of these critters left, luckily this one survived the slash and burn days; flat entry, drive right in, tight manoeuvering inside but you’ll make it ;)  



Foodtown Grey Lynn: Pretty ordinary supermarket but good access and helpful staff, multiple mobility car parks at the far entrance which are well patrolled by the staff. 

Coleridge vs. Williamson: Don’t you just love the council… Observe, on one corner of the intersection the beautifully built kerb cut, wide, nice slope, couldn’t be better done. Now have a look at the opposite corner where access to and from the footpath consists of a couple of curbstones having accidentally sunk and tilted a bit. You can just make it in a mobility scooter but be careful. 

  Housing Trust NZ: Good ol gumint, if you expected an organisation whose raison d’etre was to assist the under privileged, downtrodden and possibly the disabled, please go and stand in the corner with all the other naive folk. Heavy slab doors with handles too high to reach, but that’s OK, thanks to the 8cm slab in front of them you can’t get near enough to try to pull them open anyway! Onya HTNZ.

That’s all folks!! – Watch this space for more trivia from the grey pimpernel

Previously a Planet Hollywood outlet, and this is the reason for its bizarrely futuristic architecture, I like this Starbucks because a) It’s close to Uni, b) its windows looking down onto Queen St provides excellent opportunities for people-watching, and c) it’s a wireless hotspot. That’s pretty much where the positives end. It’s just the same old Starbucks coffee; overpriced and well, rubbish, and the same goes for the food – it’s always the same old stuff and looks like it’s been sitting there for days, don’t you agree? There are also tonnes of pigeons flying around, inside and out – I even had one attack my muffin once! Not cool, guys, not cool at all.

Anyway – onto the accessibility stuff. You enter through the Skycity Metro complex (accessible through a side ramp alongside Aotea Square) and through two sets of heavy pull doors. Even in a power wheelchair these are extremely heavy, and extremely uncool. Would sliding doors be that hard to install? I don’t think so. Anyway, once you negotiate those, there’s another set of pull/push doors to get into Starbucks itself. I like push doors. It turns my chair into a battering ram. The actual counter itself is at a reasonable height, and all the food is viewable through glass cabinets sitting at eye level. It’s when you’re waiting for your coffee that things start to get sticky. Not only do some of the staff seem to have very poor spoken English, but once prepared, they put the coffee on this pickup counter which is level with the top of my head! Needless to say, this is almost impossible for me to reach, and even more impossible for me to attempt to grasp the cup and pull my coffee down without spilling it all over me. What’s worse, is the poor coffee-making girl is so busy making coffee for other people that she can’t hear my squeaks for help from underneath this towering counter. I end up having to ask a fellow Starbuckser for help, which is usually cool, but it doesn’t change the frustration you feel from not being able to reach your coffee when you want to!

Oh, and it doesn’t have a toilet, accessible or otherwise. Luckily, there are plenty of wheelchair accessible public toilets within the Skycity Metro complex, which, when they’re not being used for sex-stops by emos, are clean and very suitable. Use at your own risk.

THE LOWDOWN

• Wireless hotspot
• Neat modern-looking place, great for people-watching
• Lots of room to move, all tables are accessible, little lip to get onto the balcony outside, should be okay for most wheelchair users to get over
• Accessible entry, albeit through three sets of heavy pull/push doors
• No bathroom (must use the ones within the Metro complex)
• Absurdly high counter to collect your coffee from, can be difficult to communicate with staff to explain that you can’t reach that high!
• Overall accessibility rating: 3 / 5

We rang earlier in the day to book, and also let them know about my wheelchair, they reassured us that it’d be “no problem”. No problem except for the sizeable step up to the counter area, then another into the main dining room, that is. This might be fine for a manual chair user but for me, it made for one hell of an entrance. Luckily we’d advised them I was coming, as a table had been set aside with a little more room around it, most of the others were packed quite closely together, as is common with small boutique restaurants like this. Don’t even mention a toilet, even if there was one I doubt I’d be able to get anywhere near it without asking half of the people to move their tables to one side.

So while the entrance wasn’t ideal, and I was a little flustered once I finally got to our table, the staff were, to their credit, incredibly helpful and eager to please.. there’s something about a well-groomed man asking if I need assistance in a thick italian accent that appeals to my effeminate side..

Moving right along, the food was lovely and well-portioned, consisting of your usual italian pizza and pasta fare (full menu here), and the obligatory wine was even better. However it was the desserts that capped the night off, the traditional tiramisu being a favourite, while I shared some sort of profiterole thing; in any case, it was fantastic. Would I recommend it to another wheelchair user? Probably, but just so long as you have some sort of entourage and don’t drink too much. Definitely not first date material.

THE LOWDOWN:

• Beautiful italian food, good drink selection, amazing desserts!
• Reasonably priced (see menu)
• Quite crowded and noisy
• One step to get up off Symonds St, then another into the main dining area
• No accessible toilet. And if there was one, it wasn’t, well, accessible
• Overall accessibility rating: 1 / 5