Best Eats at Coastella
February 21, 2019
Sunshine! (Fingers crossed). Awesome music! (Trinity Roots, The Beths, C.W Stoneking, and, of course, FOOD. It’s Coastella time, and whilst the Coastella crew has you sorted with beats, the Visa Wellington On a Plate team has you sorted with the eats. We’ve curated some of Wellington's best food trucks for this wonderful little music fest on the Coast, keeping festival goers fed and happy all day long.
Brekky - There are no rules at Coastella (except be nice, don’t litter, have a great time, etc.) so you can pretty much eat whatever you want for breakfast. We recommend Firebird Eats, whose food truck (named Gloria) will sort you out with their Breakfast Tortilla, Buckwheat Pancakes or Nitrate-free Bacon & Egg Bun. They also offer vegetarian and omnivorian burgers, so if you feel like eating breakfast kai they’ll be dishing it up ‘til it’s gone.
What’s new? - Come take a walk on the south side with South Cider, Wellington’s first cidery, now pouring at Coastella! Made with real fruit all squashed up in their Newtown-based cidery, they’ll keep you quenched with refreshingly tart flavours, like boysenberry & apple, feijoa & apple, crisp apple and special limited releases.
The Roxy Cinema caravan is making Coastella Daisies, a special cocktail using South Cider. Just add sun and music, and your festival experience is in the bag.
Also joining is Italian food truck Pane & Vino, a collaboration between Kapiti’s newest Italian eatery, Passo (opening in March), and wine importer Artigiano. They’ll be serving authentic Italian cooking for meat lovers, vegetarians and vegans alike.
Local Eats - Coastella prides itself on being local and Kapiti stalwart, Tuatara, are hosting the main bar with a whopping 18 taps serving old favourites and limited releases. Rumour has it the infamous Tuatara Landy in all its portable tappy glory will be pulling up too, and another Kapiti favourite North End Brewing are attending with their cult brew Become the Ocean Gose.
Keep cool with Paekakariki Pops, handmade popsicles made with real fruit, no dairy products and less sugar than your standard ice block, in delicious combinations such as Raspberry Lemonade, Avocado & Lime, Strawberry & Kiwi, Pineapple Coconut & Lime, Roasted Plum and Coconut Yoghurt, Orange & Raspberry, and Lime Lemongrass & Ginger. Sold yet? Yup, one of each for us, please.
Speaking of “one of each”, totter on over to Fizz Bang, Kapiti Coast’s purveyor of the region’s fluffiest clouds of candy floss in an array of pastel colours and flavours - 15, to be exact. Enough to raise the spirits of kids and big kids alike, because, at the end of the day, can you even call it a festival without candy floss?
Around the World - Take a trip around the world with this international food line-up: grab Spanish and Mediterranean tapas and big pan dishes at Chiwi; Malaysian curries, noodles and steamed buns from Hungry Monkey; souvlaki, Mediterranean burgers and salads at The Greek Food Truck; Mexican tacos and quesadillas from La Boca Loca.
Between the Buns - with Dutchy’s Burger Joint and The Dukes of Sandwich. Dutchy’s have a massive line up of burgers to smash - take your pick from handmade beef patties, crumbed or buttermilk chook or veggies and halloumi. (Don’t miss the infamous cones of Dutchy’s hand cut chips.) The Dukes are serving up spiced, cured and crumbed meats and veggies with lashings of homemade relishes and chutneys between slices of locally-made bread from Waikanae’s Olde Bakery.
Veggie/Vegan/Gluten Free - there’s no end of options to keep veggie/vegan lovers satiated. Kickflip Pizza has a dedicated line-up of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free handmade pizzas, and Elemental Eats have all the edible hook ups for those wanting kai free of meat, dairy, gluten and refined sugars without compromising on taste.
Carnivores - special mention to Meat Candy specialising in low ‘n’ slow cooked BBQ. Think smoked, glazed, short ribs, brisket, pulled pork and burgers with a side of slaw and salad. Their brisket is just like butter and is so flavourful it has Texans making favourable comparisons to BBQ back home (unofficially known as the BBQ State). So, be sure to meat up with your mates and fam. (Unless you engage in a meat-free diet, obvs.)
Dessert - A sunny day out is nowt without ice cream. Carrello del Gelato is hooking festival goers up with multiple flavours of authentic Italian gelato and sorbets. Whether you like your cold, frozen sweet treat in a cup or consider yourself a conehead, there’s a flavour to suit everyone like mango, gingernut, lemon, rocky road, berry, plus all the classics.
Refresh - The Roxy Cinema caravan is returning to Coastella with cocktails and mocktails, made by Wellington’s stratospheric mixologist, Ray Leota. Or grab a glass of natural wine at Pano & Vino. The Karma Cola family will be there (Lemmy Lemonade, Gingerella Ginger Beer, Orangeade Summer and Karma Cola) to cool you down. And of course, there’s no pick -me-up quite like a coffee; Havana Coffeeworks are pouring hot and cold versions of the sweet brown stuff from morning to night.
Tickets still available. See you there!