La Capilla Restaurant

As usual, La Capilla provided a luxurious and affordable night out with its sumptuous cuisine, wine and surroundings.

Great friendly service, food was amazing.
Our out of town guests loved it.
Will be back.

As always we had a lovely meal. The chef is one of the best in the area and at first table prices it’s amazing value

Very nice restaurant and waitress very informative

Four of us had an evening of excellent food at La Capilla. The Japanese chef has won awards and they are well deserved. Two of us had a very light, tasty gazpacho soup with prawns. Not too filling so room for another course. Another had the tuna with a Japanese/Spanish fusion which melted in the mouth and the 4th person's entre was the salmon with the most amazing green apple sorbet. Oh, and the buckwheat bread rolls were divine. Could've eaten lots.
Three diners chose the market fish which was hapuka in a delicious red pepper sauce and homemade gnocchi. And the 4th diner had the lamb which was cooked to perfection and melted in the mouth with the perfect flavours of mint and rosemary.
We didn't have dessert as we were too full!
It is a restaurant that deserves to be full every night. But on a Friday evening in March there were only 3 table occupied. Perhaps it is busier at lunchtimes. There was a large garden with tables and chairs which would be lovely on a warm day. The staff were helpful and friendly but not intrusive in any way. You do need a car to get there as it is out on the main highway from Nelson to Mapua. Well worth a visit.

Lovely meal at this wonderful little restaurant

Lovely evening with friends with great food

On Wednesday night we went with three family members.
In a calm atmosphere like an old church,
Because the serviceof the staff were polite but not pretentious, that was made us relax and enjoy the meal. Every dish made me feel the love of the chef's ingredients and the gentleness for his guest, which made me very happy. The wine was also delicious. Thank you

Lovely place. Good food and service.

Another awesome First Table experience! La Capilla is unique and charming in a converted little old church in a lovely country setting. My lamb was cooked perfectly as was my partner’s duck. Our waitress was friendly and attentive and we enjoyed dining in a calm atmosphere.

Great time ! We had an nice spot on the outside tables !

A lovely experience albeit the restaurant was very quiet so lacked a little atmosphere but this did not in any way effect enjoying super food. Would happily return.

Beautiful evening with doors open to garden, devine food and attentive and pleasant staff. thank you

Excellent food and amazing service, plus what a beautiful location. We had a great time

Superb celebratory meal! We were two couples celebrating our collective good health. La Capilla gave us the complete fine dining experience: warm welcome, personable service, excellent wine and delicious food. Our choices were varied; everything from starters, entrees, sides to desserts was beautifully presented and tasted wonderful. We sampled fish, meat and vegetarian, all faultless. We have all eaten here before and marvel at the consistently high standard and creativity of the food on offer. Our compliments and thanks to the chef!

Amazing wee gem to find on our mini break. The food was so fresh clean and tasty. The staff were attentive and friendly. Would highly recommend

Absolutely amazing, couldn't fault.
Food was delicious and appealing to the eye.
Great service, friendly and attentive.
When found it was my birthday, they wrote happy birthday on my dessert and put in a candle, sweet way to end the night.
Will be back again

The service and food were absolutely outstanding. We cannot recommend highly enough. Beautiful outdoor seating available. A definite must to visit.

I had the most wonderful evening dining here with my partner to celebrate my birthday. The food was outstanding, the House Smoked Salmon I had as an Entrée was to die for.
Staff are very attentive and knowledgeable and were helpful with my dietary requirements.
Thanks team La Capilla was such a treat to eat beautifully prepared food after not dining out for over 6 months due to health reasons.
I highly recommend this restaurant especially for a special occasion and would love to come for lunch next time.

Yet again an outstanding evening of food and wine. We took some Australian friends to dine at La Capilla and they were very impressed and can't wai to go back again. The variety of food produced was first class and had wonderful flavours. How this place is not full every night I have no idea.

Lovely venue with a good menu choice. The meals were beautifully presented and cooked to perfection. The service received from the wait staff was actually the best I've experienced in the Nelson region. Highly recommended.

This was the third time we have dined there and once again, the food was absolutely stunning. Great presentation of the food, and the taste and quality is amazing not to mention the size of some of the servings. ( I had the Eggplant special as entree, salad included). Staff once again were very friendly and attentive. All added up to a very enjoyable and satisfying evening

Absolutely first-class food, wine and total experience! This is an exceptional restaurant and we love eating here.

My friend and I had a wonderful meal. The food was delicious, and the attentive service and lovely surroundings contributed to a special night out. Thank you.

Delicious food and great service. Best choice in Richmond by far.

Yet another outstanding meal at one of Nelson's best kept secrets. The food was of a very high level the tuna main was cooked perfectly and oused class. The lamb rump was pink and again just melted away. This Chef must be easily one of the best in Nelson. Can't wait for my next visit.

Superb degustation menu; all food beautifully prepared and presented + excellent service. We have dined at La Capilla on a number of occasions and the food has always been exceptional - rate it as the best restaurant in Nelson with the bonus of being set in a beautiful historic church. We’ll be back!!

We had an unconventional meal, 2 entrees and a dessert. They were very obliging, the service was great and the food fantastic. We will definitely be returning.

We loved dining at La Capilla. There aren't many places in Nelson where you can get a fabulous 5 course meal. We will be back!

Great food and great atmosphere, with live spanish/baroque guitar. Food beautifully cooked and presented with lovely fresh flavours

Graeme & Chrissy

Delicious as always and my favourite restaurant in Nelson hands down !!

Good food and service once again thank you!

Very quiet restaurant and in a little cottage-like building in the country. Really enjoyed the good and the service, would only recommend a better wine selection!

As always great food and friendly service at La Capilla.
Would highly recommend.

This was our first time using first table. At La Capilla the food was delicious and the environment cosy. Wait staff were friendly and non intrusive.
Overall a wonderful experience.

Simply beautiful food. Love the flavours, preparation. Everything was so nice!

The food was fantastic! Most amazing flavors and the steaks were perfectly cooked. We really enjoyed our evening.

We came here for my birthday really enjoyed the food it was beautiful and so tasty. The service was great polite speedy and helpful. I reccomend the duck it was cooked really nice. Thanks again and we will be back

This was our first time using First Table and it has proved to be a wonderful initiative! We booked our weekly 'date night' dinner as La Capilla had good reviews on Google especially for a romantic experience. We were not disappointed. On arrival we were greeted very friendly and professionally and seated close to a beautiful warm fire place. This was perfect as it was raining this night. The waitress was very curious and attentive, but never bothering us. They had a 'special of the day' priced very reasonably which we took as our starter. The dish was beautifully assembled with flavours of Tamarillo and chili sorbet complimenting the Gurnard fish. For mains we had the Lamb and Ribeye. The lamb cutlets had a delicious grilled flavour set on lentils and Bulgar wheat with a soft curried flavour. The Ribeye was a large portion perfectly prepared and accompanied by a smokey crisp potato croquette the size of my palm. To finish the meal we had to choose between 4 dessert options, but being so full already we shared the Cremé Brule. Any French chef would have given it a 5/5, but the trophy on this dessert was the strawberry sorbet. The texture was smooth and creamy and bursting with flavour. I would go back just for that!
The restaurant was quiet being a midweek night, but cozy. It would be nice to have cushions on the chairs as they are wooden and becomes rather hard after an hour or 2.
We will definitely be back to try more of the chef's wonderful creations, especially in summer when you can sit outside in the sunshine. Well done!
Odette&Arthur Petzold

Food was tasty but some strange flavour combinations, trying to mix Spanish and Japanese flavours....
Very expensive with small servings. There are plenty of better restaurants in Nelson that don't charge half as much...

Delicious as always !

An excellent dining experience at La Capilla. We opted for the degustation menu. We were not disappointed! The smoked pumpkin soup and home baked rolls were delicious. The second course was outstanding with a surprising tamarillo/chilli sorbet. The Ox cheek, pan fried fish, and lamb rump were tasty and beautifully presented, all with creative sauces and fresh, local ingredients. The green tea cream cheesecake was a sensational final. Thanks to Rie and her colleagues for top class service. La Capilla is definitely the best local restaurant in this price range. Highly recommended.

Wonderful food, maybe the best in the Nelson area. You could taste how fresh and well prepared everything was. Well trained and highly experienced chef, and it shows. Full prices rival the more expensive places in town, but at first table prices, this is hard to beat! Plus, the old chapel atmosphere felt special (and quiet, unlike some other noisy bistros). We'll be back for sure!

We had the five course Degustation menu for $59 each. Interesting flavours and tried things that I wouldn’t usually order.

This is a delightful local restaurant with delicious meals & fabulous service. The Spanish guitarist was also excellent & added to the ambiance. All in all a very positive dining experience.

Service was great, food tasted amazing and so nicely presented

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Food was beautifully presented as usual. Service was ok - obviously one waitress was learning and was being incredibly particular to get our order right which is both good and a tad annoying. I always enjoy the peaceful atmosphere at La Capilla, but it was Friday night and there was guitarist playing. He was good but at times was too loud for us to enjoy our conversation.

Beautiful meal and superb, friendly and welcoming service. Cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough.
Home made bread, perfectly cooked and beautifully presented food, the best ever creme brûlée. Thank you for a memorable evening.

Quiet and cosy, great atmosphere. We loved the food and the guitar was amazing!