Pan‑Asian charm takes flight at Madama Butterfly
Monday, 29 June 2026
A fresh flutter of colour has landed on one of Wellington’s quieter CBD blocks, with Madama Butterfly drawing crowds and new life to a stretch long marked by closures.
Madama Butterfly opened on Featherston St a month ago, under the stewardship of Apache owner Le Minh, and is situated where Avida used to operate.
Despite Featherston St seeing a raft of closures over the past several years, including Avida and Leuven, the restaurant had enjoyed a strong start, with good foot traffic and positive feedback from customers, owner Le Minh said.
“It’s been good, been really, really good. I think that's exceeded our expectations, especially for this economy.”
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Those who love Apache - which last year moved to Tory St - will be sure to enjoy the eatery, which offers a broader pan‑Asian menu than Apache’s Southeast Asian fare.
Madama Butterfly’s kai spans Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and China, with its most popular dishes currently the dry beef noodles and twice-cooked pork noodles, Minh said.
Both dishes were inspired by Vietnamese street food, from regions where the cuisine leans toward dry rather than “soupy” styles because of the hot climate.
“Our food still really focuses on freshness and fragrance - lots of herbs, chilli, lemongrass and coriander.”
Minh said he wanted Madama Butterfly to be a place where workers could get a healthy, fresh and enjoyable lunch — and have it served within their limited break time.
“We aim for people to come in and sit down, and be served within 10 to 15 minutes after they order meals, so they can still have that 25 minutes to eat and have a glass of wine.”
So far, the restaurant’s lunch service had been strong, bucking the trend of diminished lunchtime traffic that other restaurants had reported. However, Minh said most customers arrived between 12pm and 12.15pm, creating a brief but intense rush to get everyone seated and fed. “… so we’re just running around like headless chickens”.
The dinner service had been quieter, Minh said with fewer people in the area post 8pm.
With workers often working from home on Mondays and Fridays, the mid-week days tended to be the busiest for the restaurant, Minh said ‒ although last Monday had been “not bad at all” with 60 seated for lunch.
Minh said many of Apache’s former Wakefield St regulars had been delighted to visit Madama Butterfly for lunch, including customers from Deloitte, ANZ and the police.
While opening Madama Butterfly was a risk in the current economy, Minh said it was one that had paid off.
He acknowledged Wellington’s hospitality scene was changing, with many of the capital’s stalwarts having packed up and left over the past several years.
He attributed the strength of his businesses to his staff - making sure his workers were paid as much as he could afford, and that they received a free meal for every six hours they worked.
With the owner spending more than 12 hours a day working across his restaurants, he saw his staff more than his own family, he said.
“You can’t have profit without your team.”