Chocolate Fish Cafe owners look back on three decades

Thursday, 8 January 2026

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Inside the entrance to the bustling Chocolate Fish Cafe, a tray table has been set up. Condiment caddies, cutlery holders, cake trays and small ornamental Christmas trees have been listed for sale. Each item is priced at $5.

A sizeable number of items have been acquired over three decades of service and until the end of the month, it’s all up for grabs.

The final day at the Shelly Bay location is January 25, after the cafe’s landlord ‒ a company owned by film moguls Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh ‒ declined to extend the lease.

It’s an ignominious end to an eatery that’s been a fixture in the capital since first opening in Scorching Bay 1997.

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Owner John Pennington has hired a shipping container for the rest of the unsold furniture. He still doesn’t know where he’s going to move them to. Or even if he will.

The kitchen had its final day in December so when The Post visited, only hot or cold drinks and counter food was available to order.

Despite this, the venue was buzzing. Outside, children bounced on a fenced trampoline.

With a large garden filled with toys and games, plentiful parking and indoor and outdoor seating, the cafe is popular with families and seniors. It comes with a beautiful harbour view too.

Jackson and Walsh purchased the land in 2023. Before that, a controversial housing development was planned for the space, following Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust - on behalf of Taranaki Whānui - selling the land to developer Ian Cassels.

When the Chocolate Fish moved to Shelly Bay in 2009, Pennington and wife Penny leased the property directly from iwi. The building had been built in 1886, to house the Volunteer Navy Submarine Housing Corps.

With various art studios and quirky shops ‒ one sold pedal racecars ‒ Shelly Bay was decidedly bohemian back then, Penny Pennington said.

As the building didn’t have a kitchen back then, the pair set up a barbecue and made the leap to serving the kaimoana sandwiches the eatery became famed for.

John Pennington would write the day’s weather on a blackboard outside the cafe each morning. Certain Lord of the Rings stars ‒ still relatively anonymous back then ‒ would drop by to order food and walk their dogs. One customer told John she had met her husband at the cafe, back when it was a barracks for the New Zealand Airforce.

In 2023, a fire destroyed the landmark Sawtooth building opposite the cafe and things were looking dire, John said, when they were forced to close for months.

Despite navigating staffing woes and the current economic climate, the cafe pulled through the following years. The news last October that their lease would not be extended was a rug pull, John said.

In social media post at the time they blamed Jackson and Walsh, but later issued an apology. Now, the couple are decidedly more careful. When asked how they were feeling, they had just one word to say: confused.

The Post approached Wingnut PM, which manages the property, for comment. It previously told RNZ the building would be undergoing substantial renovation, including replacing the roof and restoring its interior and exterior. The renovation plans made it impossible for the cafe to continue operations beyond January, Wingnut PM said.

The Penningtons are looking at other sites, despite both being in their 70s. The eatery was their retirement nest egg, John said.

The couple met aged 24 while working together at the James Cook Hotel. They have always worked in hospitality, owning various bars and taverns around the capital before opening the Chocolate Fish Cafe.

Their daughter works in the kitchen and the cafe was very much their third child, John said.

He and Penny wanted to thank their loyal customers for the support.

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