Ruchi Indian Cuisine is an Indian restaurant and takeaway at 91 Jackson Street, Petone, in Lower Hutt. It sits at the eastern end of Petone's heritage retail strip, a short walk from Petone Beach and the Esplanade. It holds a Google rating of 4.8, the highest of the Petone restaurants in this group.
### History
Ruchi opened in 2020. The owner, Sherry, left an IT career to start the restaurant, launching during the pandemic with three people involved at the outset; the business has since grown to a team of six. The restaurant states that within about eighteen months of opening it was recognised by Restaurant Guru as its number one recommended restaurant in the Hutt Valley.
### Cuisine and drinks
The kitchen serves classic Indian dishes alongside Indo-Chinese plates, Indian roadside snacks, and seafood, meat and vegetarian mains. Butter chicken and a dish the restaurant calls Nawabi are named as crowd favourites, and the restaurant notes it is also known for off-menu dishes. A separate vegan menu is published in full alongside the main menu, which is a genuine advantage when catering for a mixed group. Ruchi is fully licensed and also BYO for wine.
### Service, hours and booking
Ruchi is closed on Mondays. It trades Tuesday to Saturday from 11.30am to 2.30pm and 5.00pm to 9.30pm, and Sunday evenings only from 5.00pm to 9.30pm. Table reservations are taken through an online booking system on the website, and takeaway and home delivery can be ordered online. Gift cards are available.
### Groups and functions
The restaurant does not publish function information. There are no stated capacities, private dining spaces, set banquet menus, group minimums or catering terms on its website, and the online booking system is set up for standard table reservations rather than events. The restaurant's own framing is around eating together and making guests feel at home rather than around formal functions. Any group booking beyond a normal table, or any request for a set menu, should be discussed directly by phone, and booking ahead is sensible given the restaurant's limited trading days.
### Suitability for group dining
For MICE purposes, Ruchi works well for a small to mid-sized team dinner or a delegate meal in Petone where the quality of the food matters more than the formality of the room. The published vegan menu and the licensed plus BYO-wine arrangement make it straightforward to accommodate dietary requirements and to manage beverage costs for a hosted group. It is not a function venue, so conferences and larger banquet requirements should be directed to dedicated Wellington venues.
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