From Arbitrageur to Zibibbo

File under: drink, Wellington

First of all, congratulations to David Ritchie for picking Mystery Bar number 15 in what must be record time. It's Brix, which is a fairly non-descript hotel pub saved by a nice view out onto the trees of Willis St and St John's church. I've got to try somewhere trickier next time.

Meanwhile, another David raised the stakes on my New Year's Dissolution by suggesting that I publish my list of all Wellington bars so that I could "issue a challenge to see who can drink a pint or glass of wine in each in the least amount of time". While I generally believe that drinking is far too noble a pursuit to be cheapened by the notion of competition, I like the thought that the nice people at ALAC and Alcohol Healthwatch are probably sputtering into their Virgin Marys at the very thought of it. I still would like to think of this as an exploration rather than a drinking game, but in the spirit of open source, here is the list:

Arbitrageur, Arizona, Atlanta, The Backbencher, Ballroom, Basement, Beau Monde, Beaujolais, The Big Kumara, Bisque On Bolton, The Black Harp, Blend, Blondini's, Blue Note, Bodega, Bohdans, Boogie Wonderland, Boulcott St Bistro, Boulot, Bouquet Garni, Brewery Bar, The Bristol Hotel, Brix, Bull & Bear, Cabaret, Calzone, Cambridge Hotel, Capitol, Caucus, Chameleon, Chicago , Chow, Club K, Concrete, Confidential, Copita, Courtenay Arms, Coyote, Cue Room, Curve Bar, Dockside, The Dog & Bone, Dojo, Downtown Local, The Dubliner, East West, Eclipse, Endup, The Establishment, The Feathers, Ferrymans, Floriditas, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Front Room, Gibbon's Bar, GoGo, Good Luck, Green Room, The Grill at Duxton Hotel, Happy, Harem, Havana, Hog's Breath, Hope Bros, Hotel Bristol, Hotel Willis Lodge, Hugos, Hummingbird, Il Casino Piano Bar, Imbibe, Indigo, J'Aime Bordeaux, Jet, The Jimmy, JJ Murphy's, Juniper, Kazu, Kitty O'Shea's, The Lab, The Lab Underground Bar, The Last Supper Club, Latino's, Leuven, Liquidate, The Loaded Hog, Logan Brown, Lone Star, Lone Star Lounge, Lovelocks, Lumiere, The Malthouse, Matterhorn, Maya, Medina, Mercury Lounge, Mezzaluna, Milk, Mini Bar, Mixjah, Mojo Invincible, Molly Malones, Monkey Bar, Monsoon Poon, Morocco, Motel Bar, Neat, Occidental, One Red Dog (Blair St), One Red Dog (Kumutoto), Paradiso Bar, The Pit, Play, Pod, Ponderosa, Pound, Pravda, The Quarter, Rain, Red Square, Restaurant 88, Rouge, Sandwiches, Seam, The Shack, Shed 5, Shooters, Sojourn, Southern Cross, Sovereign, The Speight's Ale House, Stadium Bar, Stage, Stellar, Subnine, The Syn Bar, Taste of Korea, The Tasting Room, The Old Bank, The Thistle Inn, Toast, Trax, Tupelo, UU, Valve, Vespa Lounge, Vivo, Wasabi Sushi, Wellington Sports Cafe, Welsh Dragon Bar, West Plaza Hotel, The White Room, Zibibbo

The more observant among you may have noticed that this doesn't quite add up to the 154 that I mentioned earlier. That's because there's a handful of bars that are still under construction or just rumoured to be opening soon, and I want to keep them to myself for now, as potential mystery bars. Selfish? Perhaps, but I think a sense of enigma is important in life, and I don't want to spoil all the surprises.

Some of the above may no longer exist (I haven't quite finished the "ground truthing"), and a few are only debatably "bars", but as I said, I tend to err on the side of inclusiveness. Here's my progress so far:

Atlanta, Blend, The Brewery Bar, Brix, Floriditas, Hope Bros, JJ Murphy's, Kazu, The Last Supper Club, Liquidate, Matterhorn, One Red Dog (Kumutoto), The Quarter, The Tasting Room

I'd originally included Shed 5 and Coyote, but since I just had coffee and brunch respectively, those visits don't really count. Which means I have to go back to Coyote. Shudder.