Mystery bar number 20

File under: drink, nightlife, Wellington

Well done, Jo, the previous mystery bar was indeed The Cavern Club in Allen St. I had expected it to be a tricky one, as it hadn't officially opened when I wrote that post, but obviously some people keep a close eye on their neighbourhood. I also mentioned it in a post way back in July when the license notice first appeared: according to the owners, it takes even more red tape than usual to open an underground venue, explaining the long delay.

This week's mystery bar has a target demographic that probably overlaps with that of The Cavern Club, but I somehow doubt that the bar manager would take quite the same purist approach to making a Martini. In fact, while the bar shelves seem to be reasonably well-stocked, there is a distinct emphasis on a particular amber-hued beverage. It's also different in that, rather than being underground, it has a fairly obvious street presence. On the other hand, it's so large that by the time you get to the back it's rather dim and gloomy.

In contrast to The Cavern Club's emphasis on musical memorabilia, this place is definitely a shrine to sport. In place of guitars and album covers, there are team logos and signed jerseys everywhere. And TV screens: big ones, little ones, plasma ones, projection ones. When I was there, half of them were playing golf, and the others were screening non-stop hip-hop videos.

It's certainly not upmarket, but it's not a characterful old working-class pub either. There's a general feeling of corporate blandness that's reinforced by constant branding (carefully omitted from these photos so that it's not too obvious). Compared to other parts of the world, we don't yet have a huge number of chain pubs. Is this the shape of things to come?