Mystery bar number 56

File under: drink, nightlife, Wellington

The previous mystery bar was too easy: it was indeed the Bull & Bear on Plimmer Steps, as identified by a sheepishly anonymous commenter rather late one Thursday night. As the mystery bar posts have outstripped the opening of new bars, you may have noticed that I've had to slacken off the pace somewhat, and now it's time to bring out some real obscurities.

Today's bar is in a part of town that's not exactly overrun by drinking establishments, and that's one of the few reasons for visiting. Actually, it's pretty much the only reason for visiting.

That's not entirely fair, since although it's the sort of place where one might expect predictability and blandness, it actually has a sense of individuality and even eccentricity. There's a lot of wood, but not the Matterhorn or St Johns style of designer dark wood, but a raw mid-brown wood that can best be described as 70s faux-rustic. This made sense, given the eclectic and sometimes twee collection of objets d'art and turned wood candlesticks, but looked very odd in the context of multi-coloured plastic chandeliers.

The drinks selection was fairly limited, and I decided against trying anything too obscure. The bar staff were friendly and attentive, though perhaps to a fault since it made it difficult to take surreptitious photos, and they chatted away at length to another customer about the difficulty of getting a park in that part of the city. I get the feeling that it's a family-run establishment, which would account for the almost charmingly random decor. I emphasise the "almost", and although with a bit of work the owners could make it into a livelier place a good little local, I suppose they have other priorities.