WellUrban

Personal reflections on urbanism, urban life and sustainable urban design in Wellington, New Zealand.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Mystery bar number 67

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The previous mystery bar didn't take a lot of guessing, though it did attract a lot of comment. It's Alice, which used to be the back room of Boogie Wonderland but is now a bar with its own entrance (at the end of Forresters Lane, beyond Motel) and own theme. The Lewis Carroll concept isn't pushed too far, though it extends to some very pleasant cocktails, including one called The Mad Hatter's Tea Party: a mixture of vanilla vodka and chilled peppermint tea, served in a dainty china teapot with two matching teacups.

Mystery bar #67 - the chandelierToday's mystery bar doesn't have a theme: it's just a pleasant modern design, mixing the minimalism of sleek dark wood with busy wallpaper patterns in a way that's become quite familiar over the last few years. The one really unique touch to the décor is an immense contemporary chandelier, which makes the most of some original ceiling details that could otherwise seem very dated.

It's very light and airy, with a long straight bar and lots of space for both drinking and dining. The wine and beer lists are adequate enough but nothing out of the ordinary, though there's a good range of beers on tap. There's a full menu, with no discernible theme or regional cuisine to the fore, and while there's a slight emphasis on Irish whiskey, the drinks selection is otherwise fairly comprehensive and predictable. The general tone is moderately upmarket without being at all edgy, all of which seems carefully planned to attract the very suity clientèle that is inevitable for the location.

Mystery bar #67 - the bar

11 Comments:

At 8:37 pm, November 20, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Guessing that its the new bar on featherston street that was opening on the 20th. Walked past it this morning, but cannot remember the name. Just next to that new Untouched clothing store on the corner of Brandon I think.

 
At 9:43 am, November 21, 2007, Blogger Seamonkey Madness said...

D4!!
(Going by anon's description ;P )

 
At 12:33 pm, November 21, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can anyone tell me who supplies that light fitting? It's fantastic--and might just fit in with a current project...

 
At 11:36 pm, November 21, 2007, Blogger BarFly said...

Yeah it's D4, owned by the guy who ran the Black Harp for many years.

 
At 8:48 am, November 22, 2007, Blogger Tom said...

Monique: I'm not sure where it would have come from. It may be worth checking ECC, but it may just be some sort of building material custom-shaped by the designers (though I don't know where one might find translucent plastic chain mail!).

Hospo Bro: Aha! That will explain the Guinness on tap and the rich Irish brogue of the guy who was warmly greeting suited men who were obviously long-term regulars. Interestingly, when I saw that it was on the way I did a bit of Googling for the name and the name of the company applying for a license ("Your Round Ltd") and came up with a similarly-named pub in Dublin. Might it be related?

 
At 11:11 am, November 23, 2007, Blogger Unknown said...

Monique, the chandelier is made by a company called KayneMaile www.kaynemaile.com

 
At 1:40 pm, November 23, 2007, Blogger Tom said...

Thanks for the link, Farhad: that Kaynemail stuff looks very cool.

 
At 1:13 pm, November 26, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dermots delightful D4!!

Just had a lovely square sausage there for lunch.

I told Dermot it took me a minute or two to twig the relevance of the name.

D4 is the postcode for the swanky South Dublin area that includes Ballsbridge, Donnybrook, Irishtown, Merrion, Pembroke, Ringsend and Sandymount. So swanky is that postcode that people in D2 wanted to be reassigned to D4W(est)

Nice to see he's got Bulmers Cider on tap as well - looks like the cider craze that's been going on in the UK for the last 2 summers might be about to hit sunny Wellington.

 
At 1:24 pm, November 26, 2007, Blogger Tom said...

Yes, it took me a while to find out the significance as well, and it wasn't until I was happily roasting on the balcony yesterday that one of my friends (an old regular of the Black Harp) pointed that out to me. Apparently, it hasn't stopped some people asking for a Sake Bomb, to blank looks from the staff.

Overall, it's a little more corporate than the sort of bar I usually go for, but I've enjoyed my times there, and will make sure I try some of the more interesting food on offer. In particular, the Mars Bar spring rolls sound deliciously deadly.

"Nice to see he's got Bulmers Cider on tap as well - looks like the cider craze that's been going on in the UK for the last 2 summers might be about to hit sunny Wellington."

I used to drink cider occasionally, before I started drinking beer, but some of my friends told me that only Essex lads drink it (Essex? Where's that?!). It would definitely make sense out on that balcony, though does the craze really involve adding ice to the cider, as my Glaswegian co-drinker was doing yesterday?

 
At 1:13 pm, November 27, 2007, Blogger Seamonkey Madness said...

Tom,

Cider is nothing without ice! That is the only way to have it!
A workmate over there introduced me to it and I've never looked back.

The best cider for job though, is Strongbow Cirrus. Magnifique!

 
At 2:08 pm, November 27, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I wonder which co-drinkers were frying themselves on the balcony...

 

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