2AWA: Best Late-Night Venue nominations
Here are the nominees for the Best Late-Night Venue category for the 2nd Annual Wellingtonista Awards (2AWA).
When even Winston Peters has gone to bed, the best bar to go to is:
Sure, town is banging and humming around midnight. But what if the bar you're in starts closing and you're not ready to go home yet? Where do you head to then?
(nominees after the jump)
A. Hawthorn Lounge
The Hawthorn Lounge reminds us of a very sophisticated lounge, so it's the equivalent of inviting someone home for a nightcap - which means you can cut straight to the sexing when you do actually get home. The smooth, unobtrusive service and the cosy fire (with marshmallows in winter!) will definitely encourage snuggling, and the cocktails are strong enough to help you make your decision on where to sleep that much easier...
B. Sandwiches
Sandwiches serves many purposes, from a quiet spot for an early evening drink, to a tasty restaurant to a full-on venue that places host to international DJs. It's the latter that makes Sandwiches such a late night spot - don't be surprised to see people stumbling out at 7am, rubbing their eyes bleerily in the sunlight.
C. San Francisco Bathhouse
Gigs at San Francisco seldom start before 10pm, so with a couple of support bands, it's rare for a show to be finished before 1am. Just as well that they're licensed until sometime around 7am then, because the Wellingtonista has seen a couple of sunrises from a couch on their balcony. They don't always choose to stay open that late, but when they do, good times and debauchery with an alt-indie audience are there for the taking. SFBH is also awesome at obtaining special licenses so they can be open on Good Friday, Anzac and Christmas Day, and it's very amusing to see the crowds of people from all over town show up desperate for another drink.
WINNER!!!
D. Mighty Mighty
Mighty Mighty doesn't really start going until midnight, and then it's hard to know when it stops. What's fantastic about the Mighty is its diverse clientèle (from hip kids to the Bridge and Tunnel crowd - although many would argue there's not very much difference there), and the tunes that get spun cover all eclectic bases. Your feet will hate you in the morning, but you just might have the time of your life dancing away the whole night under the mirrorball.
E. Havana
Havana and its many different small spaces is full of dark corners, and that's really what you need in a late-night venue, isn't it? Its semi-secret location (well, it's not on Courtenay Place) means that it's mostly not populated with wankers, and when the DJ's spinning funk you can dance dance dance. Several Wellingtonistas nominate this as the bar most likely to feature people who will try to pick you up in the wee hours of the morning, so if that's the way you get your self esteem boost, we're not going to judge you. In fact, we might just be at the bar next to you, ordering another caipirinhia and giving you a saucy wink.
For a handy map of where to find these venues, use the "latenight" tag on Zoomin. Go try 'em all out before voting opens on November 19.
Joanna,
Do you work at Mighty Mighty??
No she doesn't, and nor do I. Are you so down on it that you think that's the only reason we'd nominate it?
In reply to the other, anonymous commenter: you have to take MM for what it is: an intentionally chaotic, eclectic, bohemian bar and venue. The sound system isn't great, I agree, but that's because it mostly hosts live bands with their own PAs, and when they do host DJs there's generally not much call to crank up the volume.
It's a bit rich to criticise their music selection based on one night, since they have one of the most eclectic music policies around. From the date of your comment, I'd say that the DJ was TV Disko, who goes out of his way to dig up weird and cheesy delights from around the world. In his own words: "coke-fuelled Euro pop, Mexican yé yé, soft-focused French porn hits, chintzy British glam, saccharine-sweet Moog music, groovy Spanish prog...". Hardly the sort of predictable top 40s "bad taste 80s music" that half the bars in Courtenay Place play, but obviously not to everyone's taste: and that's the point.
As for cocktails, I find you have to choose your time. Early in the evening, when the staff aren't rushed off their feet, they can be very good. I had a really excellent Martini there the other week, and their house cocktails are fun and inexpensive. Later at night, stick to beer or wine. And when they've got stuff as good at Ta Mania Pinot Noir for only $33, I'm not complaining.
If you want great cocktails, go to Matterhorn. If you want a great sound system, go to Sandwiches. If you want a crazy, unpredictable night of odd music, odder people and late-night debauchery, go to Mighty Mighty.
That's true, perhaps he thinks I am a collective of hot people. It's happened before. Dave, which of the following traits do you have: dark-haired, scrawny, big-nosed, weak-chinned, issues, semi-bisexuality, more knowledge about something than I am?
I went to Mighty Mighty for the first time last night & I think it is one of the worst bars in Wellington - they make very average cocktails but worst of all was the music! The selection was dreadful but what made it even worse was the speakers - crappy, distorted, no bass... theres no excuse for hurting peoples ears with bad sounds - i could forgive the bad taste 80s music but when it sounds like its coming from a broken transistor radio at full volume then I just wanted to leave as soon as I arrived... Mighty Mighty Crappy Crappy!