The Crafts­man did­n’t take long to iden­ti­fy: not sur­pris­ing giv­en its promi­nent posi­tion. Here’s anoth­er quick one, which should also be pret­ty obvi­ous.

Tiki!The Watusi pret­ty much counts as Welling­ton’s first Tiki Bar, but this place has a few touch­es of tik­i­tude as well. There’s this lit­tle guy, of course, and the ani­mal print cush­ion helps. It has a smat­ter­ing of tiki masks and ukule­les, an out­door area with lush foliage and torch­es, and most impor­tant­ly, a drinks list titled “Tiki Cock­tails”. Heav­en! Or is it?

On the down­side for tikiphiles, it’s real­ly more of a café than a bar. It has counter food (as well as a full menu), take­away cof­fee and dis­turb­ing signs of a (shud­der) child-friend­ly atti­tude. The décor tends more towards Kiwiana bach nos­tal­gia than Trad­er Vic exot­i­ca, and the music is more Beach Boys than Mar­tin Den­ny. I also could­n’t vouch for the authen­tic­i­ty of their Mai Tais and Fog Cut­ters, and what’s this? No Zom­bie?!

Nev­er mind: it’s only tiki purists who would be put off by that. Sun, cock­tails, food and a sur­pris­ing­ly good beer list: there’s a lot to like here, and it’s one more rea­son to look for­ward to sum­mer.

Tiki cafe