Dessert anyone?
I’ve been thinking about the fabulous desserts I’ve had in recent times around Wellington (prompted by another couple of really good inhalings over the weekend). I think we’re pretty spoilt with the number and variety of options frankly. Some that stick in my mind (and I do confess to eating a few, so these truly […]
Birthdays, beer and burgers
I hope you all had wonderful long weekends (or at least parts of it if having to work). So many memorable eats and drinks this week, I’ll try and be succinct. But what a wonderful reminder of the diversity and opportunities in Wellington City. Matterhorn are having their 50th birthday celebrations over the next month, […]
Review: Etiquette
A man and a woman sit across a table from one another at a Wellington cafe. He’s making something from a ball of Blu-tack, she’s drawing something with chalk. The latest production from Downstage, Etiquette, does things a little differently. Gone is the familiar location of the Hannah Playhouse. Instead the action takes place at […]
If you can use some exotic booze…
…there’s a bar in Cuba Mall. Okay, so that doesn’t swing quite as well as the original, but those with a longing for outrageous costumes and hard drinking, but who can’t stomach the Sevens, ought to know that it’s Tiki Bar weekend at Matterhorn.
That’s right: you have one more night to savour concoctions based on classics by Trader Vic and Beachbum Berry; bar staff dressed as Hawaiian deities; bubbling cauldrons of lethally refreshing punch; and some of the cheesiest slices of lounge exotica ever committed to vinyl.
Bars and Bites
This is in the vein of The Wellingtonista Bar Fly-les, but I thought I’d give it another name since it’s about food & coffee as well as drink.
- Have I been unobservant, or has Offbeat Originals only just started offering lamb as an option in their famous burgers? And tapenade as an accompaniment?! [insert drooling noises here]
- The Buena Vista Social Club seems to have been successful as a certain mayoral campaign. It has closed (rather inconveniently for certain fringe shows), though it is apparently due to reopen as a gay bar called S&M. No comment.
- If you’ve been putting off enjoying Simply Paris’ excellent cassoulet, patisserie, Merguez frites baguettes or pain perdu by their bizarre choice of “Nespresso” in place of coffee, then rejoice! for they now have a proper espresso machine and Orb coffee. You’ll still have to put up with the twee décor and occasionally slow service, though the more than occasional hotness of their staff should make up for the latter.
- Forgive me for shouting, but … TIKI TIKI TIKI! It’s not quite the proper Tiki Bar that the Wellingtonista have long been gagging for, but Matterhorn are having a Tiki Bar weekend this weekend, complete with vintage tiki mugs, dry ice, special cocktails and silly hats.
Piss artist
When one thinks of Jerry Collins, one’s mind immediately turns to … elderflowers. That’s because Matterhorn’s “Jerry Collins” cocktail (a version of the classic Tom Collins) incorporates such manly ingredients as elderflower cordial and feijoa vodka. That’s hardly news to Wellingtonians, but its fame has spread across the Tasman and got a whole article in the Sydney Morning Herald’s “Rugby Heaven” (hat tip to Duncan in Sydney for the link).
When I asked the bar staff about it this morning, they hadn’t heard of the article, but they were amused to read their boss’s quote that “When the All Blacks or Hurricanes play in Wellington and feel like going to a bar for a drink they can come to the Matterhorn and nobody will mob them for autographs, or in many cases even know who they are”. They probably get mistaken for members of Fat Freddy’s Drop.
Apparently the name is ironic. Really? I thought it was because elderflowers are a diuretic.