Very nice place and the cakes are amazing! Highly recommend!…read more Service is amazing as well

Well ladies and gentlemen I've found my new ponsonby favourite! A friend and I stumbled across this…read morelittle beauty on Saturday night, and we lingered here till about 2am. It's dark and moody with great music and the bar staff are good fun. But the two things that turned this little bar into my favourite spot are; asahi on tap and the peppermint chocolate shots. I'm not much of shot taker but this little marvel is heaven. Well worth stopping in and enjoying the people watching with a peppermint shot to warm you up.

Harry's is a charming, wee bar located next to that new "workingman's club" on P' Road…read more We went last week when it had only been open a couple of weeks and was still sorting a few things out. No sparkling water (...yet) and no espresso for the espresso martinis we ordered off the menu. "I could whistle something up using the cold brew?" the bartender offered. We weren't fussy and they tasted delicious. They even let us order snacks a couple doors down from P.Road Bistro! Dream result. Great for a couple of lazy drinks, their outdoor tables get good afternoon sun. Just keep in mind it's pretty small so perhaps not great for groups.

Gorgeous ambiance, right on the river. Service was good. Brought food out promptly. Now the food,…read morewe had a lot. The winning tapa for us was the crudo. We ordered it twice! All the food we had was delicious, seems like you can't go wrong with anything you order. The drinks were also pretty good. I ordered the cocktail passionfruit sour. It was so good! Definitely a great spot for tapas and cocktails/mocktails with a great ambiance.

The food and service is fabulous. Best time to go is in the water weather when you can sit outside…read morein the fresh air and enjoy the river views. Thoroughly recommend,.

This was a delicious breakfast. The whipped yoghurt was amazing. The fluffy, airy sweetness was so…read moregood and the granola was also great. Fresh and crunchy with sweet stone fruits on top. The sourdough and eggs were great as well. I personally don't like parsley garnish so I didn't enjoy that on the egg as much but everything else was fantastic. Tomatoes were really juicy. Everything just tasted super fresh and of great quality.

we loved everything about this restaurant when we had dinner there. so much so that we went back…read morefor breakfast a day later! All the people there are friendly and efficient. The seating is comfortable. Go here.

I want to give The Wine Cellar a few props from the perspective of a door bitch at gigs. We are the…read morebitches who take your money - we put silly insignias on your wrist and hand you cheap EPs. Getting a gig together at The Wine Cellar is easy - the bar staff are really friendly people who don't seem to mind when the door bitch once again forgets a pen. Rohan who runs the technical side of the shows clearly loves making people sound good and takes his work seriously enough to do an excellent job of it. It's also massively cheap to rent the place - $100 for a PA and Rohan.

The wine cellar has two sides to it - music venue and bar. These are, logically enough, divided…read moreinto two rooms. The music side has a really nice feel to it, very intimate and casual, like you're sitting in on some friends jamming in their living room rather than a band performing on stage. The bar side is neat too, still very casual and boutique without being at all snooty. Wine Cellar has an association (business or family or both, I'm not sure) with the Purangi Winery in Coromandel, so they serve an interesting selection of liquors and wines from there. They also have their own ales on tap. Be warned though - of the two I've had I think one is quite nice and one is foul, and I can never remember which one is which.

On our last day, it was just non-stop rain as we were killing some time before heading to the…read moreairport. We walked nearby our hotel to My Bar, a tiny place with more outdoor tables (although obviously not the best place to sit on a day like that). Heading inside, we were greeted with a cozy place; mood lighting, exposed brick, wood floors, and tiny table nooks along the wall. The bartender was friendly and got us some drinks. They have a full selection of hard drinks, but I was here for the beer. They have six tap handles, all from the larger breweries of the country. I chose a flight of three. We slowly sipped our drinks and listened to the rain. Prices were reasonable, it was definitely worth a few minutes for some drinks!

Great bar! Stopped here one night & sat outside. Relaxed, friendly service; beer was great. Had a…read moreramen dish from a restaurant next door. Liked it so much, went back the next night.

What a great find! Took a wrong term, drove 50 km in the wrong direction - but was grateful to end…read moreup in Whangamata looking for dinner :) We sat outside on the ample deck - while not a great view - the overall atmosphere was lovely as we sat next to the bar and the staff kept popping out and chatting. My friend and I tried the crumbed squid (appie) and the market fish (salmon) and the soft shell crab for the main course. The squid came with a great puree (avocado?) and we loved the pineapple addition to the soft shell crab! We found the salmon to be a bit dry however. I think I'll definitely come back... for the pretty great seafood and....the goat inspired wine!! (check out the Nanny Goat Pinot Noir - worth the price).

Great stiff drinks(we had long islands), tasty peanuts, nice people working there! Would absolutely…read morecome here again for a drink. Wanted to point out that this place DOES NOT serve hookah/shisha even though yelp lists that it does.

This place has a very good alcohol selection but absolutely no tea at all…read more I wandered in one day literally wanting a cup of tea but ended up with a very nice gin! I'd go back of I wanted a drink in this area. It felt like the local watering hole but nicer than most and the staff was very friendly. There was a drinking Scotsman there but I guess that's the same as saying there was a Scotsman there. Perhaps there is always one there... Ok I'll go back again and report on that!

Intimate setting that also serves well towards larger groups…read more There's a list of proposed wine tastings - upwards of $12 for three wines from NZ or around the world. You can choose your own tasting (or full glass or bottle) from the menu which gives you the chance to try a nice range. We selected food from the small plates menu but were unimpressed. You'd probably do better were you to order a cheese platter or to come here for after dinner drinks.

From the owner: Wine, well that's what really matters isn't it? Bored with…read morethe usual generic wine lists popping up all over town? At Wine Loft we have a vast array of wines available by the taste, glass or bottle. Many of which you will not find anywhere else. Also available is tap & bottle beer, spirits and other drinks. We pride ourselves in our platters and pizzas which are all designed for sharing. There is also a good selection of hot and cold small plates to choose from.

I don't like to be a snob but..... Okay I'm going to be a snob. If you like fine dining like myself…read morethen Doolan Brothers is definately not going to impress you. It's a down home local frequented by down home locals. The pub formerly known as the Cock and Bull has been taken over by the Doolan franchise, Danny Doolans anyone? So while I haven't been there in its past life, I am fully qualified to comment on it in its present state. This is a good place to come if you are dining with any fussy eaters because the menu is really of such breadth as to cater to most tastes. I had the nachos, which was a pretty huge portion and was pretty nice, not enough guacamole though people! My partner had the 600 gram steak which was the largest piece of meat I have ever seen, he took up the 'challenge' (menu states if you finish the whole meal you get a free pint) and happily gorged himself almost to the point of explosion, he did get that drink though so fair play to him. We decided to go for dessert too, which was a big letdown, sticky date pudding was dry and the caramel sauce had become granulated and not nice. The service was nice and attentive enough, though there was a bit of a delay with getting our plates cleared and our dessert order taken. Overall it was a pleasant evening out, just not really to my standards.

Doolan Brothers have recently taken over all of the old Cock and Bull franchises, and I'm glad they…read morehave. The renovations and facelift have done wonders for this local pub, and the changes are positive. The decor is still traditional pub style, but not so dark and dank as before, reds and dark woods prevail. The food has taken a bit of a jump up, although the Sunday roasts with Yorkshire puddings were a little bit of a letdown, as the puddings were a bit bland, but the portions were healthy and it wasn't expensive, so fair standard for pub fare. On our second visit, we weren't quite as impressed though, after ordering a steak medium rare, it arrived pretty much well done, but then that seems to be pretty standard at all restaurants around town, you have to ask for rare to get it medium! But overall, a great little local pub to enjoy a beer in the sun and some good old pub grub.