Latest reviews from Auckland
| 70 /100 5 AKIRAHO STREET “Brewery & taproom. The taproom space inside is two sides of the building around the brewing area. More sofas than DFS, seriously like a drop in centre for old sofas. Lovely space outside, nicely designed and good in all weathers. Lovely BBQ food served. The beer? Approx 12 taps, lots of haze, mostly mundane. Poor lagers not lagered for long enough. Conclusion: Nice taproom, average beer“ |
| 68 /100 Good George North Wharf (Restaurant) 1 JELLICOE ST “Bar / eatery on North Wharf. Nice view out to sea. Full range of the brewery’s beers served, maybe 12 on tap. The food was very reasonable. The beers were somewhat mundane.“ |
| 88 /100 16 Tun (Bar) 20 JELLICOE STREET “Cracking bar on North Wharf, just a short stroll from the CBD. A very decent range of 20-25 on tap, occasionally one or two beers served on cask. Nice varied selection of breweries and styles. Taster/flight boards served“ |
| 80 /100 The Brewers Co-operative (Bar) 128 VICTORIA ST WEST “Large corner bar in the CBD with a varied selection of 20 taps. Something for everyone.“ |
| 88 /100 2 MT. EDEN ROAD “Amazing building from the outside. Amazing building on the inside. Lots of wood panelling, very old school. Extensive outside space out the back. Maybe 8 to 10 beers on cask & tap. Loved it. Go check it out.“ |
| 74 /100 Garage Project Kingsland Cellar Door (Beer Store) 357 NEW NORTH ROAD “More taproom than bottleshop to my mind. 12 taps of the brewery’s own beers, a decent variety of styles.“ |
| 72 /100 The Lumsden Freehouse (Bar) 444-448 KHYBER PASS ROAD “Loud, noisy, busy pub. Large outside space. Reasonable selection of around 15 beers. Wasn’t my kind of place, only stayed for one.“ |
| 86 /100 Liquorland Newmarket (Beer Store) 480 BROADWAY “Amazing selection of NZ craft and more in the chiller at the back. It was difficult limiting myself to what I could carry. Definitely worth a visit for take out cans“ |
| 80 /100 The Brewers Co-operative (Bar) 128 VICTORIA ST WEST “Nice place with 20 local beers on tap. A refreshing change after the thin lagers that are served elsewhere. Some prominent breweries are represented, too. Wish I could have stayed a little longer.“ |
| 78 /100 Liquorland Newmarket (Beer Store) 480 BROADWAY “Wow what a selection. Absolutely massive array of NZ beers, and you can buy individual cans and bottles. They have nice beers on tap you can get in c/growlers, mostly good but only 6 or so and YOU CAN'T TICK THEM! LET US TICK/TASTE! COME ON YOU GUYS! 'Biance is typical liquor store, not amazing.“ |
| 82 /100 1A CHARLES STREET “A great outdoor patio with a nice ambiance, the food is surprisingly good and the beers are excellent. Well worth it if you are in Auckland.“ |
| 84 /100 Good George North Wharf (Restaurant) 1 JELLICOE ST “Nice place right on the wharf and right next to Team New Zealand headquarters. In good weather you can sit in the sun outside. Will be great for Americas Cup. Lots on beers on tap, flights available, unfortunetely my sight seeing only allowed me 1 flight.“ |
| 62 /100 77 TAMAKI DRIVE MISSION BAY “Visited on a sunny day, plenty of seats outside the cafe. The beer was all main stream Belgian beers e.g. Stella. However some local beers was available on tap. Food was available on our visit.“ |
| 70 /100 71 TAMAKI DRIVE “Visited on New year's eve in the late afternoon, place was very busy. All the range of Good George beers was available. Food was reasonably priced and good quality.“ |
| 84 /100 Vulture’s Lane Craft Bar (Bar) 10 VULCAN LANE “Small bar with plenty of taps, all NZ craft. Limited seating space inside, maybe for 30 people, and a few outdoor seats too. Range of NZ craft is really good, and everything is available as a pint glass or a 1 litre jug, which is better value. Crowded in the evening, many beer enthusiasts. Complete food menu, as well as finger food to go with the drinks.“ |
| 70 /100 Brew on Quay (Bar) CORNER OF QUAY STREET AND BRITOMART PLACE “Seems quieter now since the major train works at Britomart have commenced, with the crowd usually around happy hour. Decent range of taps (10) and good selection of bottles, mostly NZ craft with a few international imports. Service is good and quick, food menu has complete range of comfort foods like burgers, pizza and fish and chips.“ |
| 70 /100 90 WELLESLEY ST WEST “Pretty solid beer bar in a trendy location near downtown. Not much seating, but we managed to snag a space near the bbq pop up it shares the space with. Taps of their own brews and a cooler full of bottles to take away. Pricey considering the quality.“ |
| 62 /100 LEVEL 2, 204 QUAY STREET “Great view of the Auckland harbor. Trendy, packed, touristy. Their beer was pretty good, there were a number of quality guest taps. Service was slow and a little inattentive, but I'm finding that's common in New Zealand where you don't tip. Park in the garage across the street, it's congested down here.“ |
| 64 /100 2 BOUNDARY ROAD “This place is clean, large, and a cool concept. Plenty of parking, a little out of the way for Auckland. Service is shaky, but I'm finding that in general for a land where there's no tipping. Beer is pretty solid, Kinda like a food court with a brewery.“ |
| 78 /100 The Beer Spot Northcote (Bar) 54 NORTHCOTE ROAD “I agree with explosivedog, I'm confused. On a Friday night, the last call was 9:30. Think it's just a Kiwi thing, and the sidewalks roll up early. Anyway, cool spot, excellent service, lots of NZ taps. Might be a little on the pricey side - the exchange rate always make me think that things are more expensive than they are, but a flight can easily be $30 US and a beer $10 for a full pint. There's a liquor store on the end of the strip, so if you're looking for ticks or some brew to take back to the hotel room you can stop in there - it's more expensive than other places as well, though.“ |
| 64 /100 New World Albany (Grocery Store) 219 DON MCKINNON DRIVE “So, this was my first grocery store in New Zealand. I wandered around like a tourist, taking pictures of the kangaroo roast to send back to my BBQ buddies in Florida. Beer section is respectable - everything from the ridiculous to the sublime. Lots of regional brew, lots of ticks for the international traveller. Prices look to be good, though I have trouble with exchange rate math in my old age - a nice mixed 6 was about $14 US/$20 NZ, really nice bombers were only about $5.50 US equivalent - which I found to be a value. Staff was very helpful in answering questions, store was clean, other prices seemed in line with a premium grocery in the States.“ |
| 64 /100 111 CLYDE ROAD “Nice location on the coast, near a beach and park. The beer was pretty solid, around a dozen taps, the fish was fresh and the rice was fluffy. Staff was very friendly. The space is good, but maybe a little dog-eared.“ |
| 74 /100 Liquorland Newmarket (Beer Store) 480 BROADWAY “There's a big chilled freezer at the back with a pretty comprehensive what's what of the national beer scene. Plenty of singles to be had, and is it just me or is beer expensive in this country. A great place to buy one of each, juat ignore the price and start sampling.“ |
| 54 /100 90 WELLESLEY ST WEST “Sharing the space with a taco stand this locale has a pretty trendy selection of benches and lounge chairs from which to imbibe. A pretty good selection of their beers as well as other locals. There's a fridge for takeaway. Quality is pretty standard if not below average. Service was good. I wasn't too impressed, if this is the best that Auckland has to offer then there is some major need for improvement.“ |
| 46 /100 7 SALE ST, FREEMANS BAY “A big vast brewpub with hipsters and even a barber shop sharing the space. Service was average and the beers below average. A lot of style here without the substance. Appealing if you want to appear you like craft beer but deep down inside hate beer. At least it's central so you won't waste much time getting here.“ |
| 60 /100 LEVEL 2, 204 QUAY STREET “Quite a cavernous restaurant right on the wharf with kids running to and fro and a large balcony outside, loud music, slow service. Pizza is their thing and they are offered by the foot and pretty good. Beers are reasonably well made but standard and certainly not exceptional. As expensive as anything else in New Zealand. Good simply because it's right on the tourist circuit.“ |
| 72 /100 90 WELLESLEY ST WEST “I was super excited to visit the top rated brewpub in Auckland, but I was a disappointed with the beers on tap. The atmosphere was great: 70s style couches and relaxed vibe. Good beer selection in the fridge, but all of the beers we had on tap were just ok (we tried a Saison, wee heavy and IPA). Hopefully the beer quality will improve again soon“ |
| 64 /100 71 TAMAKI DRIVE “A fairly soulless bar in a pretty touristy ( / tacky) part out of Auckland. Good George make solidly OK beers, but don't expect anything more. Food was similarly on brand as 'fine'. Better than anything else in Mission Bay if you want a beer.“ |
| 76 /100 Glengarry Wines Parnell (Beer Store) 164 PARNELL ROAD “Smart shop in town, good range of New Zealand beers.“ |
| 88 /100 Brew on Quay (Bar) CORNER OF QUAY STREET AND BRITOMART PLACE “Awesome selection. Friendly service.“ |
| 76 /100 2B WESTERN SPRINGS ROAD “Like GP Kingsland just down the road, they only have a cellar door license, so you can have a tasting flight or get growler / cans / bottles to take away. Unlike GP Kingsland, it is also quite a sizeable production brewery. Beers are usually pretty tasty, with an excellent core range and a good range of seasonals. They also brew for Yeastie Boys in NZ, so you might be able to find some Yeastie Boys stuff there sometimes.“ |
| 76 /100 The Chamberlain (Bar) 52 TYLER STREET “Probably the best place to get beer in Britomart, 15 taps which are great after the first two or three. Lots of good Auckland beers, and often a different selection of recent seasonals to the other main CBD bars. Food is very tasty. The most important thing is that they have a happy hour (or two hours as the case may be) and it's an absolute doozy. Between 4pm and 6pm Monday to Thursday, ALL beer is half price. Outside of those hours it is usual Britomart places.“ |
| 82 /100 Garage Project Kingsland Cellar Door (Beer Store) 357 NEW NORTH ROAD “12 taps of Garage Project. Only has a cellar door license so no drinking on site except for tasting flights of 6, choose your own or let them choose (for a few dollars less). Growlers, crowlers, lots of bottles and cans to take away. No cheaper for GP beers than elsewhere, but they will have stuff which doesn't necessarily make it to other stores or bars (excluding their two Wellington outlets of course). Charcuterie type food available. Staff are lovely and helpful. Lots of events with food trucks and special flights and stuff so worth checking their social media.“ |
| 62 /100 Glengarry Wines Victoria Park (Beer Store) 118 WELLESLEY ST W “It’s the largest Glengarry store, and has by far the largest beer selection. Usually a good range of NZ stuff and a small number of imported US bottles. Quite often has special beer events and tastings, which is nice. Edit - seem to have stopped putting in the same level of effort into the beer side of things. Selection is not great, growler taps might be numerous but often nothing on lots of them, no special events for a very long time. Still has core range stuff and the occasional seasonal, but would recommend the short walk to Brothers Beer for a much more exciting and up to date selection of beers.“ |
| 76 /100 The Beer Spot Northcote (Bar) 54 NORTHCOTE ROAD “A slightly confused place in my opinion. 40 taps with flights, pints and a food truck always on site. However, they also close at 8pm four nights a week, and so perhaps they intend to be more of a growler place? Either way, the tap selection is excellent and larger than anywhere else you'll find in Auckland. All NZ, always lots of new rates even for a local like me (at least 10 beers I've not had on right now going on their online taplist). Flights of five available. If I lived on the same side of the harbour I'm sure I would be here all the time. Just not quite good enough for me to venture quite that far.“ |
| 66 /100 My Bar (Bar) 12 DURHAM STREET EAST “Visited a few times. Very small bar with a small taplist and a slightly larger bottle list. Nice comfortable atmosphere. Usually a few Tuatara brews on, alongside a few NZ independent breweries. Not one I visit particularly frequently as it's unlikely to provide ticks for locals.“ |
| 80 /100 Garage Project Kingsland Cellar Door (Beer Store) 357 NEW NORTH ROAD “New Garage Project place in Auckland. It's mostly a shop right now, but you can also order flights. They're not licensed to sell full pours I think. Also some snacks. Selecion was mostly core range on tap, and some harder to get (and sometimes crazy pricy) bottles. They also have their wines. Quite a big open space for now, with a few seats, large bar, fridges and some shelves with bottles and merch. Very friendly service, and free samples. If you come by foot from the center use something like maps.me as it's accross the highway, and there's a bunch of roads where you can't walk on.“ |
| 74 /100 My Bar (Bar) 12 DURHAM STREET EAST “Not too big bar with intimate atmosphere (no bright lights inside like so many other NZ bars). Very modern hipster atmosphere, but also with lots of 90ies rock music. 6 taps and a nice bottle selection for fair prices, lots of cocktails and liquor too. Nice service. Pretty nice bar.“ |
| 60 /100 Cornerbar Hotel DeBrett (Bar) 2 HIGH ST “Small corner bar with just a few taps and bottles. Mostly/only ‘craft’ though. They also have cocktails and wine. Not too interesting for the Ratebeer crowd but it’s OK if you’re already there. There’s way more interesting bars close by though.“ |
| 82 /100 Vulture’s Lane Craft Bar (Bar) 10 VULCAN LANE “30 taps, lots of Good George and other NZ craft. Good mix of styles. Nice service, good outside seating. Inside it’s a little plain. Great place to sample lots of good beer, not too hipster and just a very solid bar. Only downside is they have sports on.“ |
| 78 /100 Glengarry Wines Victoria Park (Beer Store) 118 WELLESLEY ST W “Big wine store with a few fridges full of craft beer too, quite some interesting bottles. 30 (!) taps for growler fill, crazy! Pretty good store I’d say, but more so for growlers than bottles. Service was OK but not spectacular.“ |
| 78 /100 90 WELLESLEY ST WEST “Medium sized bar and small brewery. 18 taps with some of their own beer, some guests and a cider. Quality is OK but they also had some not that great stuff. Very friendly service. I still don’t understand why the bottles they have to go are about 1/5th in price of a pour in their bar... Good value if you drink at home I guess! Really one of the most expensive bars I’ve been too in NZ, their prices are the same as others but the pours (a lot) smaller. It’s a pretty cool place with comfy seating in couches around a large central table, so that might be worth it. Nice.“ |
| 74 /100 The Brewers Co-operative (Bar) 128 VICTORIA ST WEST “Big corner bar with outside seating too. 20 taps with lots of hoppy stuff, and some barrel aged bottles, quite some quality beers. Interior is very hipster. They also have a kitchen that seemed very focused on meat. Service was a little weird, the beers were not priced ( at least not that I could see, they don’t have a list but you have to look at the tap handles) and they didn’t seem happy to serve as half pints. I’m from mainland Europe so maybe it’s me, but all this pint-focusing seems a little weird for craft beer. Anyway, decent place if you want to have some quality beers and don’t care about spending a little. Oh yeah, they have lots of (natural) wine and gin too.“ |
| 72 /100 2 MT. EDEN ROAD “I think it’s actually called Galbraiths Alehouse... Classy, very traditional UK style pub, but done without all the dark wood. Also no sports or darts, so that’s a plus. Like I said, more classy than most. Nice view on the brewery through some windows. Lots of gray haired people here too. Very friendly atmosphere though, with great service (bar-only), with some Irish people working the bar.
I was actually surprised by how much I liked their beers made on-site. Pretty well done. Though half are cask and I didn’t bother with those since cask ale is not my thing. They have about 6 guest taps too, and some nice bottles. Prices range from higher but sort of OK for their own beers to completely ridiculous for something like Leffe or La Chouffe (really, Leffe?). Overall not really my kind of place usually, but I thoroughly enjoyed it here. No WiFi though.“ |
| 78 /100 5 AKIRAHO STREET “Medium sized production brewery with a bar next to the fermenters, and a US BBQ style kitchen on the opposite side. There’s quite some seating (lots of nice outside seating too), and lots of tables have a great view of the brewing prices.
They had about 12 tapes, and a bunch of bottles. Prices were quite high, think $25 for a flight of 5 glasses, or $12 for a glass (less than a pint). OK, beer in Auckland is not cheap, but you’re sitting in their production brewery here... Very friendly service, and the beers were OK to decent.“ |
| 88 /100 The Brewers Co-operative (Bar) 128 VICTORIA ST WEST “10 or so taps, mostly hoppy choices, and mostly local to NZ. Outdoor seating as well. I quite liked this place. We went on two different visits, both times the bartenders were very nice.“ |
| 80 /100 90 WELLESLEY ST WEST “Small taproom with outdoor seating. 10 or so taps, some of their own beers as well as some guest drafts. Bottles to go. Staff was pretty friendly. Lots of food options in the area.“ |
| 64 /100 LEVEL 2, 204 QUAY STREET “'Brewpub' right down on the waterfront. Setting is beautiful with views out over the water, though getting a seat with that view is nigh impossible outside of work hours. Always very busy, and the vast majority of the people don't seem to be there for the beer (hence 'brewpub'). Own beers are fine from the few I've tried, and they've started doing a few one off specials. Food is good. There's bowling if you want, though only two lanes and they've always been in use when I've been there. Service can be very slow, as there's an extensive cocktail menu so quite often there's four bar staff stood there with shakers while you wait to order a pint. Also a number of DB taps, which I find somewhere between infuriating and perplexing. Nice enough, and I've been a few times and will go again, but I do always wish it was a bit more beer focussed.“ |
| 64 /100 Brew on Quay (Bar) CORNER OF QUAY STREET AND BRITOMART PLACE “Decent selection, with a good range of NZ beers and a few imports on tap / in the fridge. Atmosphere can be a bit sterile, and its location does lead to a lot of people with little beer interest there post-work. Nice enough for a drink but not somewhere I go particularly often.“ |
