You can’t beat Welly on a food day, let alone month, with variety being the spice of life this August at Wellington’s most loved spots.
The conical bra was a 50s flash in the pan but it’s time to hark back to the times of sideburns and soda fountains as St John’s Bar & Eatery transforms into Johnny’s Diner for a month, fit for Elvis on the jukebox and morsels of gastronomical proportions.
St John's Bar & Eatery
Setting the cuisine-scene with black and white lino flooring, neon lights and chequered tablecloths, treat yourself to some fine diner-ing including hotdogs, fried chicken and St. John’s almighty offering for Welly on a Plate, The Big John burger, encompassing double beef patties, cheddar cheese, pickles, onions and lettuce with all the trimmings. Customers can then wash it down with a Coconut Cream Pie cocktail – a twist on the classic pina colada alongside other delicious boozy milkshakes.
Of course, the burger wars are on. Kiwi connoisseurs will find plenty of food for thought with The Old Bailey serving up crispy chicken thighs in a Zaida’s coffee bun dubbed The Sunset, while there’s no question they'll be deer-vouring The Cambridge’s Venison’s deer isn’t it? version. Jack Hackett’s is serving up The Real Dill with a beef and chorizo patty, aged cheddar and smoked thick-cut bacon, while The Realm’s Surf & Turf offering is with marinated scotch, crumbed calamari and grilled prawns.
The Realm
Concrete Bar’s Get-in-do-mie Belly burger will spice things up with soy-braised chicken, sesame slaw, fried shallots and a fried egg, while customers will get hooked on Dirty Little Secret’s Catch of the Day filled with fish, rocket, salmon, caviar, shrimp and crab sticks. For those a little further afield, Mousetrap at Tote Bar is served with crumbed camembert, prosciutto, spicy plum sauce and lettuce between a marmite bun.
Concrete Bar
To finish the food odyssey, visitors can have their cake and eat it too with a range of cocktails on offer including going Out with the Old, in with the U at Concrete Bar, or get Lionel twitchy if you don’t try the Hello, is it tea you’re looking for? at Dirty Little Secret, with local Imagination triple distilled gin, house-made spiced apple syrup, egg whites, lemon juice and tapioca pearls.
Wellington on a Plate is on throughout August.
