Mika Reilly gives Beervana an overview of suggested Wellington craft beer loving eateries

Wellington is often touted as New Zealand's craft beer capital, with the highest rate of per capita craft beer consumption in the country. Wellington's also often touted as New Zealand's culinary capital (gosh, we Wellingtonians sure like to take advantage of our status as the capital city, don't we?).

How do these two titles sit side by side? Where in Wellington can you get great food AND great beer? Heaps of places. All kinds of eateries - from neighbourhood cafes to fine dining restaurants - have cottoned on to the fact that discerning diners don't just want a nice wine list, but also nice beer, and on the other side of the coin, there are a number of craft beer bars serving up quality, interesting food.

Establishments serving craft beer are so numerous in Wellington, I don't have space here to list them all. What follows is an introduction to some of my favourite spots where you can get both great beer and great food.

THE CRAFT BEER BARS:
I'll start with the obvious: Wellington's many craft beer bars. In the past few years, the number of bars dedicated to serving a range of good beer has become truly multitudinous. In terms of food, many of these places stick with food that beer-drinkers will love: pizza, chips, other bar snacks. But there are also bars taking beer and food matching to another level, where you can legitimately go for a full, sit-down meal.

Take, for example, Fork & Brewer(14 Bond Street, CBD). Beer-loving Wellingtonians will be familiar with Fork & Brewer's huge tap selection of local and imported beer (including, recently, a range of their own beer brewed on site). On the dinner menu, every dish has a suggested beer match; so, for example, chicken wings coated in a spent grain rub are paired with Fork & Brewer’s Base Isolator IPA, a goat feta and rocket salad is paired with Emerson’s Bookbinder. And in a fine example of beer used in cooking, for dessert there’s a chocolate stout cake with porter marshmallow, matched with Emerson’s London Porter.

The Hop Garden(13 Pirie Street, Mt Victoria)over in Mt Vic is another beer bar with a respectable dinner menu. Nestled behind, um, a KFC drive-thru just off Kent Terrace, the Hop Garden is suburban enough to feel like a “local”, but close enough to town that you don’t feel like you’re out of the city. If you’re after a snack, go for their hand-cut chips (some of the best in town), or something off the bar menu: lamb skewers, beer-braised BBQ pork ribs, a pretty substantial ploughman’s platter. The back half of the space is a restaurant where you can get a full sit-down meal most nights.  Plus it's one of the only beer bars I know of with a really great brunch menu.Hashigo Zake(downstairs at 25 Taranaki St, Te Aro) has a vaguely Japanese-themed bar snack menu to match its Japanese name. So instead of the usual hot chips and pizzas to go with Hashigo Zake’s eleven or so rotating tap beers and huge bottled range, you can get salty edamame beans, or takoyaki (addictive, pancake-like octopus balls), or a bowl of udon noodles.

Over in Newtown, Bebemos(Cnr Riddiford & Hall St, Newtown) is a newcomer on the craft beer scene, with a selection of rotating and regular tap brews plus a decent selection of bottled beer. Bebemos also has an ethnic take on the usual bar menu: there are Brazilian-inspired dishes like pao de queijo (cheesy, fluffy, almost-chewy cheese puffs), empanadas with acai relish, and unsurprisingly they serve the classic Brazilian black bean and meat stew, feijoada.

Tucked away down a service lane behind Victoria and Manners Streets, Little Beer Quarter(6 Edward St, Te Aro) serves up bar snacks and pizza, plus a range of beer-friendly food like steak, fish and chips, sandwiches and salads.

Nelson-based brewery the Sprig and Fern(342 Tinakori Rd, Thorndon) is a welcome addition in Thorndon, pouring a full range of Sprig and Fern beers and serving simple bar snacks. In a great example of neighbourhood collaboration, if you want something a bit more to eat you can get a pizza delivered from Italian restaurant Cosa Nostra next door, and on Thursdays local Indian restaurant Indus serves up curries at the Sprig and Fern. 

Possibly the newest kid on the craft beer block is the Rogue & Vagabond(18 Garrett St, Te Aro), a craft beer bar just off Glover Park in the Cuba Quarter. There’s a well-stocked fridge, rotating craft brews on tap, and, somewhat predictably, a range of delicious-looking pizzas to eat.

THE FANCY
Beverage choices in fine dining used to be (well, in many places, still is) pretty wine-dominated. Recently, though, upscale restaurants have started to catch on to the fact that beer can be just as nuanced and flavourful and interesting to pair with food as wine.

So, for example, the iconic and elegant Logan Brown(192 Cuba St, Te Aro), serves in its beautiful high-ceilinged dining room superb contemporary New Zealand cuisine featuring top-rate, locally sourced ingredients. Logan Brown boasts a full beer list, which, while smaller than its wine list, includes no less than twenty bottled craft beers from New Zealand and overseas.

Same with Boulcott Street Bistro(99 Boulcott St, CBD), whose craft-dominated beer list takes up a full page of the drinks menu and is categorised by flavour profile: “hop-driven”, “crisp and clean”, “cleansing ales”, “rich and round”.  Food is simple in concept and top-quality in execution; the menu includes Boulcott Street classics like fillet béarnaise and crème brulee, as well as more contemporary twists like the combination of a slow-cooked BBQ pork rib with wasabi mash and gingered carrots.

On the other side of town and possibly one of Wellington’s fanciest restaurants, the White House(upstairs at 232 Oriental Parade, Oriental Bay) has fully embraced great beer: its beer and cider list is exclusively craft-focussed, and represents breweries from all over New Zealand.

Also on Oriental Parade, Martin Bosley's(upstairs at 103 Oriental Parade)has an elegant, intimate dining room overlooking Wellington Harbour and a menu heavily centred on exceptional seafood. While the beer list is somewhat shorter than the other examples here, craft beer is strongly represented – including beers from Three Boys, Tuatara, Invercargill Brewery, Epic and Mac’s. Here’s a tip: while most people associate Martin Bosley’s with refined, upmarket cuisine, you can also get some of the best (Tuatara Pilsner-battered) fish and chips in town. You’re welcome.

A little bit less white-tablecloth, but still in the realm of "upmarket eatery", Hummingbird(22 Courtenay Place), the well-established bar and restaurant on the corner of Courtenay Place and Blair Street has recently had a full makeover and menu overhaul. With experienced chef Glen Taylor now at the helm, food options are enticing: try the spice-battered groper tacos with crushed peas, mint and coriander, or the lobster sliders with mayo and watercress. And while the beer list isn’t huge, there are a number of interesting choices including NZ brews such as Emerson’s, Crafty Beggars and Mac’s Black and Aussie imports like Little Creatures and James Squire’s.

THE CASUAL:
It’s not just bars and restaurants that are getting into craft beer big-time around Wellington: there’s a growing number of casual eateries that are becoming increasingly beer-friendly. Here are a few of my favourites, and a few unexpected surprises (note that some straddle the line between casual daytime café and more upscale dinnertime restaurant; for want of better categorisation I’ve included them in this list):

One of my favourite cafes in the city, Floriditas(161 Cuba St, Te Aro) is a Cuba Street classic. Elegant but relaxed at the same time, Floriditas serves up interesting, seasonal New Zealand cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner: their clam linguine is simple but on point; the smoked mackerel and potato hash is one of my favourite brunch/lunch dishes of all times. The drinks list is largely wine-dominated but includes a respectable selection of a dozen or so bottled beer, mostly craft.

Just behind Floriditas is Duke Carvell’s(6 Swan Lane, Te Aro), a cosy little European-themed restaurant run by the brothers Bresolin (of Scopa and Crazy Horse renown), that does tapas-style small plates (try the gnocchi – it’s stellar). It’s the kind of place that’s as equally appropriate for a fancy date as it is for casual drinks or brunch with friends, and while the drinks list is heavily weighted towards wine and cocktails, they’ve got Garage Project and Emerson’s on tap and a handful of bottled craft beer too.

Over on Willis St, Ti Kouka Café(upstairs, 76 Willis St, CBD) does excellent, interesting café food (personal favourites include the pulled pork roll, the duck and bacon club sandwich, and the smoked paprika and tomato baked eggs), the best strawberry milkshakes in town, incredible triple-fried hand-cut chips, plus over a dozen New Zealand craft beers available in bottles.

In the same back alley that services Little Beer Quarter is Meow(9 Edward St, Te Aro)a retro-themed café-cum-venue serving up a handful of craft beer on tap – including the likes of Stoke and Garage Project – alongside some of the best pies in town, a full dinner menu and a killer weekend brunch.

The locally-owned boutique soda factory and café whose small-batch sodas have been taking over Wellington by storm, Six Barrel Soda Co(upstairs, cnr Eva & Dixon Streets, Te Aro) seems an unlikely spot to find a decent beer selection. But alongside their sodas, floats and signature mini burgers they’ve got a rotating selection of bottled craft brews – on recent visits I’ve seen offerings from the likes of ParrotDog, Garage Project, Emerson’s, Harrington’s and Tuatara.

This makes sense once you realise Six Barrel is owned by the same folks behind Monterey(4 Rintoul St, Newtown), a vaguely American-inspired diner/bar on the main drag in Newtown that has paper tablecloths to draw on, board games to play, some of the best burgers in town, and most importantly, a rotating selection of three independent craft brews on tap and a couple dozen more in bottles. Fab.

One of my favourite suburban cafes is Café Polo(Cnr Rotherham Tce and Para St, Miramar).For such a small, casual eatery, Polo’s got a diverse selection of bottled beer, including around a dozen craft brews from New Zealand, Australia, Denmark and the US. During the day they’ve got a fantastic brunch/lunch menu including some of the best hash browns in town, and at night the menu becomes a little more formal but no less delicious.

In the Miramar shops, La Boca Loca(19 Park Road, Miramar) does informal, fresh Mexican food that goes beyond your average beef taco or bean burrito: try the enmolada de cabra, a slow-braised goat enchilada with mole sauce, or the pulpo asado con nopales en escabeche, an octopus and marinated cactus salad. As you might expect from a Mexican restaurant, La Boca Loca’s drinks list is heavy on tequila, but there’s also Mexican beer as well as the Tuatara range, beers from Founders and Emerson’s, and Weka cider.

One of the biggest surprises I had in researching this article was Ministry of Food(Ground floor, Bowen State Building, 34 Bowen Street, CBD) – a small, busy café behind Parliament, its clientele is mostly (as the name suggests) public servants and others working near the Parliament end of the Terrace. The food is standard café fare, but the biggest and most welcome surprise was finding that they have great beer – not just in bottles, but a small but rotating tap selection too, including Garage Project, Tuatara, Emerson’s, and ParrotDog.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS:
Grab yourself a rigger from Regional Wines and Spirits, Garage Project, ParrotDog, or Black Dog Brewery, get a takeaway – my favourites include Little Penang, Mt Vic Chippery, Tommy Millions  or Pizza Pomodoro– and park yourself up in a sunny spot (outside of the central city liquor ban area) and have yourself a picnic. Bliss.