I went to Auckland in search of wine and cocktails, this stunned me

Following the hype to Auckland in search of best bars and restaurants, this traveller discovers the city serves up some proper gems - with a side of discombobulation.

Such was my excitement when Qantas announced it would resume direct flights between Auckland and Adelaide, I felt it my duty to head to Kiwiland’s biggest city immediately to see what the drinks look and taste like. And to think there are those sceptics who don’t think I take my job seriously. Shame on them.

And so it is that I’m sitting alone in a bar on a Monday night on the fringes of Auckland’s notorious “K” Road questioning whether this whistlestop tour was such a good idea.

Now, no one apart from a native speaker can pronounce K Road’s real name, Karangahape Road, so it has been known as K Road for eternity. It has always been a kind of across-the-pond amalgam of all the strips of dodgy drinking holes in our own fair cities – think Hindley Street in Adelaide, Fitzroy Street in St Kilda, Bayswater Road in the Cross, the Valley – you get the picture.

And if you want to know K Road’s place in New Zealand cultural identity, you only need cop a YouTube video of Korg, the hilarious character in Thor: Ragnarok who is voiced by Taika Waititi in the manner of a Polynesian bouncer on K Road. It’s freaking hilarious and frankly almost impossibly accurate.

Karangahape Road - aka K Road - is at the core of Auckland's nightlife.

So here I am wandering up K Road on a Monday night and it’s a ghost town. It’s a constant lament of mine that cities in our part of the world no longer seem to operate every night. I understand the pressures of staffing and costs and WFH and everything but, hey, if you find yourself in an “international” city on a Monday night I still reckon you should be able to find a decent drink – not on K Road, my friend.

That said, I did discover a fun little place that made a pretty mean cocktail on the fringes of K Road (on Cross Street) called Bar Magda. It’s open on a Monday and that alone is enough for me to counsel you to go support them. They make a very decent Martini and what you might call modern Asian fusion-style tapas dishes. A more clichéd travel writer might call it a hidden gem – not a diamond, maybe an opal, but a gem nonetheless.

Bar Magda is one of Auckland's top bars for cocktails and tapas.

Later in the week I was able to revisit a couple of staples of the Auckland drinking scene and I can confirm Caretaker at Britomart still makes the best cocktails in town. And that’s despite their “tell me how you feel and I will make you something” vibe, which, honestly, I’m a bit over as I always end up saying the same thing: “Gimlet, extra-sour”. I’d rather a menu and faster service.

Unlike some, I’m especially fond of pre-batched cocktails – anything to make the drink consistent and fast. As someone once said to me, “there’s no Martini in the world better than the one that takes two minutes to serve; and there’s no Martini worse than the one that takes 20 minutes to arrive”. True that.

Another shoutout absolutely needs to go to a little place I’ve now been to a couple of times down at the Viaduct called Hello Beasty. The Viaduct seems to have declined a bit over the years and is now mainly populated by overpriced tourist spots, but Hello Beasty is a proper gem – I’m calling it an emerald (that’s an upgrade from the opal). Great drinks, great Asian snacks menu, terrific service and easily one of the best spots in Auckland for a great feed and a drink.

Mudbrick Vineyard is one of Waiheke Island's most popular wineries.

While we were down by the harbourside and with a day to kill I finally bit the bullet and did what every New Zealander says you must, and took the ferry to Waiheke Island.

There are around 30 wineries on Waiheke and they run the gamut from invitation-only, $500 a bottle Destiny Bay in a far-flung corner of the island to the uber-popular wedding and event specialist with spectacular views, Mudbrick. Mudbrick was fun, Destiny Bay was out of our reach.

Another “iconic” spot we were told to visit was Stonyridge, to taste their top cabernet blend. When we arrived there was a DJ playing doof-doof at extreme volume, young folks drinking Spritzes and beers and I felt a little nonplussed ordering a glass of the aforementioned Bordeaux blend and then getting hit with a $75 bill for the single drink – to say I was discombobulated would be the understated equivalent of saying the All Blacks can play footy.

The Oyster Inn on Waiheke Island is a winner for seafood.

One place on the island I did love was The Oyster Inn, a classic old pub with a ripping balcony in the middle of town. The mussels, fish and chips and oysters were properly world class. It may not offer the panoramic views of some of the wineries but as a food and drink destination it ran rings around a few of the others we visited.

And if you want to hit the hard stuff, a visit to the Waiheke Whisky Distillery should be on the itinerary. It’s a lovely spot, the tasting showcases some genuinely interesting whisky and it has a great family-friendly vibe and less electronic dance music and hen’s parties than some others.

Auckland, hey bro? It might just be Aotearoa’s Adelaide, but to be honest, and don’t tell my Kiwi mates this, I’d take the flight to the City of Churches every day of the week.

Originally published as I went to Auckland in search of wine and cocktails, this stunned me