pōneke city guide

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter that is usually about Tāmaki Makaurau but this week is about Pōneke, by Reilly Hodson. Apologies for the skipped week last week, rest assured this Wellington special will make up for it.

So this Tuesday I sat my final exam of all time. Technically it was a take home assessment, and I did it while sitting in a cafe on Courtenay Place, an hour long flight away from my university, but the long and short of it is that my 18-year-long formal education is very nearly over, pending the submission of my Honours dissertation and ensuring I pass everything. To celebrate nearly knocking the bugger off, my partner and I flew down to Pōneke (Wellington, if you’re a colonialist who likes to celebrate losing generals), and I thought I would take this week to compile my definitive travel guide, as someone who is spiritually from Wellington (I lived here until I was 10), but practically an Aucklander (I have not dealt well with the weather here).

eats

Wellington’s food scene is quite different to Auckland. For one, places stick around much longer here, but there is a growing, young hospo scene with great places to eat and drink here. The coffee is obviously excellent, as it always, but there’s also, increasingly, amazing places to drink wine (end the craft beer rennaissance, imo) and eat extremely well. Here are my favourites.

coffee

Customs, Ghuznee St: Coffee Supreme’s flagship is famous for good reason. Excellent fit out, great location and friendly baristas who know exactly how to get the best out of Supreme’s top notch beans. Come Friday-Sunday for Little Dough Co. doughnuts, which are pricey but absolutely delicious. Be prepared to queue, though, this place isn’t exactly a secret.

Swimsuit, Dixon St: Auckland could do with more places like this. I sat here for about three hours in the rain doing my last ever university exam, and they accommodated me very well. Delicious coffee from People’s, a cool fishbowl space, and some good cabinet options if you want something to eat, too.

Pour and Twist, Garrett St: Full disclosure, I still haven’t made it here, but if you’re a filter coffee head, this is the place to be. No espresso machine, just all of the different soft brew options you could ever need. On the list for next time.

food

Rita, Aro St: Every single person I asked for recommendations in Pōneke told me I simply had to get a booking at Rita, so I did, and they were right. You’ll need to book well in advance, but their three-course, ever changing dinner is out of this world, and the service toes the line between fine dining attention to detail and casual vibes better than anywhere else I’ve ever been. A must visit.

Mason, Newtown: Going to Mason feels like a visit to a lovely local bar, where the waiters are friendly and know your name, except if that bar also served some of the most delicious food and drink you’ve ever had. A delightful spot for dinner and a drink, I’d go every week if I lived here and could afford it. Pays to book a table, a couple got told to come back in two hours while we were there.

1154 Pastaria, Cuba St: 1154 doesn’t do a lot, but what it does, it does well. A couple of pasta dishes, reasonably priced, with a short drinks list. It’s quick, easy, and not too expensive, which is why it’s so extremely popular. I wish they did table service, instead of their weird wait-to-be-seated-then-order-at-the-counter situation, though.

Lucky, Courtenay Pl: Just damn good fried chicken sandwiches and fries, at a good price.

Romeo’s, Vivian St: Romeo’s had only just opened when we got here, and it’s already establishing itself as the place to be. All-day service of delicious classic deli sandwiches, baked goods, and French toast if you’re early, with delicious coffee in the morning and cocktails and natural wines in the evenings. The space is tiny, but if you can get a spot you could very easily come three times in a day and be happy.

Taste of Home, Vivian St: Delicious hand-pulled noodles and Chinese flavours, great to takeaway or eat in. Just don’t over-estimate your ability to handle Sichuan pepper, like we did, if you’re also a wimpy Pākehā.

Shepherd, Eva St: At time of writing, I have not been here yet. We’re going to sample their weekend brunch pop up, Braw, this morning, so check my Instagram for updates on that, but I have it on very sound authority that both Braw and Shepherd’s dinner offerings are excellent.

drinks

Ascot, Ghuznee St: A rooftop natural wine bar with great options by the glass or the bottle, and you can pair your natty with a hot dog, too, if you’d like.

Puffin, Ghuznee St: Natural wine bars in Auckland are mostly aimed at rich creative types under 30. Puffin shows that unfiltered fermented grape juice works just as well in a swanky, plus fit out with brass fittings.

Romeo’s (see above)

If you want a craft beer, you can go to literally any corner in the city and drink a feijoa sour, or hazy IPA. My go to craft breweries are Parrotdog, Fortune Favours and old faithful Garage Project, but there are literally tens of them here, and all are pretty good.

shopping

Wellington is a brilliant city to shop in, with a great range of boutique, independent, local stores to hit up. Shop local, shop independent, shop good!

books

Unity, Willis St: A classic, and for good reason. The best range, good heating inside, and you’ll find yourself walking past fairly often because of its central location. Also, they stock magazines, which more book stores should do. More magazine retail, please!

Good Books, Jessie St: A new entrant, with a lovely fit out, lots of great books and a cool kids section. Great merch, and they’re Living Wage accredited, which is a very cool thing to be.

Pegasus Books, Left Bank: A secondhand book store that’s like going into another world. Books on every topic, on huge shelves. My partner picked up a great Agatha Christie mystery.

clothes

Wellingtonians are a much better dressed group of people, particularly the guys, than Aucklanders. A lot of that is down to the great stores to shop at down here. Shout out to the Wellington uniform of Dickies or Stan Ray work pants, low Dr Martens and, for the girls, a leather blazer. Truly an all-weather, all-occasion look!

Good As Gold, Bond St: My favourite store in the country (does anyone want to invest in my plan to bring back its Ponsonby Road store?). Great range of good clothes across price levels, from Nike to small local brands, with excellent service from staff who straight up love clothes and getting fits off, one of the true joys in life. Their new store on Bond Street has a great fit out made from moving blankets and great yellow racks. Always worth a stop, and their web store is my home page.

Area 51, Cuba St: You can go to Area 51 in Auckland too, but for whatever reason I find myself actually purchasing things at the Wellington store more often. Brands you won’t find elsewhere in the country, and while there are a lot of basic bro staples on the racks, you can find gold, too. They’re also the only stockist I have found of 5 inch Patagonia baggies, the best shorts money can buy.

Yu Mei, Victoria St: The best leather goods in New Zealand, bar none. Yu Mei is where you should go if you want a great handbag or wallet. It’s luxury done right, right here, and they’ll emboss your initials on your purchase if you’re staying for a while (ours took a couple of days). I’m currently saving up for this laptop folio which has a strap to turn it into the best messenger bag on the market, and I’d love to be the type of person that owns this bag, too.

Havilah Store, Lombard St: Havilah is an amazing local brand, and their concept store sells their goods alongside other local fashion labels. I love this vest, which is extremely on trend and a brilliant piece, and the matching cardigan, too.

Ena, Ghuznee St: A great boutique stocking local brands like Penny Sage, whose dusky floral is the print of the summer, and Paris Georgia.

other

Precinct 35, Ghuznee St: A great store for art, ceramics and home goods. They just put out a great collaboration with Tuhirangi Blair of Lucky Dip, making these amazing shirts out of store owner Prakashan Sritharan’s grandparents clothes, and if I could afford it, I’d buy three. An art piece you can wear!

tourist things worth doing

Te Papa, The Dowse gallery, Te Auaha gallery, and the Botanical Gardens are all worth going to.

a non-Wellington recommendation

Today marks the beginning of clipboard day one Mitchell Tan’s Rubbish Bin vintage residency pop up at Platform Store in Mt Eden. Mitchell runs probably the best second hand clothing store on Auckland Instagram, and now he’s doing it in person, for a limited time only. I’d highly recommend swinging by, he’ll be there all week. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Thanks for reading clipboard! If you enjoyed this week’s edition, send it to a friend. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram, and send me an email if you have any questions, suggestions, or offers of work. See you next week for a local gift guide for the holidays, and other regular programming.