Gather round the firepit and get ready to order the leeks at Auckland's Palmer Bar. Photo / Supplied
Gather round the firepit and get ready to order the leeks at Auckland's Palmer Bar. Photo / Supplied
In their own words: Palmer Bar is “your urban oasis, a unique bar and dining experience in a space designed to inspire”.
First impressions: IT’S VERY LOUD OUT HERE. What? IT’S VERY LOUD OUT HERE. That’s because it’s a terrace bar and the target clientele is a group of youngwomen dressed like Dua Lipa. It’s possible one of them was Dua Lipa. I would have asked but I was worried I wouldn’t hear her reply.
On the floor: It was the best of service, it was the worst of service ... if there is one thing I would beg of every table waiter in the city, it would be to, well, wait. Check your customer has asked for everything they want and need. They might be momentarily torn between the potato terrine or the sauerkraut fries. They might want an extra scampi. They might even be calling out to you for cutlery and a second glass of wine as you spin on your efficient heels and leave their table but, as mentioned, IT’S VERY LOUD OUT HERE.
The neighbourhood: We battled the length of Albert St on foot, traversing ramps, pedestrian diversions and temporary alleyways before arriving at this oasis of visual (if not aural) calm. It’s a tall building, surrounded by other tall buildings, with a discrete entrance opposite the heritage grandeur of the former Customhouse. Inside, it’s all sleek browns and buttery creams - like someone said, “Here’s an espresso martini, now make me a bar to match.”
The menu: In downtown Auckland, ceviche, burrata and croquettes are almost as common as road cones. Palmer maintains interest with flavour-forward accoutrements. The cocktail menu is an orchard (fig, grapefruit, macadamia, habanero, et al) and the food list sparkles with references to prune mustard, fennel marmalade and miso butter.
Auckland's best vegan and gluten-free small plate? Photo / Babiche Martens
Best bite #1: A well-cooked round of leek is a staggeringly delicious thing. There’s something about the way each concentric circle yields to the next, making every bite soft, but also crunchy. Add pickled raisins, hazelnuts and smoked tofu cream and you’ll never roll your eyes again at the dietary requirements that necessitated the invention of the city’s sexiest gluten-free and vegan dish.
Best bite #2: You could get the fries, which are probably very good, or you could get the potato terrine, which is definitely spectacular. If a fry was a limerick, the terrine would be a heroic poem. This deep-fried slab of thin, buttery layers with a side of salty whipped roe is highly recommended.
The jury’s still out: Last time I had kefalograviera cheese, it was served in a small cast iron pan that kept it hot and melty. This version, on a cold ceramic side plate, resembled the drippy insides of the cheese toastie I’d dished when drunk and rediscovered an hour later.
On the side: Technically, everything we ordered could have been described as a “side”. The most expensive menu item was the scampi ($20 apiece) but if you’re craving kaimoana, skip this (mine was overcooked), and consider the smoked kahawai croquettes - the bechamel was slightly gummy, but all was forgiven when I piled on the seaweed tartare.
Dessert: Customer feedback apparently determined a preference for savoury over sweet and desserts were, thus, abandoned. There are no hot drinks. Take your espresso in a martini - mine had a beautiful creamy mouthfeel.
Perfect for: After-work drinks with above-average snacks (but check the “what’s on” section of the website if you’re even remotely DJ-adverse).
How much: The food bill for three was $136; most cocktails are $22.
Where: Palmer Bar, 1 Albert St, Auckland CBD, ph (09) 889 6970.
Sip the list
by Yvonne Lorkin
If you wanted to get all thesaurus on it, one could describe Palmer Bar’s liquid refreshments list as concise, synoptic, crisp, succinct, snappy, taut, economical and breviloquent and altogether quite neat. Two pages is all it takes to communicate their mission, which is to provide salubrious sips to accompany their shared plates menu and to KISS. A concept you’ll be familiar with if you studied marketing or design at uni in the 90s, but if you didn’t, chances are you may be thinking, “Well, that’s a tad forward” or possibly, “What do Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss have to do with this?” Regardless, simplicity is key. There’s no palaver at Palmer. In each wine section (five sparkles, eight whites, two rosés and five reds) 70 per cent are available by the glass. Hooray! A $13 flute of King Valley Prosecco sits happily beside an indulgent $25 flute of Billecart-Salmon Champagne. Redmetal Block Five Albarino ($16) holds hands with the minerally, lemony Domaine Chevalier Petit Chablis ($19) and, for rosé fans, Central Otago’s Terra Sancta ($14) rocks along beside Roubine La Vie en Rosé from Provence. Reds roar with Two Hands “Sexy Beast” Cabernet ($18) Craggy Range’s Syrah ($16) and Margrain’s Rivers Edge Pinot Noir ($13). Sawmill and McLeod’s dominate the beer list and I can’t even tell you how drool-inducing their Lantana and Las Palmas cocktails look next to Olive Oil Martini’s and Whisky Sours.
