De Post's selection of beers is impressive. Photo / Jason Dorday
Address: 466 Mt Eden Rd, Mt Eden village
Ph: (09) 630 9330
Website: depost.co.nz
In the beautiful old Mt Eden Post Office, this has all the hallmarks of a classic bar. The interior was apparently imported from Belgium, giving it a little Low Country appeal, although quite what Belgium's appeal actually is remains a mystery.
Apart from beer, of course. Belgium might be the
butt of a few jokes, but it does excellent beer and De Post's encyclopaedia is very impressive. Running to about 20 pages, it has almost every Belgian beer you could want, with Stella and Hoegaarden making the cut, along with the outstanding Westvleteren 8. But at $94 for a 330ml bottle, it's one for the Big Wednesday winners. There is also Jupiler, the beer Belgians tend to drink, despite what Stella would have you believe. Crisp and refreshing, it's a lovely lager and well worth checking out.
The food is good, too, with mussels - understandably - taking pride of place. The rest of the menu is also attractive, even if the Full Belgian breakfast looks suspiciously like a full English.
De Post stumbles a bit on its wine list. It's thin and heavily weighted towards the needs of the supplier rather than the needs of the customer, a mortal sin as far as I'm concerned. Taking the lazy option of letting the brewery sort your wine list is a mistake and one that a lot of customers will pick up on.
