The Art of the Bar Snack

We all got turned off the peanuts on the bar a while back.

You know, that story about the guy that goes to the toilet and comes back and … well, anyway, you don’t see too many bowls of nuts these days.

But eating while you’re drinking is par for the course, both on the host responsibility front and the fact that since we’re not smoking while we’re drinking these days, we have some spare capacity (being the multi-tasking geniuses that we are).

But nothing curdles your pint faster than a sad-looking limp underdone or overcooked piffle of a bar snack. And it’s got to be more substantial than the free salty popcorn they used to feed us at the Bush Inn when I was a younger man.

Bars have to have something on offer when you’re imbibing, and some take it seriously, some just have a packet of chips behind the bar. The bar snack is an art, as referred to above, because it does take a little thought.

Too many bars are all about the deep fryer. Wedges, fries, chicken nibbles, and so on. Greaseball snacks that go (all too well) with a few lagers. The Art of the Hot Chip is a whole other story, but suffice to say, bar snacks should not be all about the fries.

There’s more to life than deep fried potatoes.

So who’s doing it well? Well, the Spanish for starters.

Tapas bars are essentially bar snack bars. Tapas are perfect for nibbling on while making up lies with a few mates over a beer. Often disguised as “small plates” for those venues too self-conscious to call them tapas, I can recommend the newly opened Foxglove on Kumutoto Wharf for a smattering of tasty treats.

Vivo in Edward Street has fairly legendary garlic rolls (messy but delish) and the arancini there is to be commended.

A friend of mine swears by the cheese dip at Tasting Room on Courtenay Place, not to mention their platters.

Liquidate on The Terrace recently wowed me with some spectacular dukkah fish morsels and oh-so-simple-but-easy-to-do-badly quesadilla bites.

Of course, restaurant bars have the capacity to do better because they have a kitchen attached and a chef rather than an overworked bartender with a learner license in deepfryer cuisine. Which makes it all the more disappointing when such a place turns out some dastardly dish of awfulness, namely because the chef/cook/grill jockey looks down on bar food and won’t give it his all.

And so the drinking halls that do it well, despite their lack of a fully-fledged kitchen, deserve our adulation (well, at least a cheery nod).

Cuba St’s favourite oddball Mighty Mighty gets a mention for their fabulously constructed toasted sandwiches, but lose a point for not having pineapple on the menu (a long standing gripe of mine).

Last time I was at Havana on Wigan St they seemed to manage to turn out a fine pizza from a nearby oven (around the corner and down a bit) and still deliver it piping hot.

Courtenay Place’s first floor starlet The Library is sparse on food, but does an eclectic range of cheeses and desserts which can be frightfully alluring after a glass of wine. Not to mention their vegetable terrine, which is not my cuppa, but I know a few that rave on about it.

Sadly, the short and long of it is that most places don’t bother too much with the tidbits to nibble on while propping up the bar.

So, all the more reason to sing the praises of those that do. Where’s your tip for best bar snacks in town?