Soul Bar & Bistro
Niki Bezzant
Bar: Soul Bar & Bistro
Where: Viaduct Basin, Auckland city (formerly Finz)
Crowd: Heavy on the middle-aged suits late on the Wednesday evening I visited. Perhaps the hipsters head along later? Such surroundings deserve a more glamourous (and female) clientele.
Decor: Very sophisticated. The old order of things has been reversed; what was the old Finz bar is now the restauraunt area and the vast majority of the space is devoted to bar space, dominated by a large mosaic bar in the centre of the room. The lighting is quite gorgeous, with light scupltures and colour washing the white walls. A little incongruosly, there's a large TV screen at one end. Nice ottoman seats make a cool chillout area, and of course there's that fabulous deck, the perfect place to see and be seen, now sensibly enclosed at one end. One disappointment - they've left in the old bathrooms! I mean, they are nice, but a new decor deserves a revamp in the most important room as well. Men may not care about these things, but at least they could have done the ladies'.
Ambience: Not too loud, but not too exciting either, due in large part to the aforementioned middle-aged suits. Outside is lovely though - on a balmy night with the lights on the water (and assuming you've brought along your own attractive companion) it's rather romantic and gorgeous.
Prices: Average to high. Simple cocktails around the $10 mark.
Must-drink: I think champagne if one is on the deck. Or a tall, minty mojito.
Service: We had to wait at the bar for around five minutes to get the attention of a bar person. At a high end establishment I feel that is unacceptable - it wasn't overly busy, but even so there should have been more than one person behind the bar. A girl doesn't like hanging around the bar waving her money around and looking hopeful. That said, when we were served the barman was very friendly and personable, and made the perfect drink suggestions.
Overall: Has potential. A fantastic location and a swanky refit. I'd definitely give it a go if I was out on the town, and on a sunny afternoon that deck is hard to beat. Now what they really need to do is coax some of the beautiful people over from Bubble to really make it spark.
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
