A white bowl of braised pork with tofu, leafy greens, and brown sauce on a plate. Yellow cartoon fork and knife appear to hold the bowl, with an orange patterned background.
Hamilton Hotel’s Sunday roast, on this occasion porchetta with a cannellini bean puree and a mustardy jus with lentils. (Photos: Amy Stewart. Image design: The Spinoff)

Kaiabout 9 hours ago

New and approved: Hamilton Hotel Public Bar & Bistro, Hamilton

Guest writer
A white bowl of braised pork with tofu, leafy greens, and brown sauce on a plate. Yellow cartoon fork and knife appear to hold the bowl, with an orange patterned background.
Hamilton Hotel’s Sunday roast, on this occasion porchetta with a cannellini bean puree and a mustardy jus with lentils. (Photos: Amy Stewart. Image design: The Spinoff)

Hankering after a Sunday roast in Hamilton? Head straight to this great new spot fashioned from the remains of the city’s oldest hotel.

What is it?

It’s like an old-fashioned hotel pub but it’s actually a flash bar, newly fashioned from the remains of Hamilton’s oldest hotel. In a mercifully straightforward bit of branding, it’s called the Hamilton Hotel Public Bar & Bistro. No surprise then that walking in the elaborately tiled front door presents you with just two options: a right turn into the bistro or a left turn into the public bar. On Sundays the swanky bistro is closed and they do a roast in the public bar, which is what drew me in. Who doesn’t love a single-option, no-swapsies Sunday roast? 

Where is it?

It’s at 170 Victoria Street, occupying most of the streetfront of the long-awaited BNZ Theatre.  Kirikiriroa needed a new theatre after Founders Theatre closed in 2016 and it’s finally arrived, bringing with it four new hospo venues: in addition to Hamilton Hotel there’s also Four Daughters (sandos, natural wine, beers), Birdman (a cosy upstairs cocktail haunt), and a relocated version of the universally adored bar Wonder Horse.

What’s new about it?

Not the neoclassical facade, for a start; that’s been there since 1923. Hamilton Hotel’s tagline is “Waiting on you since 1865” – there’s been a hotel on this spot since then, but the first one burned down and the second one did too. The third incarnation – built in stone and brick in 1923 – nearly burned down during a production of Hamlet in 1992, but it was saved by the two actors playing the gravediggers. 

Only the facade was retained in this current redevelopment but the Hamilton Hotel’s design pays sensitive homage to some sweet details that recall the building’s long history. Nowadays you get to the Public Bar via the very public streetfront entrance labelled “private entrance”.

Split image: Left shows a white double door labeled “Private Entrance” with patterned glass and tiled floor; right shows a modern bar with bottles, plants, and bar stools.
The very public ‘private entrance’, and Waikato Draught swappas along the top of the bar (Photos: Amy Stewart)

Who’s behind it?

The same rōpū we have to thank for much of what’s good to eat and drink in Kirikiriroa these days: local lads John Moughan, Alex Hudson and Matt Pedley, and their partner and general manager Jonathan Knapp. This isn’t the first old building they’ve dreamed up a new use for: Last Place, housed in a 1970s ex-mechanics and spare parts shop on Collingwood Street, remains one of my favourite places in the country for a burger and a show. You really have to appreciate places like this that are so good because they’re made by people who actually do things like eat burgers and go to shows. 

What are the vibes?

Being a Sunday at noon it was quiet when we walked in, but grew steadily busier as the afternoon went on. It’s a beautiful room – the smartly updated old-school grandeur makes you wish there were actually rooms upstairs. The fit-out is all cobalt banquettes and chartreuse loveseats, somewhat startlingly punctuated by TV screens playing whatever’s on internationally: baseball and rugby when we were in. 

The owners cite Parisian bistros and New York steakhouses as inspiration. You certainly feel the bistro and the steakhouse, but it also feels comfortable and warm and easy like a classic New Zealand country pub. The bar is well-stocked and I am always delighted to see neat ranks of Waikato Draught swappas along the top of the bar. Hamilton Hotel cannily plays on that tired old remark that Hamilton isn’t so much a city as a big farming town, and if you’re incredulous at the thought that you can eat well beside the Waikato just as you can beside the Seine or the Hudson, then you’ve not been dining out enough in this city.

A plate with roast meat, potatoes, greens, and gravy sits on a table with a beer and napkin labeled “Hamilton Hotel.” The image also shows a cozy, empty café with wooden tables and large windows.
The Sunday roast: porchetta with cannellini bean puree and a mustardy jus with lentils, and the beautiful interior. (Photos: Amy Stewart)

What should I order?

Well, the roast. Like the place itself, it’s a smartened up version of a Sunday roast, so you won’t need a lie down afterwards (handy, as they told me they’re going to keep the Sunday roast going through summer). It changes weekly and on the day we went it was porchetta with a cannellini bean puree and a beautiful, mustardy jus with lentils. If you want a Henry VIII-type situation you won’t get it – the serving size of the potatoes only felt mean because they were so delicious. 

It’s just the roast that’s no-swapsies: the whole rest of the bar menu is also available, and it’s stacked with classics: oysters, eggplant parm, fish and chips (with mushy peas!), bangers and mash. I had a bite of the Caesar salad with delicious dressing so thick it would pass the meringue held-over-the-head test. 

What’ll it set me back?

The roast was $35, which is steep-ish but not unjustified in this economy (not least because it was so delicious). There are interesting beers on tap – I had the Karamu Barrelworks Tank 4 Saison for $14, but as a gauge a bottle of Steinlager will set you back $10. The wine list is extensive and runs from $12 to $30 for a glass, and you can get a bloody Mary (and many other cocktails) for $22. 

Hamilton Hotel Public Bar & Bistro

170 Victoria Street, Hamilton

Tues-Sun 12-late (bar), bistro lunch 12-3pm, dinner 5pm-late. Roast available all day Sunday.

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