167 Ponsonby Road,
Ponsonby
Auckland,
(09) 360 7167
The ViewAuckland Review
Lime is the sort of bar which is empty when others are full and full when the rest are emptying out.
Well, that’s my experience anyway.
On a Saturday night it’s packed and rowdy (twenty-somethings singing along to Kenny Rogers for God’s sake) and spilling on to the street. For an after-work drink we pretty much have the place to ourselves while the bars nearby are full.
This doesn’t make the woman behind the bar any friendlier though. Perhaps I asked the wrong question, although all I wanted was to see the Lime Holy Grail. This is a trophy served to the person game or rich enough to buy the drink called Tin Tin which is a $100 Long Island Iced Tea topped with French champagne and served in the famous Holy Grail. If you do this your name will be engraved onto the Grail.
Well, the Grail was away being engraved and when I expressed surprise the woman said coldly “We’ve had quite a few people order it actually.” Beg your pardon.
Lime has a pretty interesting drinks menu actually. Close reading makes you want to order concoctions like the Southern Traverse for its heady citrusy mix of gin, cucumber, limoncello finished off with horopito gomme syrup. Yum.
Special cocktails like that cost around $17. The daiquiris and highballs are a little cheaper at $15 while the wines (red and white) start from $8 and there are also ports and brandies on offer.
It’s a teeny tiny place (three doors wide according to my calculations) with a minimalist décor. Lime doors, wooden veneer walls with a cream padded strip down the middle and a glass panel with painted grass pic behind it.
Few seats, one table outside; lots of standing room only. Intimate bordering on invasive depending on who you’re banged up next to.
It seems weird to be shouting an order through a sea of people in a place that’s little bigger than your average bathroom. But it does have the effect of making you feel like you’re at a happening sort of place which I gather is the effect they desire.
Pity the staff specialize in too-cool-to-chat-or-crack-a-smile service.
Lime has been reviewed by 7 users