The Original
A no-brainer for when you’re craving pub food with a fancy twist.
Overview
The Original is the new kid on the Viaduct block, sitting in prime location where Snapdragon used to be. Still in transition, the lit "SNAP" sign remains but the interior has been completely refurbished with a new bar. Taking a modern spin on the classic Kiwi pub, their menu is serious about big portions and serving quality meat.
The obvious choice is to order a beef steak over charcoal which comes with a small side of "beef dripping chips" and a sauce of your choice from mushroom ketchup, crayfish butter, tabasco butter, peppercorn sauce or Béarnaise sauce. However, if you're visiting on a Monday, the giant plate of fish and chips would be hard to pass by on their special menu for pub quiz night ($19).
From their steak range, we opted for the 9 oz Black Angus Skirt which was a little smaller than what I expected after witnessing our neighbouring tables eating mammoth meals ($29). For example, a girl was chowing down what seemed to be a whole chicken the size of a Christmas turkey.
Sauce wise, I made an executive decision to go for the highly fascinating tabasco butter which was obviously the right choice. From their rather extensive side menu that seemed to cater for the conscientious vegetarians, we got the raw beet salad with spinach and toasted seeds ($9) to balance the meal/alleviate our gluttonous meat guilt. Sharing between two people, we also ordered the seared scallops which came with cauliflower, grilled brussel sprouts and bacon in a thick white sauce ($24). This was by far my favourite out of the three dishes and it really got us inspired to cook these mini cabbages at home.
Perusing through their drinks menu, the cocktail descriptions piqued our interest and caused for further investigation. The Manuka Ginger Fizz concocted from 42Below manuka honey vodka, lime, angostura bitters, ginger beer, mint was right up my alley ($16). The Raspberry and Coconut Fix, made from leblon cachaça, lime, raspberry syrup, coconut water, pineapple and mint was rather strong and had an interesting sugar-cane-esque twist to it ($16). Both were refreshing and had the perfect amount of sweetness with floral garnishes to give off the perfume-like waft.
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