Slim Davey's - CLOSED

Overview

Slim Davey's over delivers in the best possible way on the tongue-in-cheek claim to have 'Definitely not the worst food in town'.

We wandered into Slim Davey's early one Saturday evening to grab a drink followed by a cheap bite to eat somewhere before a movie. Arriving so early on a Saturday evening (or, one might say, so late in the afternoon), Slim Davey's Friendly Neighbourhood Saloon had more of a feeling of the Wild West to it than usual: the place was almost empty and some tumbleweed tumbling by wouldn't have been out of place.

Taking a place at the upstairs bar, we opened our menus to discover that we had arrived during happy hour and there were some bloody great deals to be had. House wine was $7 by the glass or $35 for the bottle, or a glass of house wine and a burger for $20. Realising that we could accomplish all of our eating and drinking goals for the evening at bargain prices and without having to move from our comfy spot at the bar: priceless.

Slim Davey's is brought to you by the good people of the neighbouring Ortega Fish Shack so you know you're in good hands. The menu is built around things that are good to eat when you're having a few drinks: fried things and things in and/or on bread. It's simple, but it's done well. Their burgers are no exception and excitingly for those who need to care about such things, the kitchen makes their own gluten-free buns. And even more exciting, they're delicious.

Slim's take on a cheeseburger is everything an omnivore could ever want from a burger: it's simple, it's saucy, and it satisfies. The all-beef patty is perfectly medium-rare in the middle, there's plenty of sweet gherkin and tangy pickled onion to cut through the richness of the melted cheese, aioli and American mustard sauce. You can choose your style of fries (shoestring though, eh) and they give you both aioli and tomato sauce 'cos that's the sort of good thoughtful guy Slim is.

The happy hour offering includes tap beer or a $10 cocktail from a large list of possibilities, but we went with a glass of Slim's house Pinot Noir. Poured from a clear-skin bottle with a Slim Davey's label on it, who knows where it's from, but it's perfectly drinkable and it perfectly fits in one hand while your cheeseburger fits in the other. Oh, and there's a peanut slab ice cream sundae for dessert. So there you have it: Wellington's best-kept early bird special available Wednesday through to Sunday 4pm to 6pm. Definitely not the worst.