It has often been said that simplicity is the recipe for success, and it’s a principle employed at the inner-city’s most recent opening, Inwards Goods — a new addition to Fort Lane that focuses on coffee, natural wines, and sumptuous toasties that are a cut above the rest.
Found in the large open entrance to Fort Lane’s Imperial House (which perhaps you might know if you’ve ever paid a visit Everybody’s, the bar above) Inwards Goods is an impressive space, taking over the entire foyer of Imperial House with an almost brutalist fitout. A vast void, initially designed by Fearon Hay Architects, has been re-imagined with ‘a mid-century airport feel’ in mind, with the owners seeking something simple, inviting and cool — the result is all those things and more.
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Imperial House Owner Sam Ansley explains that “the City needed an open, cool place to meet — purposely undefinable, somewhere to go that isn’t the bar or the club.” And so, come evening time, Inwards Goods delivers a new iteration of late-night experience, offering easy beers, natural wines, and espresso martinis on tap. During the day, the concept is similar, although those walking through the doors will likely opt for a coffee and a toastie — the perfect lunch on the fly.
While toasties seem to be popping up with more frequency on Auckland menus (perhaps for their ease and reliability), Inwards Goods differentiates its offering by focusing on “the little things,” Imperial House’s Creative Director Kamal Haggerty tells me. Take the creamed corn toastie, for which they char the corn and make it in-house, or the truffle honey toastie — a totally unnecessary but utterly welcome addition. Personally, we find the Korean Egg Sandwich the most delightful, with egg, cheese, kimchi, pickles and spicy mayo, giving us the substance we need for weekday (or late night) nourishment. And the menu refuses to discriminate, offering a gluten-free alternative that Haggerty swears is as good as the real thing.
Open from 8am until late (on Fridays and Saturdays, we’re talking 1am late), it is the kind of destination that Auckland’s inner city has been missing. With the vision of guest DJs and summertime kitchen takeovers in the new year, Inwards Goods is a space to keep on your radar, if you’re not obsessed with it already.
Opening hours:
Monday — Friday, 8am until late.
Saturday, 4pm until late.
Closed Sundays.
