One of the questions we are regularly asked at Denizen is where, in Auckland, one might go later at night when there’s still life in the night, but the appetite for sticky floors, questionable characters and somebody shouting into your ear has long since expired.
For a city that likes to think of itself as grown-up, Auckland has become oddly quiet for a late-night ritual, particularly for those who are less interested in staying out for the sake of it, and more interested in finding somewhere to enjoy a drink made by someone who knows precisely what they are doing. Which is why when we learned about Kureta’s Nezake Nights, we thought it was worthy of sharing.
Every Friday and Saturday from 10pm, Nezake Nights sees the teppanyaki restaurant shift into a more clandestine code as its marble-clad dining room takes on the mood of a modern Japanese speakeasy. The lighting softens, and the counter becomes a very compelling place to carry the conversation into the evening.
At the heart of the experience are Japanese whisky flights that move from the honeyed complexity of Yamazaki 12 to the deeper, more orchestral pull of Hibiki 21, while the cocktail list offers its own deft persuasion. The Genmaicha Old Fashioned, made with genmaicha-infused bourbon, maple and black walnut bitters, is exactly the kind of drink that suggests someone behind the bar knows what they are doing and, mercifully, has not mistaken theatre for taste.
There are bar snacks too, although calling them snacks is an understatement. Renkon chips dusted with Old Bay and crispy wakame arrive, making this a late-night bite feel less like an afterthought and more like good judgment.
No booking is required. Simply walk in, take a seat at the counter, and allow the evening to gather itself. At Kureta, Auckland’s late-night problem has found a rather elegant solution.
