The newly opened Treehouse bar along Northbourne breathes some new life into the popular nightclub strip in Civic.
The high ceilings and bar-cross-loft layout ooze sophistication and the life-sized illuminated tree is mesmerising in its beauty. The feel is natural and design unique, with logs suspended from the ceilings and a subtle, forest inspired metallic print over a stormy grey papering the walls. Enormous mirrors reflect the glimmering lights of the tree, filing the entire space with a warm and cozy glow – perfect for winter hibernation.
The Garden Party cocktail kicked things off with a delicately decorated, sweet, sour and fruity note. Applejack, Sloe berry gin, Apricot Liqueur, lemon and sugar definitely make one of those drinks you continuously reappear at the bar for. If you’re after a quiet city drink the cocktail list is to die for, covering everything you could need without spoiling for choice.
The menu is also a stroke of genius. It’s fun, playful, affordable and exactly what you need at a cocktail bar. The servings are sized perfectly and flavours spot on. We started with the tapas menu and ordered the Tiger prawn kebabs with mango and chilli, as well as the intriguing popcorn pork belly (could it really be popcorn?) with tzatziki.
The Tiger prawn kebabs were impressively presented Jenga style (perhaps order these before the cocktails kick in) and topped colourfully with fresh coriander leaves and a vibrant, tropical salsa of mango and chilli. If you eat with your eyes, then I was well and truly satisfied before tasting anything, but the flavours undeniably live up to the appearance. The salsa was fresh, the prawns were hot, juicy and seasoned perfectly and the chilli made things even more interesting.
The popcorn pork belly, which was actually presented as popcorn, goes down as the most novel and fun menu item I’ve eaten all year. I’d only sipped the Garden Party and couldn’t stop giggling when it arrived. The pork is piping hot, melts luxuriously in the mouth and the crackling “popcorn” was super crisp and classifies as perfect winter bar food.
For further novelty factor we couldn’t go past the list of gourmet dogs, and ended up with the chicken, bacon, mushroom and manchego cheddar dog, topped with truffle aioli. The presentation was again appealing; the truffle aioli perfectly subtle, mushrooms grilled to caramel status and the chicken sausage was thick, juicy and so very, very tasty.
For a main we ordered the panko crumbed Wahoo with baby cos salad, house cut chips and lemon gribiche. There was absolutely nothing to fault with this dish and the plate was cleaned in record time. The gribiche was zingy and delicious, the panko crumb was super crisp and the fish was creamy, white, flaking apart and thoroughly enjoyable.
I can never go past a dessert menu and the raspberry eton mess was calling my name. Pillows of Chantilly cream, raspberry sorbet, mint sprigs, fresh raspberries and batons of piped Italian meringue all folded together in harmonious chaos was undeniably the perfect way to end the evening, plus it was served in a cocktail glass. Everything tastes better in a cocktail glass.
If you’re in Civic this winter with chattering teeth and frost bitten extremities wondering where to turn – head to Treehouse for a bit of well deserved fun. Don’t forget to try their iSnap app on the way out, mine wasn’t the most flattering photo, but it’s pretty (embarrassingly) clear I was having a great time.
