Portland Public House

This place rocks! Literally. The food, the staff, the décor and the entertainment are all absolute tops and we love it. A new favourite on our local scene. It’s a great place.

Portland Public House is really doing everything right. The comfy couches and kitschy furniture make it feel like you’ve just gone over to a mate’s house for a jam session. Portland has live music most nights for every taste, which is a reflection of them in general. There’s something for everyone who appreciates honestly good nosh, inventive libations and fun times ahoy. Their bar staff are really knowledgeable if you’re not quite sure what your in the mood for, and who doesn’t like beer and cocktails in mason jars??? If you like great live music, craft beer, good whiskey, and creative cocktails, check it out.

Big beards, beer in jars, and excellent live music. Stop in for a beer after work or break up your train ride out west with a stop in Kingsland. The place was particularly good during a Tuesday night residency by local band hopetown brown. The locals are friendly and people appreciate their music.

The Portland Pub is a little corner pub in Kingsland which serves great food and a nice selection of drinks to boot.
The Portland walks a fine line between hipster cool and slightly pretentious (for example, beer served in a jar, similar to the ones that my mum used for preserving peaches).but the staff are really friendly, the food delicious and the best part… the whisky selection is not too shabby either. And the staff are pretty up to scratch in their recommendations too.
Awesome place for live music although it can get pretty noisy as the venue is quite intimate. I find that the Portland is one of those places that you always end up going back to as its comfy and cool at the same time.

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed Portland yet, it’s my favourite bar in Auckland!!!
Lovely warm inside area sporting an eclectic array of old school couches with some of the best live music I have ever had the pleasure of listening too. Such a mix if instruments! One afternoon you will go and see a beautiful old man playing the harmonica, the next night could be a jazz band then a buzzy fellow on the guitar… LOVE it!
There is a bit I a separate room for dining if you want to sit and have a meal. Their menu is right up my alley! Good old New Zealand boil up is my fav then an interesting mix of snacks or full meals.
But wait there’s more!
An outside area protected from the wind where you sit on kegs with cushions or the benches around the edge looking at the graffiti art that surrounds you.
If you haven’t been I highly suggest you do. I prefer weeknights or early afternoon as I’m a bit crowd phobic and it can get rather busy in the weekend nights but don’t let that deter you as it’s pumping with beautiful live music and happy faces
Enjoy

This weekend I spent my Saturday on Portland’s sunny back porch, drinking Governers and stuffing myself silly with their tasty offerings… bliss, I tell you!
I’ll admit, I had never heard of Portland Public House before this weekend (I’ve just moved back from overseas… gimme a break!) but now that I have I imagine I will be back here on the reg. It has this hard-​to-​beat, carefree atmosphere, which makes it ideal for chewing the fat with friends on a lazy afternoon. Not to mention, the staff seem genuinely chuffed when you tell them you love the place, and the food is fresh and delicious.
When we went we sampled the crumbed prawns, the fish sliders served with a liberal smothering of tartare sauce, wedges with lashings of sour cream and chives and fall-​of-​the-​bone ribs served with a rustic slaw. Whilst the dishes weren’t overly complicated they were packed full of flavour and had been prepared with care.
Apparently they have a lot of gigs here too — the details of which can be found on their FB page — but personally, I am just hanging out for another sunny weekend so I can while away the hours on that back deck of theirs!

There are actually not than many good places to go in Kingsland, unfortunately. Kingsland is a great spot and it’s really handy to where a lot of my friends live and it’s the perfect «on the way to» or or «after work» drinking spot. For a long Neighbourhood Bar was one of the only places to go, and although Neighbourhood Bar is a great bar, it’s packed with dicks in polo shirts. The Portland Public House is a great alternative. It’s a really laid back kind of place and the people who go there are pretty cool too. They’ve got live music on certain days of the week, and the bands that play here all offer something different to each other, which I think is cool.

Drinking at The Portland Public house is like drinking in a friend of a friend’s summer bach. Jump on one of the old school couches with your poison of choice, reminisce with your neighbour about how your granny had a similar settee, he introduces you to his bro’s who are setting up to jam, someone buys a round and asks if you play anything… that sort of thing.
Portland’s has a very laid back and relaxed atmosphere with a Kiwi D.I.Y spirit (see keg stools, wine barrel tables and of course, a deck). My French partner was excited to see a place with Kiwi/​Maori food on the menu, including a boil-​up, a treat to locals and tourists.
Everything was stepped up a notch for the Kingsland Kanival as everyone, including bar staff, joined in with the dress-​up competition and merrymaking. Portland’s will become an iconic part of Kingsland that other bars try to emulate in coming years.

Kingsland is rapidly filling with pubs and bars, and no doubt it’s becoming more and more of a struggle to find a point of difference. Portland has achieved this though, in a couple of ways. Firstly, they’ve got a rustic, cobbled-​together aesthetic which feels natural and comfortable, more so than the similar, but less convincing, version at places like Neighbourhood.
Secondly, they have live music — not just bands, but also an open mike night that becomes an extended jam, with people swapping in and out and mixing their musical styles. This is a lot of fun not just for the musicians but for the crowd as well.
The end result is that the place feels like less of a trendy bar and like more of a local, family watering hole. A great place to spend an evening.

We came here on a Saturday afternoon because there was a game on at Eden Park and our usual was packed out. We weren’t sure what to expect but were pleasantly delighted. The atmosphere was great and we could actually walk around inside which was even better!
We loved the courtyard out back. It felt like we were partying at someone’s house, which made the experience really relaxing and carefree. They also had a band playing great party favourites and we all got up and had a dance.
Their menu is so good. They’ve done a real kiwi slant on great dishes. We loved the Maorioli and it was so delicious on their big chunky chips.
We’ll definitely be back and it might even have become our favourite bar.