Bedford Soda and Liquor

I've been meaning to write this post up for quite a while, and by now half of Auckland seems to have already visited Bedford Soda and Liquor. But - for those of you who haven't made it there, let me tell you all about it.

Nestled in Ponsonby Central, on the Richmond Road side, Bedford Soda and Liquor is an American style meatball and cocktail haven.

Hannah and I visited Bedford for a drink one afternoon, but I naturally I couldn't resist trying the food. But, first things first- the cocktail I tried from the 'Bedford Daisies' menu was a delicious concoction of Tanqueray gin, rhubarb, ginger, pink grapefruit and soda. It was a perfectly balanced (and very pretty) drink that went down dangerously fast.

The drinks menu is enormous, and features re-worked American classics like Tanquery Iced Tea, Bourbon Shakes, Mint Juleps and dozens more. It is a very impressive list, executed by skillful bartenders.

But it's the food menu that's one of the best parts about Bedford- you are given a menu and a non-permanent pen to tick your choice. Very simple, very cool.

We only ordered a few sliders, but the menu is pretty limited so that told us enough. The first slider was the 'special' beef and bacon meatball covered in a naughty hollandaise sauce, cooked to a beautiful pink in the middle. Next up was the pork meatball with a spicy tomato sauce. This one was delicious, although the pork was a bit overdosed on fennel for my liking. The last slider was the delicious beef and gravy- which was definitely my favourite.

The sliders were all pretty good, but competition around here for sliders is tough, and I don't know if these guys would hold up against the likes of Depot or The Roaming Dive. But- the meatballs are great, the cocktails are fantastic, and there is no other meatball joint like this around. You go get 'em Bedford.