Dr Rudi’s @ Auckland

The borders of New Zealand opened and I rushed on my first trip to Auckland since 2019. And it was good to see the city bouncing back from the lockdown without missing a beat! Just go to one of the best rooftop bars in the world – Dr Rudi’s

The Viaduct Harbour is gorgeous enough but from Dr Rudi’s Rooftop Bar, it’s a whole new level of beauty. Perched on the 2nd level overlooking Viaduct Harbour, Dr Rudi’s is perhaps the best rooftop spot in Auckland for brewing, drinking, eating & socialising. Just look at this wonderful sunset view from its balcony!

Open in 2017, the venue is owned and operated by three young and charismatic gents: Kristian Lloyd, Callum O’Brien and Andrew Roborgh. Together, they have successfully created a fun, laidback bar and eatery. With an onsite brewery pumping constantly award winning beers, the selection of 14 brews on tap at Dr Rudi’s rotates regularly. But it is far from the only thing on the menu, which also include wine, sparkling and refreshing cocktails.

The Viaduct

Viaduct Harbour is a vibrant community situated in and around Auckland’s waterfront. Viaduct Harbour, formerly known as Viaduct Basin, is a former commercial harbour on the Auckland waterfront that has been turned into a development of mostly upscale apartments, office space and restaurants.

It is located on the site of a formerly run-down area of the Freemans Bay / Auckland CBD waterfront in Auckland, New Zealand.

As a centre of activity of the 2000 America’s Cup hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the precinct enjoyed considerable popularity with locals and foreign visitors.

The Food

Being a pub, they offer really superb share platters, nibbles, and the biggest pizzas around. With pizzas reaching an immense three feet, these giants are designed to be shared between loved ones. 

We ordered two perennial carnivore favourites – Meat Lovers (L) and Wild Hog. Meat Lover pizza was decked with the familiar pepperoni, ground beef, bacon, red onion and mozzarella, flavoured by their house BBQ sauce. Wild Hog pizza was topped with wild pork & fennel sausage, twice cooked pork belly, confit fennel bulb, field mushrooms, mozzarella and micro herbs (alfalfa sprouts). It always put a smile on my face how they described these details with trendy names.

The pizzas were thin crusted and they were excellent. They had tons of different flavor components and blended perfectly together. The Wild Hog pizza was extremely delicious. We also loved the Meat Lover pizza with its liberal amount of cheese and sausages. Everything was cooked to perfection and we didn’t have to wait very long. 

Besides the excellent pizzas, we ordered some bar snacks that were equally outstanding on their own rights. But anything salty and deep fried would not be considered a culinary masterpiece, however the sauces stole the show. The Fish and Chips platter included trevally loins from NZ, onion rings, beer battered & shoestring fries, sliced bread(!) with Anchor butter and a compliment of tartare sauce, shallot vinegar, tomato sauce. The Popcorn Squid came with wasabi aioli. Dr. Rudiʼs Free Range Chicken Wings came in three levels of spiciness and served with house blue cheese sauce.

Afterthoughts

We had a lovely evening catching up between great bites and cold beers. The service staff was attentive but as the evening got busier, the bar struggled to catch up. Like all F&B establishments around the world, everyone is struggling to get the staffing and resources back to pre-Covid normal.

Dr Rudi’s is a great and buzzing Auckland rooftop bar, both for relaxing drinks and bites in the sun, or late night vibes. And before Covid they have everything from live DJs, piano-duels and jazz/rock live performances. Dr Rudi’s also has two bowling lanes out back, free for all to use before the lockdowns. Hopefully these will all return soon. But do visit for it billion-dollar sunset view unparalleled anywhere in the world.

Dr Rudi’s Rooftop Brewing Co.
Level 2/204 Quay Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Tel : +64 9 942 4666

Visited in Jun 2022