The Corner is a neighbourhood bar and kitchen on Remuera Road in Remuera, Auckland — self-described purveyors of good times. It pairs a generous share-plates food menu, running from spiced corn ribs and Judith's cheese rolls through to a loaded Corner Platter, lumache alla vodka, steak frites and a trio of burgers, with a drinks list that spans classic cocktails, spritzes, thirteen tap beers and a wide-ranging wine list. A dedicated kids menu and clearly marked vegetarian dishes make it work for all sorts of occasions.
Doors open at 2pm Monday to Wednesday and from midday Thursday through Sunday, staying open late every night, with a happy hour from 4pm to 6pm daily featuring deals on jugs, house wine and prosecco. A loyalty programme, digital gift cards and an email newsletter keep regulars across cold pints, good wines and what's on.
Bookings are made by email, and the team asks diners to flag any allergies or dietary requirements so the chefs can do their best to accommodate — though they're upfront that cross-contamination can't be fully ruled out.
There are pubs that try to be everything to everyone, and then there is The Corner — a Remuera local that knows exactly what it is. Sitting at 604 Remuera Road, it bills itself as a purveyor of good times, and the whole operation is built around that promise: a generous food menu designed for sharing, a drinks list that runs from playful spritzes to serious Bordeaux, and a happy hour that fires every single day.
The doors open at 2pm Monday to Wednesday and from midday Thursday through Sunday, staying open late each night — a rhythm that suits an after-work drink as easily as a long weekend lunch with the family.
The kitchen leans into the share-plates format. The snacks and sharing list stretches from spiced corn ribs with garlic butter, parmesan and lemon to Judith's cheese rolls — served with honey, brown butter and onion salt — plus market fish tostada, karaage chicken, fried calamari and a prawn katsu sando on soft white bread. There are spiced lamb skewers with tzatziki, burrata with heirloom tomato, and market fish ceviche dressed with coconut cream and nahm jim. For groups, the Corner Platter is the centrepiece: garlic pepper salami, chorizo, prosciutto, smoked cheese and haloumi, olives, baby cornichons, karaage chicken and Turkish flatbread, with dips to add on.
Beyond the snacks, the classics hold their own. Lumache pasta arrives in vodka sauce with prawn and nduja; there is classic fish and chips, Sidhu's butter chicken with saffron rice, herb-crumbed chicken schnitzel with peppercorn sauce, a tom yum salmon salad, crispy-skin market fish, and a 250g steak frites with your choice of peppercorn or chimichurri. The burger trio — smash, chicken and a vegetarian halloumi — all come with fries, and a dedicated kids menu keeps younger diners happy. Save room for tiramisu or the stone fruit meringue with poached peach and ricotta.
The cocktail list covers the classics with confidence: pornstar martini, piña colada, mojito in three flavours, margarita in five, paloma, blood orange sour, hurricane and paper plane. Dessert-leaning pours such as lemon meringue pie, peanut butter & jealous and apple crumble double as a sweet finish, while the spritz family runs from Aperol and limoncello to elderflower Hugo and peach. The taps pour everything from Speight's GMA and Lion Red to Little Creatures Pale Ale, Panhead's hazy IPA and Guinness, and the wine list roams widely — Marlborough sauvignon blanc, Central Otago pinot noir, Chablis, Provence rosé and a deep bench of French reds.
Happy hour runs every day from 4pm to 6pm, with specials on jugs of Summit Ultra, Speight's GMA and Lion Red, house wine and prosecco.
The Corner behaves the way a good local should. There is a loyalty programme for regulars, digital gift cards for gifting a round, and an email newsletter promising first word on cold pints, good wines and what's on. Bookings are handled by email — send a note and the team will sort you out. Vegetarian dishes are clearly marked across the menu, and diners are asked to flag allergies or dietary requirements so the chefs can accommodate where possible, though the kitchen is upfront that cross-contamination can't be entirely ruled out.
Whether it is a midweek pint after work, a long weekend lunch with the kids or a table of friends working through the platter and a bottle of Central Otago pinot, The Corner does what the best corner pubs do: it makes the neighbourhood feel like the centre of things.