The Occidental Belgian Beer Huis occupies one of Auckland's oldest buildings, right on the historic cobblestones of Vulcan Lane in the heart of the CBD. Built in 1870 as a high-end hotel and restaurant — complete with a billiard room and reading room — the corner has been welcoming people from all walks of life for generations, and the design and decor still reflect that fascinating past.
The kitchen leans European, with mussel pots as the house signature alongside seafood platters and hearty pub fare. Reviewers single out the beer-battered oysters, served with salad and fries, and an affogato they rate among the best they've had.
Beer is the other headline act. The taps are ever-changing, pouring an array of Belgian and craft specialties — Hoegaarden among them — and there's an extensive collection of bottled Belgian beer for something different. Staff are happy to recommend a match for your meal.
Come for the food and beer, stay for the atmosphere: a cosy, character-filled pub where you can sit outside, watch the world go by down Vulcan Lane, and, if the rumours are true, maybe even meet the resident ghost who reputedly emerges from the basement — and, like everyone else, doesn't want to leave.
There are bars that trade on history and bars that earn it. The Occidental, on Vulcan Lane in the heart of Auckland's CBD, manages both. The building is one of the oldest in the city, put up in 1870 as a high-end hotel and restaurant complete with a billiard room and a reading room. In the years since, it has welcomed people from all walks of life, served hundreds of thousands of meals and — by the house's own cheerful count — poured millions of pints. Today it operates as a Belgian beer huis: part pub, part restaurant, part living museum, with design and decor that make no effort to hide any of it. Even the ghost said to emerge from the basement on occasion, the story goes, doesn't want to leave.
Step inside and the past is part of the furniture. The Occidental's owners lean into the building's heritage rather than sanding it away — the rooms read like a pub that has genuinely been pouring for well over a century, because it has. That sense of continuity is a large part of the appeal. Wedding anniversaries are celebrated here over casual lunches, friends claim outdoor tables on sunny afternoons, and visitors wander in off Vulcan Lane for a pint and end up staying far longer than planned.
Vulcan Lane itself helps. The lane is one of central Auckland's most atmospheric corners, a pedestrian strip of heritage buildings away from the traffic, and The Occidental sits right in the middle of it. Reviewers regularly mention the pleasure of sitting outside with a Belgian beer and watching the world go by.
The kitchen's calling card is the mussel pot — a dish that fits both the Belgian theme and the building's seafood-leaning, European-style menu. Around it sit seafood platters built for sharing and a lineup of hearty European fare.
One Trip Advisor reviewer celebrating a wedding anniversary here ordered a dozen beer-battered oysters with salad and fries, paired with a Hoegaarden from the tap range, and declared the whole visit recommended — noting it came in at roughly 30% less than an identical fine-dining meal on the waterfront. The same reviewer called the affogato one of the best they'd had, high praise for a dessert that many pubs treat as an afterthought. Service, they added, was friendly and relaxed, and the food fresh.
The Belgian in Belgian Beer Huis is not decorative. The tap lineup is ever-changing, cycling through Belgian and craft specialties, so a repeat visit can mean an entirely different pour list — Hoegaarden is among the names that have appeared. For something beyond the taps, the bar keeps an extensive collection of bottled Belgian beer, and the staff are explicitly happy to recommend a bottle or a tap pour to match whatever you've ordered from the kitchen. The bar also lists itself on Untappd, a nod to how seriously beer-minded its clientele is.
What ties it together is atmosphere. The Occidental is cosy rather than cavernous, historic rather than themed, and busy in the way a genuinely loved local pub gets busy. Whether you're settling in for a mussel pot and a flight of Belgian pours, sharing a seafood platter over a long lunch, or just stopping for an oyster-and-pint break between city errands, the setting does a lot of the work.
It opens from 9 am, seven days a week (from midday on public holidays), and takes bookings through its website, which is worth doing if you have your heart set on an outdoor table or are coming with a group. For a bar that has been pouring for generations, it remains remarkably good at making an ordinary afternoon feel like an occasion — ghost optional.