Toucan Bar & Bistro is a bar with a bistro kitchen on Dairy Flat Highway in Albany, on Auckland's North Shore, rated 4.0 on Google. A bar with a proper kitchen changes the shape of an evening: instead of a quick drink before moving on, a bistro invites you to stay for a meal, and the good ones cook like a small restaurant rather than reheating pub staples. Regulars tend to judge such places midweek, when the room is quiet and consistency shows, and they ask what is on tap or worth ordering rather than working down the menu. On an arterial road like Dairy Flat Highway, parking is usually easy and the crowd is locals rather than passers-by, so these places live on the neighbourhood returning. For Albany and the northern fringe of the North Shore, Toucan Bar & Bistro is just that kind of local: a spot for a drink or an unhurried dinner.