The Portsider is a public bar on George Street, the main street of Port Chalmers — the port township about twelve kilometres, or a twenty-minute drive, from Dunedin's Octagon. It's a welcoming spot for friends, family, locals and travellers, with tasteful decor, a log burner, and an emphasis on craft beers and fresh, simple food.
The kitchen makes its own breads, sauces and condiments, and hand cuts its chips. The dining menu runs from seared beef salad and sirloin steak to pan-fried fish of the day, fish and chips, a homemade beef burger, vegetable risotto and a ploughmans lunch, while the bar snack list features Dutch-style bitterballen, pork rillette, wontons, gravad lax and more.
Beer is the heart of the place. Alongside the tap lineup in the bar, The Portsider Tap Room operates as an off licence, open daily from opening until 10pm, where every tap beer is available on flagon fill, along with bottled beer, wine and spirits.
On George Street, the main street of Port Chalmers, The Portsider does the things a good public bar has always done — pours generously, feeds people properly, and makes room for everyone. What gives it its character is where it places its emphasis: this is a bar built around craft beer, backed by a kitchen that bakes its own breads, makes its own sauces and condiments, and cuts every chip by hand.
Port Chalmers itself is part of the appeal. The port town sits about twelve kilometres — roughly a twenty-minute drive — from Dunedin's Octagon, and The Portsider sits right on its main strip. Locals drift in, travellers make the trip out, and everyone meets in a room with tasteful decor and a log burner for the cooler months. The vibe is deliberately welcoming: friends, family, locals and visitors all find a seat.
Beer is the headline act. The Portsider keeps a great selection of craft beers on tap, and it's listed on Untappd — the app where beer drinkers track and share what they're pouring — which says something about where its priorities lie.
The part regulars love most, though, might be the Tap Room. This off licence, open daily from opening until 10pm, turns the bar's taps into a take-home proposition: every tap beer is available on flagon fill, so the beer you've been enjoying at the bar can go home with you. Alongside the taps, the Tap Room stocks a selection of bottled beer, wine and spirits. It's a simple idea, and it fits the bar's whole approach — good product, no fuss.
The food is fresh and simple by design, and a surprising amount of it starts from scratch. The breads on the ploughmans lunch are homemade ciabatta. The sauces and condiments are made on site. Even the chips are hand cut, arriving with garlic mayo.
The dining menu covers proper pub-proof mains. There's a seared beef salad with tomato and balsamic dressing, and a sirloin steak with broccoli, toasted almonds and red wine jus. Seafood leans on whatever the fish of the day is — pan fried on potato and clam mash with marinated courgette and an olive and caper dressing, or crumbed for a classic fish and chips with salad, chips and tartare sauce. The homemade beef burger comes on a ciabatta bun with salad, hand cut chips and onion jam, while vegetarians are looked after with a spinach and roast garlic risotto topped with shaved parmesan, and grilled asparagus on tahini yoghurt with rocket and pine nuts.
The snack list is where the kitchen has the most fun. The signature is the bitterballen — a traditional Dutch bar snack of slow cooked beef shoulder ragout, crumbed and deep fried — with a vegetarian vegeballen made from seasonal vegetables alongside it. Beyond that: rillette of pork simmered in duck fat and served cold with crostini and gherkins, crispy lamb and leek wontons with mint sauce, and gravad lax — cured salmon with crème fraiche, whole grain mustard and grilled ciabatta. Kalamata olives, steamed edamame and hummus with crostini round out the lighter end.
The Portsider opens at 3pm Monday to Friday and trades until late; on Saturday and Sunday the doors open at 11am, which makes weekends the time for a long lunch and a few beers. If you're after a flagon fill from the Tap Room, remember the off licence wraps up at 10pm even when the bar carries on.
You'll find the bar at 31 George St, Port Chalmers, and can reach it on 03 472 8060 or at info@portsider.co.nz. Whether you've come off the boat, off the bus or just down the road, the formula holds: a warm room, a good tap list, and food made by people who actually make it.