Atlas Beer Cafe

Atlas Beer Cafe is a relaxed craft beer bar tucked away at the back of the Steamer Wharf building on Queenstown's waterfront. It describes itself as friendly and unpretentious, and it combines boutique beers on tap with hearty food and lake views.

Beer is the focus. A rotating selection of boutique craft beers is poured on tap, and the bar publishes its current beer list online so you can see what is pouring before you go.

The steak is the signature: the bar calls it its famous steak, served daily, a rump with chunky fries, house salad, demi-glace and café de Paris butter. Share plates include crispy pork belly bites with a honey barbecue glaze, miso-glazed tofu bites with kūmara crisps and chilli jam, fried chicken bites with honey mustard, beer-battered prawns, pan-fried edamame and poutine. Tacos are sold in twos or threes, with fillings such as barbecue pulled chicken with pickled beetroot and crispy bacon, smoky shredded beef, vegan barbecue jackfruit and beer-braised drunken mushroom. Burgers range from a fried chicken burger with sriracha maple to a double smashed-patty grilled cheese burger and a vegan beetroot and chickpea burger. Heartier options include pork, sage and apple bangers and mash and a vegan steak made from red lentils, chickpeas and vegetables. There is a kids' menu with steak, fried chicken, burgers and sausages, and even a dog menu, served from midday, which says a lot about the bar's easy-going character. A banh mi of the day offers a lighter lunch.

Atlas opens every day from midday until late, and also serves coffee and lunches, so it works for a casual lunch by the lake as well as an evening drink.

It suits beer lovers, groups of friends, couples and families with children for an early meal, and vegans have several dishes to choose from, including tacos, a burger and a vegan steak. Steamer Wharf is also the departure point for the TSS Earnslaw and home to other bars and restaurants, including Little Blackwood, so you can make a night of it along the waterfront. Contact the bar by phone or email for group bookings.