Matterhorn has been on Cuba Street for decades and remains one of the most consistently good places to drink in Wellington. It operates as a restaurant by day and a bar in the evenings, with a long cocktail list, an outdoor terrace at the front, and a mellow atmosphere that avoids the nightclub end of Courtenay Place without being precious about it. The food is good — modern New Zealand cooking — and the bar snacks are worth ordering if you're just drinking.
By about 10pm on weekends it is genuinely busy, but it never loses the sense of being a neighbourhood bar rather than a venue. This is a good final stop before heading home rather than a starting point for an ambitious night out. The Cuba Street location means you can easily walk to half a dozen other bars before or after.