IZAKAYA DEN

114 Russell St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9654 2977

Thank you, Izakaya Den!! Just when I am beginning to fade, thinking all bars are starting to look the same, I finally stumbled down the stairs and into Izakaya Den. It’s really, like, cool, but in a cool way, not, like, a pretentious way. My friend and I were seated at the bar, right in front of the grill, which was perfect because we could see all the action! We had a lovely waiter called Aki (short for Akira, like the movie) and the food was amazing.

Izakaya Den is surprisingly big, so even though they don’t take bookings we were seated straight away – on a Friday night too which was pretty cool. Although it’s easier to get a seat if you are in a small group of 2 or 3, as these groups can be seated at the bar. I think it would take longer if you had a large group. Oh and good to see a bit of a comeback of unisex toilets – probably works better in a restaurant than in a bar or club anyways!

Kingfish Sashimi (again – it seems as though this is the “in” dish right now) was good but not as good as Bar Lourinha’s, sorry guys. Baby potatoes with anchovy butter – score! And the tuna sashimi with wasabi mayo was to die for, as was the eggplant dish. Presentation was flawless, and the service was impeccable. Although I’m pretty sure the manager had the hots for my friend, but he did run down the street with my laptop bag (if I had a dollar for every time I’ve almost left that bloody thing in a bar on a Friday night…well I’d have, like $10..or something) which was definitely above and beyond the call of duty! I will definitely be going back for more. This place is awesome!

POLLY

401 Brunswick St, Fitzroy VIC 3065
Ph (03) 9417 0880

I remember visiting Polly many years ago on one of my first visits to Melbourne, and marvelling at the décor & innovative cocktail list. I went back a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and I have to say the place was looking a bit tired. The cocktails were still nice and the staff friendly, but it’s obvious the owners haven’t done any maintenance since the place opened…so could be worth investing a bit of cash and getting it up to scratch again!!

COOKIE

Level 1, 252 Swanston St (Curtin House), Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9663 7660

Cookie is nice. Nice cocktails, good crowd, friendly staff. I’m not sure what more I can say! It’s a no-brainer.

THE FITZROY PINNACLE

251 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North VIC 3068
Ph(03) 9489 3044

Not only does the Pinnacle look awesome from the outside, it’s awesome on the inside too! It has a great front bar and even better beer garden. The food is cheap and the servings are huge, they have a good wine and beer selection, and live bands. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon that relaxing in the beer garden enjoying some live music….unless of course I was spending it catching up on the blog!!

CABINET BAR

11 Rainbow Alley, Melbourne VIC 3000

Cabinet bar is a cute little place on Swanston, however in true Melbourne style you enter from a rear laneway. The space is lovely, bar staff were delightful, and their signature cocktail (the name of which I tried to find out from my friend I was there with, she didn’t know, so I looked on their website, no cocktail menu!! So sorry about the name fail, it was very nice though..) is most definitely worth a try!

BELLA UNION

Bella Union is a strange space in the trades union hall on Victoria St in Carlton. The venue hosts indie pop nights, comedy festival shows, theatre and art exhibitions. I’ve also been to quiz nights there…it’s a cute space and the website is always worth a look to see what’s coming up.

MELBOURNE SUPPER CLUB/SIGLO BAR

1st/161 Spring St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9654 6300

From what I hear the Supper Club has been around for quite some time, dare I say “Melbourne Institution”?? The supper club is great. You can relax on a leather armchair on level 1, or enjoy the view of parliament house from the terrace. This is the perfect place for a nightcap and a cigar if you’ve been to see a show or just eaten at the top end of town. Drinks aren’t exactly cheap, but hey, it’s Melbourne and the Supper Club is definitely not the kind of place that do happy hours or 2-4-1 specials. The only food I’ve had there is the dip & bread, which is lovely, and the cocktails are well made. Definitely check it out.

DOUTTA GALLA HOTEL

Racecourse Road - Flemington
Ph (03) 9376 7233


Only a few minutes out of the city, are you able to feel like you are in some kind of Zone 2 craphole. This pub is not at all what I would have expected in “trendy” Kensington. I am considering moving here, having heard that there are lots of great bars and restaurants, however if this is an example I am staying well away.


I ventured into Doutta Galla one Friday night after a delicious Laksa King outing, and what I found inside was uninspiring. Shit music, drunk, aggressive punters (which at 8pm is a little early, no?) overpriced beers, and wtf is up with the green neon light under the bar? Not recommended.

GOLDEN MONKEY

389 Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9602 2055


I liiiike Golden Monkey. Downstairs on Hardware Lane, this cute little bar is nicely decorated and well laid out. Space is used well using screens to carve up cosy little corners and seating areas. Bar snacks are nice as are the staff. Doesn’t get overly crowded, so is perfect for Friday night drinks. Will definitely be a winter favourite.

BAR LOURINHA

37 Little Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9663 7890

Wow. Bar Lourinha is awesome! I ventured there with a couple of girlfriends after work on a weeknight. They don’t take bookings so unfortunately we had to wait around an hour for a table, during which time we polished off a bottle of wine. Oh dear. But anyway, the food was fantastic. Servings were generous and freakin’ delicious. The kingfish sashimi was my favourite. We also had a wonderful mushroom dish, chorizo and some amazing prawns. Apart from the wait time, Bar Lourinha is 1000% recommended.

LIAR LIAR

90 Kinkora Rd Hawthorn VIC 3122
Ph (03) 9818 8864

A good friend of mine recently moved into a place at Hawthorn and wanted to start checking out all the good breakfast places in the area. So on a recommendation, we headed to Liar Liar. Overall, I was impressed. The coffee was wonderful, and the food was also very nice. It was busy, but we were still able to get a table no worries. The eggs were poached perfectly and the hollandaise sauce was good. Everyone at the table enjoyed their breakfast and I would definitely be interested in going again and trying their lunch menu.

EUROPEAN BIER CAFÉ

120 Exhibition St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9663 1222

You know I am constantly baffled as to why any person under 40 (or 25, which most of the patrons of the European Bier Café are) would want to dance around to a cover band playing “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again” or “Run to Paradise”! Did I suddenly teleport to the Bridgeway Hotel? Oh that’s right of course I didn’t, because bogans like eccies and David Guetta now and the Bridgeway has hard house nights…


Anyway I digress…you know when you’re having a bit of a night out, and you’ve already gone to a few places, but you feel like a dance but you’re not sure what to, and you move from place to place, and then you get to that point where you accept you’re just not going to arrive at the magical cool place you envision in your mind and decide to just go with the flow and have a good time? Well that’s what was going through my mind when I ended up at the European. Yes they had a cover band, the cover band played terrible music (they played one Hives song to show how ‘edgy’ and ‘alternative’ they were) and there were loads of very drunk people there (members of my group included) but meh, everyone was having fun. And you don’t want to be the too-cool-for-school person pouting in the corner because you don’t usually ‘do’ cover bands and ‘this isn’t my kind of place.’ No one likes that person!


The European also has really good drink specials. All night! So that alone is enough for a boozehag thumbs up, because maintaining my addiction isn’t cheap you know! Also it takes a lot to get kicked out of here…you can fall over on the dance floor whilst trying to sexy dance, fall over on the dance floor doing air guitar to the cover band, fall over on the dance floor pashing someone, just don’t pretend you’re going to wee off the balcony. THAT will get you kicked out!

THE LONG ROOM

162 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9663 7226

Hmmm so I went here for a work drinks thing…as the Long Room isn’t the sort of place I would probably normally go to. It’s nice, good layout, nice couches etc, I think the clientele is just a little pretentious is all. Although it turns out they have Patrón here, which I was force fed by my manager. Yeah, totally had my arm twisted! Go here if your work is picking up the tab and get yourself a shot of Patrón!

CHARLIE’S BAR

Basement, 71 Hardware Lane, Melbourne VIC 3001
Ph (03) 9600 1454

Oh dear, it seems as though they are all starting to look the same. What am I going to do? Have a break? NEVER!!! So Charlie’s bar, hardware lane,down some stairs, blah blah blah, nice décor, cute division of space, personable bartenders. A good place to go for a pre-dinner drink, post-show discussion or cozy date.

AUCTION ROOMS

103-107 Errol St, North Melbourne VIC 3051

Ph (03) 9326 7749

Dench bakery bread? Check. Phrases such as “smashed avocado” adorning the menu? Check. Cheeky, preppily attired staff? Check. Sounds like a fast-track to white Melbournian breakfast nirvana, doesn’t it? Well Auction Rooms do OK. The building is just gorgeous, and has been decorated just right. Even though this place gets quite busy on weekends, there is plenty of space to sit, although I’m not sure offering two very hung over boozehags a space at the end of a table that also seated loud children was a good idea!

The breakfasts were very good indeed. As was the coffee and fresh juice. I did go for the poached eggs with smashed avocado, I was curious to see what smashed avocado specifically entailed. Well, I can tell you, it is avocado, that has been smushed up pretty decently, but is not smooth enough to be called guacamole or some other 90’s sounding word. I’d be keen to check it out for lunch too, as the menu items looked pretty delectable. The staff were good too, except when it started raining a little and we asked if we could be moved inside. This seemed to be a huge problem, and we didn’t really think it was an unreasonable request. So if you go, and it’s getting cloudy and looks like it might rain, wait for an inside table (or cop the ones with kids crawling all over it), because they will not move you if it starts to rain!!

SHANGHAI NOODLE HOUSE

15 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000

So a group of us wandered in here after going to Camy’s, only to discover they were pushing that skanky, shite banquet on all their punters (who were still lining up in the rain for it – get a clue peoples!!). So, we thought, why not try this place, it looks allright doesn’t it? And we were very pleased.

They don’t serve alcohol, but do BYO, so we nipped down to Lt Bourke St and got a bottle of wine, and had some seriously tasty dumplings. The walls are decorated with brightly coloured pieces of cardboard which advertise specials and menu items, which I found cute. It reminded me a lot of some of the places in Adelaide’s Chinatown. The food was lovely and cheap. The waiter was very friendly, and we were not unceremoniously kicked out as soon as the last dumpling had passed our lips, like some other cheap Chinatown establishments! I’ve been there twice now, and both times had a great experience and ate lots of delicious dumplings. So if you wander down Tatersalls lane for Camy’s and either a) there is a line or b) it’s banquet only, go next door. You won’t regret it!

THE LOUNGE

Level 1, 243 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9663 2916

The Lounge is not a bad little bar. It’s looking a little tired and is not as trendy as some, but hey it’s down to earth and it doesn’t hit your wallet too hard either. The balcony give a nice view over Swanston St and they have good midweek specials. It’s a pretty large space too so could be good for meeting large groups etc, when you are concerned about everyone getting in or people having to line up because places are too full. Although I did go one Friday night for a glass of wine after dinner, and they tried to charge us to get in! We didn’t pay, of course, but the Lounge is not really the sort of place I will pay to get into!!

ROOFTOP BAR

Level 6, Curtin House, 252 Swanston St Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9663 3596

The rooftop bar is a reliable old favourite. They always are playing cool music, and they have the best view of any of the rooftop bars in the city. During summer they play cult classic movies, setting up comfy deck chairs, and even providing blankets on colder summer nights. It’s a great place to go on a sunny Friday afternoon for a knock off. Also good for taking interstate visitors. Not so good in winter.

THE TOFF IN TOWN

Level 2, 252 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9639 8770
 
The Toff in Town, located at Curtin House – neverfail home of no less than 3 bars in one building! The Toff is cute, with nice little booths and a cute balcony. They do swing class here on Monday nights which is also fun. I like the way they have used their space and divided it up. Compulsory viewing.

CAMPARI HOUSE

23-25 Hardware lane, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9600 1574

Within the space of a few weeks it seems as though Campari House has become the new cool place for Friday night drinks. It’s not a bad place, either. Located on hardware lane (win), Campari House consists of a restaurant on the ground floor, a lounge bar on the first floor and rooftop bar on the second floor. The lounge bar is nicely set out, and a rooftop bar is always a winner. Except in winter, I guess…but Campari house has the other two levels to make up for that I suppose. Besides, any place with a rooftop bar would make an absolute killing in summer so it would more than make up for the cold winter months. Campari House has a good cocktail list, and makes good use of its namesake (another win, there’s too many generic cocktail lists out there!!). It’s definitely worth a look.