Help me Doctor!: Where can I find the best cocktails in the city in a laidback, relaxed setting? – Su
Your prescription: When I first to moved to Melbourne to start my first real job, I was given an induction pack. Along with the OHS policy and superannuation forms, an unofficial yet highly essential document was circulated – a bar guide to the Melbourne CBD.
So here’s a very truncated list of some of my old favourites and new places, all chilled out bars that serve superb cocktails:
The Emerald Peacock – manages to make a large space seem intimate. Try their eponymous cocktail. 233 Lonsdale Street +61 3 9654 2266
The Red Hummingbird – the other little birdie in town with a fabulous rooftop, from the same owners as Emerald Peacock. 1/246 Russell Street +61 3 9654 2266
Manchuria – it’s so dark inside it could be midnight all the time. The Asian-themed bar where I first fell in love with Luigi Bormioli glassesware (what? Round on the bottom, oval on top?). 7 Waratah Pl +61 3 9663 1997
Golden Monkey– Another glamorous Shanghaiese opium den. 389 Lonsdale Street +61 3 9602 2055
Rooftop Bar – you can’t get any more chilled out lounging on a deck chair on a balmy summer’s night (I’ve been known to fall asleep in one of them). Level 7, 252 Swanston St +61 3 9654 5394
Spice Market – a vast harem’s den that’s sexy, spicy and a little bit flashy. Beaney Lane off Russell Street (Grand Hyatt) +61 3 9660 3777
Gin Palace – like Granny’s front parlour, but funkier. Apparently a favourite haunt of comedian Arj Barker when he’s in town. 190 Little Collins St +61 9654 0533
Canary Club– beautiful Spanish tilework outside and a sophisticated double-level bar inside. More intimate than the buzzing Hairy Canary, especially in the upstairs couches. 6 Melbourne Pl +61 3 9663 1983
Madame Brussels – a little bit of pink fluffy boudoir naughtiness on a rooftop in Bourke St. Lvl 3, 59-63 Bourke St, Melbourne, +61 3 9662 2775
The Order of Melbourne– another high-ceilinged warehouse space which still manages to feel intimate if you can snag a booth. Five pages of cocktails too! Level 2, 401 Swanston St +61 3 9663 6707
The Toff in Town– it doesn’t get much cosier than the Toff, where you can hide away from the world behind the screens of your private first-class train carriage. 2/252 Swanston St, Melbourne +61 3 9639 8770
Transit cocktail lounge– I love this bar enough to feature it in my upcoming wedding. Avoid the beer-sodden crowds at Transport and head upstairs for cosy whisky-bar leather couches, sweeping sunset views of the Yarra from the terrace and delicious cocktails. Federation Square +61 3 9654 8808
Jet Setting Joyce! In your photo you seem to be pointing the way to the nearest massage parlour. How scandalous!
Hi Michael
Well spotted! There aren’t many photos of me with a map so I’ve used this photo of me in Bucharest. Our hotel gave us a tourist map that didn’t include any useful information like metro stops or sights to see – just the locations of the nearest passage parlours (with larger lurid advertisements on the back). Those crazy Romanians!
Jetsetting Joyce
I haven’t been there (yet) but I hear the cocktails at 1806 (on Exhibition St) are a cut above… though I also hear the the decor is a cut below, so I’m not sure what that evens out to…?
.-= Billy´s last blog ..Episode 13 – Lady Gag-Gag =-.
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| December 1, 2009, 4:51 pm
The Toff is a wonderful place to take out of town visitors for a truly unique cocktail experience. I like to go there to entertain business clients who want privacy for talking mixed with a little drinking.