Entertainment in Melbourne
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Transport
This ultramodern, glass-walled pub occupies an enviable position for people- and river-watching. It’s big, brassy and busy. On Friday nights it’s shoulder to backbone with yuppies on the prowl. One floor up is fine-dining at Taxi and the 3rd floor is devoted to the decadent Transit Lounge, with gorgeous leather couches, intimate corners and a spectacular wine and spirits menu.
reviewed
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Gin Palace
If you love martinis, then this is your castle. With a drinks list to make your liver quiver, Gin Palace is the perfect place to grab a soft couch or secluded alcove, sip, and take it slow. Its seductive lighting, velvet drapes and cushioned nooks give it a top first-date rating. It's best on weeknights, when a conversation can be conducted without resorting to sign language.
reviewed
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Ffour
This stark all-nighter is also popular earlier with Friday after-work drinkers, when entry is free and drinks specials drown out the week that was. It’s your basic garden-variety club; each night brings a different crowd-pleasing flavour, from R&B through to Asian cocktail night to commercial house. Join gangs of girlfriends and student types on a big night out.
reviewed
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Atticus Finch
There’s a judicious wine list and back-in-fashion cider at this Brunswick haunt named for everyone’s favourite lawyer from literature. The space is smartly and simply done with a slight brooding quality (though perhaps we’re overidentifying with the novel). A nice alternative to the bigger pubs in these parts, it still sports the requisite beer garden.
reviewed
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Sister Bella
The St Jerome’s crew colonised this dilapidated laneway warehouse and it’s definitely staked its claim as the older sibling. Still, the ramshackle is only knocked back by degrees and they keep the formula similar: cheap beer and wine, cheap food and kids running the place that know they’re cooler than you but won’t let that ruin the friendship.
reviewed
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Carlton Hotel
Once upon a time, you went to the Carlton because there was nowhere else to go. These days, you can still prop up the bar but you’ll be drinking a Peninsula pinot gris. OTT Melbourne rococo gets another workout here and never fails to raise a smile. Check the rooftop Palmz if you’re looking for some Miami-flavoured vice or just a great view.
reviewed
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Siglo
Bless the flourish of rooftop bars in Melbourne’s CBD – they bring fabulous sunsets and sky-high al-fresco cocktails to the city’s drinking scene. Suits fill Siglo on a Friday night, which may lure or horrify you. Regardless, pick a time to mull over a Semillion, snack on upper-crust morsels and admire the vistas over the gracious parliament building.
reviewed
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Mountain Goat Brewery
This local microbrewery’s varieties of bottled beer (two premium, two seasonal) are available in lots of bars about town, but there’s no better place to really get your Goat than from the brewers themselves. Drop in on a Friday when Cam and Dave answer questions about beer, the universe and everything, cook pizzas and put on a tasting.
reviewed
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Caz Reitop’s Dirty Secret
Speakeasy chic with a couple of snugs for contriving your own cocktail-fuelled dirty secrets. Down the tiny stairs, there’s a cosy (or claustrophobic) bluestone basement. If there’s not a private party going on here, you might find djs, acoustic acts or comedy. The drinks menu is broad and they have an excellent range of spirits.
reviewed
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New Gold Mountain
Unsignposted, New Gold Mountain’s intense Chinoiserie interior comes as a shock. Two upstairs floors are filled with tiny screen-shielded corners, with decoration so delightfully relentless you feel as if you’re trapped in an arthouse dream sequence. Sours are the thing, though they do great things with vodka too. Harbin heaven.
reviewed
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Collins Quarter
This collection of bars is like a hotel without the rooms upstairs and without the bellhop palaver or aggressive pricing. It’s a grown-up space with few rough edges but has a timeless appeal. There’s a variety of different areas and moods. A magnolia tree sprouts from the courtyard and inside there’s a wood fire burning.
reviewed
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Old Bar
A lounge atmosphere with nary a whiff of '70s shtick, Old Bar is old-school. Pinnies chink in the walkways and live music plays most nights. This is where DJs go on their nights off to enjoy the best off-the-beaten tracks. It's nothing flash, but that's why it's loved. There's always a need for affordable drinks and an uncontrived ambience.
reviewed
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Rob Roy
The Rob Roy is does live and local music, usually of the guitar variety. Its small back band room is watched over by a determined Johnny Cash, and its front bar is a kitschy collection of furniture. Entry fees are extremely affordable and sometimes free. (By the by, staff have reported spooky sightings and things that go bump in the night.)
reviewed
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Alumbra
Great music and a stunning location will impress – even if the Bali-meets-Morocco follies of the decorator don't.
reviewed
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Troika
Troika has a loyal bunch of mostly older unconventional followers who get on board for the intimate, gimmick-free surrounds. It's about decent drinks and good tunes, with booths and bar stools set close - conducive to conversation. And if conversation is waning, the walls are usually adorned with interesting art works on which to comment.
reviewed
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Veludo
It's big, it's brassy, and it's got a balcony. Over two levels, Veludo's relatively late closing means that most St Kilda-ites have ducked in here after everything else has closed. A dark and sultry way to lose a few hours, especially during the cooler months, when you can couch it next to a roaring open fire. Humdrum food runs till late.
reviewed
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Barkly Hotel
The street-level public bar is the utopia of backpackers looking to sink a few pints, scream to the tunes on the jukebox and snog a stranger before last drinks are called. The rooftop bar feigns a bit of class, but things get messy up there, too. Nevertheless, it’s worth braving for the abso-bloody-lutely spectacular sunset views.
reviewed
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Section 8
The latest in shipping-container habitats, come and sink a Mountain Goat with the after-work crowd, who make do with packing cases for decor.
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Joe’s Shoe Store
Someone called Joe will no longer sell you lace-up brogues but you’ll be pleased with the wine list, featuring around 20 both Australian and ‘Continental’ wines by the bottle or the glass. It’s packed with Northcote cool kids who order pizza from Meine Liebe or just stick to drinks.
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Hoohaa Bar
Pressed-metal panels make an impression at this otherwise restrained upstairs bar - a refreshing change from the area's deluge of gimmick and lounge bars. Hoohaa is young and fresh, a popular haunt of students at the nearby circus school and arts uni. Booths, a courtyard and a schmoozing area around the slick bar fill up fast.
reviewed
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Wesley Anne
This atmospheric pub set up shop in a church mission’s house of assembly. What else can you expect when the demon drink wins out against the forces of temperance? Booze, yes, but also interesting food, live music, a big beer garden with space heaters and a cruisy crowd who often bring their kids along in daylight hours.
reviewed
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The Greville
Time can easily melt away when you're ensconced in the surrealist décor of The Greville (formerly the Candy Bar) that harks back to Greville St's halcyon clubland heyday. A café by day, the DJs and drag queens move in of an evening. Come to watch the balls drop at drag bingo on a Monday night; Sunday is gay and lesbian night.
reviewed
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Scubar
As you descend along polished pine panels to the plush warmth below, this underground bunker is almost reminiscent of a Swedish sauna. Submerge yourself in one of two bars, with plenty of comfort by way of flocked wallpaper, polished-wood floors and a pool table. Just don't feed the fish in the wall-length signature tank.
reviewed
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Croft Institute
Located in a laneway off a laneway, the lab-themed Croft is a test of drinkers’ determination. Prescribe yourself a beaker of house-distilled vodka in the downstairs laboratory and venture up the rickety stairs to inspect the Departments of Male and Female Hygiene (aka the toilets, complete with hospital beds).
reviewed
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Riverland
This bluestone beauty, another by architects Six Degrees, keeps things simple with good wine, beer on tap and bar snacks that hit the mark: charcuterie, cheese and BBQ. A rare riverside drinking hole that doesn’t give off the scent of corporate investors. Outside tables are a treat when the weather is kind.
reviewed