marvelous melbourne wine, dine baby | wine, dine baby |
|
|
|
Melbourne is considered the culinary epicenter of the Southern Hemisphere, but where to start whence you land? Such are the riches of Melbourne's myriad of bars, cafes and restaurants; it's easy to get overwhelmed by the vast array of choice! Here tiger, tiger points you in the right dining direction... First off is a liquid exploration down city laneways to Marvelous Melbourne's world famous small bar scene... THE RED HUMMINGBIRD246 Russell St Melbourne The gloriously named bar has no signage out the front - you need to keep an eye out for the red birdcage above the door, opposite the QV complex. This new hideyhole bar also serves food platters. Keep it simple with cheese, walnuts, quince paste or skewers of cacciatore sausage, buffalo mozzarella, olives and cherry tomatoes, to match a Pancho Pepper tequila cocktail with chilli, red capsicum and dark chocolate. Low couches, friendly staff, fireplace. ROOFTOP BARCurtin House, Swanston Street, Melbourne This joint - Curtin House - is an institution. A serious institution. Housing the magnificent Cookie, the new caberet bar Toff in Town (feel like some asparagus rolls, gravlax, or duck pie?), the best bit is left ‘til last as an exhaustive elevator ride, followed by a climb up a set of steel stairs opens to a rooftop bar with breathtaking 360 degree views of the Melbourne CBD. Good in the late afternoon, as the setting sun catches on the walls of glass that tower all around you. There is a certain tranquility being above all the hustle and bustle. Any higher, you'd need wings. Bar Lourinha
37 Little Collins St, Melbourne Our new favourite. Described by Jo and Matt as 'half raciones' not tapas as such. Select your dishes and the kitchen will decide what order you get it - this knowledge and care is Melbourne at it's best. ST. JEROMESCaledonian Lane, Melbourne Staff so cool that if you touched them you'd suffer frostbite. But, hey, this is Melbourne. A bolthole of a space, merely 8mx5m, the grungy café opens to a concrete space out the back that is more Star Wars trash compactor (minus the soaked wookie and the scary monster lurking beneath the sewage) than beer garden. Rumour has it that one night the dancefloor was filled entirely with naked people. Yeah. LILY BLACK'SMeyer Place, Melbourne A svelte place with a ‘30s deco feel, Lily Blacks is open until 3am, with a black lacquered bar and the scrummy St. Arnou beer on tap. Bartenders are dressed in long aprons and black vests. On the night tiger, tiger visited, Russell Crowe was eating dinner in the dining room, separated from the bar area by an opulent bar with enough liqueur bottles to make even Oliver Reed tremble. Yu-U
137 Flinders Lane, Melbourne Delightful Japanese, set lunch and dinner menus. Polished service. Only book. Good luck finding it. MEYER(s) PLACE BARMeyer Place, Melbourne A few doors down from Lily Black's , Meyer Place is undoubtedly the progenitor of Melbourne's bar scene. Established in the mid-‘90s by architectural firm Six Degrees (six architects with, yep, six degrees), this dimly-lit bar is the quintessence of drinking and Melbourne. Its credited, along with Michael Caton's Uncle Dave from ‘The Sullivans', in bringing the VB longneck back into vogue. Long before tiger, tiger was realized, a curly-headed waiter sat at the bar nursing an aforementioned bevy, dreaming of one day opening one of these himself... Movida
1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne A groovy place down a groovy lane. Adjacent to Federation Square. For awhile there, one of the best restaurants in the world, Yes the world! Cookie
Curtin House Possibly the most stylish bar, cum restaurant, cum cocktail bar, cum pub you're ever likely to see. In the gastro sanctuary of Curtin House. Be quick to nab an intimate balcony. Unforgettable. ROBOTBligh Place, Melbourne Just off Flinders Lane near the corner of Elizabeth Street, Robot is a little like stumbling into a Tokyo bar. Japanese beers and sake match the Manga-inspired celluloid framed on the wall. The narrow laneway will remind you of tiger, tiger as you take in the Asian disco sounds. Double Happiness
21 Liverpool St, Melbourne If this truly represented Communism, we'd all be carrying Mao's little red book. An absolute treasure. Cicciolinas and Cic Backbar
130 Acland St, St Kilda Iconic Acland Street, no bookings (gotta love that). Probably a bonus if you get shown to the backbar to await a table for an hour or so. Melbourne's most impressive restaurant art. Be prepared to be star-struck by the live-in celebrities. rue BABELONLittle Lonsdale Street, Melbourne A cosy little place that, along with the ubiquitously named Meyer Place bar, set the laneway bar ball rolling. In its infancy, rue Bab had a tin petty cash box as its till, and all drinks were either $2 or $4. True story. I know that ‘cause once, early on, tiger, tiger and a friend had about $80 worth of drinks. So rue Babelon, with its ‘70s soccer paraphernalia behind the bar and its toilets a maze of laneways away, holds a special place in our hearts... Pearl Restaurant
631 Church St, Richmond We can still smell the passionfruit souffle! Excellent wine-list, minimalist decor, good for lunch. Grand Hotel
335 Burnley St, Richmond |
