Melbourne – The Drinkie Post

Melbourne prides itself on its bars – in particular, hidden or themed bars, just a few of which are below. And before anyone gets judgey, other than one Saturday afternoon with F & G where we visited the first three of these bars (and had one drink in each), we spaced the others out over the course of a couple of long weekends, indulging in a cocktail before our restaurant booking.

Madame Brussels

Access to this one is through a nondescript door in Bourke Street and up a few flights of dingy stairs. You could take the lift but a sign inside warns you that it has a habit of breaking down with more than two people in it.

Caroline Hodgson aka Madame Brussels was one of the most famous brothel keepers in Melbourne in the late nineteenth century and also the inspiration behind this garden party inspired bar with more than a soupçon of camp.

To my taste, the cocktails are a tad on the sweet side, but it’s a fun place to go.

Storyville

Walking into this bar was like falling down Alice’s rabbit hole.

The cocktails too are straight from storybooks.

G and I had a “Christianity without the tears” based on Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (don’t worry, the capsule was empty); F had a Secret Garden based on the novel of the same name; and Sarah had a Harry Potter inspired Goblet of Fire that was very theatrical indeed.

I paid another visit to Storyville when there with Heather last weekend.

This time she had Dr Jekyll’s Elixir – it changes colour as you stir it. There’s also a cute little light ice cube in there.

I had Belle’s Rose – which was presented with plenty of theatre.

Berlin

This Cold War inspired bar was my fave of the three bars we visited on F & G’s bar tour.

Entering from the lane through an unmarked door you climb the stairs and ring the doorbell, waiting until someone ushers you inside. Divided into two you could choose to sit in East or West Berlin – communism or capitalism. West Berlin was luxe…

and East Berlin the opposite…we chose to go East.

I was cocktailed out so had a glass of wine instead but the music and the vibe were fantastic.

Valhalla

This one is sort of underneath Freyja, the restaurant Heather and I had chosen for dinner. It’s one of those places that you don’t know is there until you know it’s there that Melbourne is so very good at.

Inside it’s dark and shadowy and the cocktails are all Viking themed.

By the way, it looks quiet because we were there quite early – 6pm

Things to know…

These are only a few of the many fabulous laneway bars Melbourne has. Try also Beneath Driver Lane, L’Eau de Vie, Section 8 and Ferdydurke… or google Melbourne’s best hidden bars…