Best Cocktail Bars in Melbourne?

[Azzir]

Does anyone have any recommendations on bars in/around the city that do a decent cocktail?

Stella Bar on Bourke & Loop on Meyers Place use to be pretty dependable, but a change in the bartenders has kinda left them a bit lacking... got some friends coming down, and a few tasty drinks is a top way to start a night :thumb:

[deviant dan]

polly.... there is no comparrison

[nettsu]

FFour is meant to be quiet good - never been there but have seen the menu...
Martini Bar on the corner of Collins & Swanston
I think there's also a bar called the gin palace - one of the girls @ work raves about it
Chaise Lounge does a wicked Long Island Iced Tea :thumb: - 2 of those and you are on your arse

[Astro-Boy]

What was that joint we went on Bambi's Birthday cocktail crawl? The Deanery? I kinda remember it being good value... But I was a bit fuzzy by that stage.

[drew k]

Ginger on Brunswick St (easily the best cocktails ive ever had)
Der Raum on Church St Richmond

[Ralph Wiggum]

What Nettsu said plus add:

Yak Bar - Cnr Flinders Lane & Russell Street
Mistys Bar - Hosier Lane
The Long Room - Collins Street <-- The most expensive too

Continental Bar - Bridge Road, Richmond (I'm fairly certain it's called that, near the Town Hall.)

[queen_vee]

Cookie does mad Long Island's and Mai Tai's...

Gin Palace is very swish, a bit pricey...

Canary Club and Hairy Canary are both really nice...

Double Happiness is pretty cute!

I've had good reports from one on Flinders St, can't remember the name though sorry! Up towards Russell I believe...

That 52 Bar Secrets card pack is actually quite useful!

[Tash 1985]

Cookie

Gin Palace

Kitten Club

all :thumb:

[Ehmjaye]

F4. Chaise Lounge. Bambu on Flinders Lane.

[SoGood]

Ginger on Brunswick St (easily the best cocktails ive ever had)
Der Raum on Church St Richmond

Fuck Der Raum - wankers in there..

Having been a full time cocktail bartender in a previous life I feel qualified to comment...

* Gin Palace know their gear - few twits go there though

* as do Hairy Canary - can get a great reasonably priced feed in there too! convo can be hard at times as it can be quite noisy (all hard furnishings - nothing soft to absorb the sound!!) (canary club gets an honourable mention too)

* FFour - yeah really good stuff Marcus knows where its at - bit clubby though if you are after a cocktail bar..

* Kitten Club is always on the money for cocktails, also not a bad feed too..

* Double Happiness - some real interesting stuff - check out the plum wine for sure

* Supper Club - If you want a wine bar with a bitov wank (good selection by the glass and a bottle list bigger than war & peace) give it a bash - really good stuff - cocktails not really the specialty here - also add that there is now a non-smoking room so all the non (and reformed like myself) smokers can sit down without stinky clothes & hair tomorrow - play a bit of backgammon, snack on some pate and meatballs and enjoy a glass (or bottle!) of wine. btw its open till christ know what time too so make that the last destination!

And as mentioned by others -
* Ginger & Polly if UR in Fitzroy - brilliant stuff!

Hope that's what you were after!!

Dave

[radd]

I was at Kitten Club last night, not bad. Bambu is supposed to be tops as well. Kitten Club was ok, nothing special.

Eleven A on Flinders Lane near spencer st is tops, really nice looking bar as well.

[VanBuurenisGod]

Bambu - Flinders Lane (near exhibition st) is good for an array cocktails. Cookie also does some decent cocktails, which is on Swanston St opposite Lounge.

Others worth a mention are Gin Palace (Lt Collins St), Long Room (Collins St), Double Happiness (Liverpool St), Loop Bar (Myer Place), Murmur (Warburton Place), and The Trust (Flinders Lane) - remember nothing says trust like putting another man's cocktail in your mouth.

Happy hunting, and may the poon be with you!

[Azzir]

Thanks Guys! :thumb: Much appreciated!

All I say is that they better know how to make a decent Brambles ;)

(Although I'm sure I'll be able to deal with it if they can't)

[stable]

www.honkytonks.com.au

[VanBuurenisGod]

there is always frostbites for cheap slushy cocktails and dirty sluts.

:thumb:

[oni0n]

there is always frostbites for cheap slushy cocktails and dirty sluts.

:thumb:
roofles ^___^

[SoGood]

there is always frostbites for cheap slushy cocktails and dirty sluts.

:thumb:

There are always cheap dirty sluts for recommending crap venues...

:P

Even if tongue in cheek...

Dave

[VanBuurenisGod]

There are always cheap dirty sluts for recommending crap venues...

:P

Even if tongue in cheek...

Dave
you just wish you had have thought of it first

;)

[Gunn]

The Collection - Bridge Road Richmond

[sweatybeats]

Platform 3 - Church st richmond...

[Tank Fly]

it starts and ends with ginger - brunswick st

[daveyjaye]

pretty much what everyone else has said but my faves are:
1 - Ginger (by far for me)
2 - Gin Palace
3 - Cookie

[Azzir]

I think a trip out to Fitzroy is on the cards... ;) What kind of music do they do at Polly & Ginger? All I remember about Ginger is walking past there and thinking that I'd just found the inspiration for "Piss Christ" :lol:

[ladyinred]

.... drink hunt is on tonight. ... ... .

i'm already thirsty. Has there been any new places that has opened up recently (recently= last three months)???

[deviant dan]

Alia ;)

[nictoupee]

what's the issue with Der Raum?

certainly they know their shit!

Re: Ginger - I'll back that.

I've also had a couple of good ones at Troika, although they're strictly not a cocktail bar.

Top Bar at the adelphi used to do a good one although I haven't been for a while.

[Lukey]

Der Raum without a doubt

and Honkeys close second for making people drink cocktails with tampons inside

[Phyltr]

Lily blacks - next to loop in meyers place.

[thestablishment]

Troika made me a very good mojito on Saturday night.

Der Raum has great booze and all the atmosphere of a hospital waiting room. IMO.

Gin Palace is still good. As is New Gold Mountain, the new place above Double Happiness.

[hussbucketfan]

I have always had the best times at Der Raum, the drinks are amazing and I have generally found the staff pretty good - I tend to find that most Cocktail tenders are tossers - I am trashy bar staff from way back.

Gin Palace is good - the classic cocktails are great and the atmosphere is better.

One of the better cocktail tenders from Gin Palace (a guy named Benny) is working at Madame Brussels - so I would definately head in there to check them out this summer.

[Gee Frizz]

I have just been reading reviews of Der Raum. I think that this place will be my home away from home in Melbourne. :) I hear they dedicate Thursday nights to testing out new concoctions on the unsuspecting public? Sounds awesome to me.

http://www.inthemix.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=206772&page=3

How d'you mean? Is the atmosphere no good?

I have found an absolutely awesome website (which I am sure I mentioned in passing in another thread); www.melbournepubs.com. :)

[alison87]

Gin Palace is okay, but i don't think their list is varied enough. Their classic martini with the anchovy olive is pretty damn sweet, though.

Cookie has got the best vibe of the places i've been, just because it's so happening. The bartenders feel a bit snooty, but then if you tip them right they'll take care of you and i like that.

Barnone (Camberwell) has probably got the best range of drinks i've had in Melbourne. And they keep bringing in new cocktails too. Michael i think is the name of the main bartender and he's come down to talk to our group a few times, which i appreciate. Shame it's out in the middle of nowhere - was cool when i worked in the suburb, now i'm never going to visit it again.

Bluestone has a bartender that i connected with, and he made me the best martini i've ever had. It was with some crazy awesome top-shelf gin and three fucking stunningly good big olives. Their other cocktails were interesting too, definitely something different from the norm. Plus they played house music instead of jazzy crap, which is always a bonus.

Carlton Yacht Club gets props for being about 2 minutes walk from my house. I haven't drunk enough there to rate their cocktails yet, but it's good to know they're there.

What suburbs are these other bars in? I'm assuming if you don't name a suburb it's the city somewhere?

[nettsu]

wow this is a tad of a bump

:lol:

i'm suprised the butterfly club in south melbourne hasn't been mentioned yet
although I was thinking we're about due for a return to there
got to love somewhere that can get you flat on your arse and you only have to stagger down the street to get home...

[Marshy]

Ryan drinks cocktails? :lol:

j/k

I really like Gin Palace and the 1951 (their signature drink) is the bomb. Bluestone, Cookie are good too. I've never bought into the ridiculously priced - and all of these don't break the budget too much.

[Gee Frizz]

I've been meaning to ask; what is the dress code like for these places? Would a collared polo shirt and jeans suffice? What about trainers (although I do have good shoes)?

[big eddie]

I've rocked up to bar none in shorts and a t-shirt.

[Gee Frizz]

^^^ Dunno if Gin Palace or Ginger woud be quite that lenient. :) It might depend on the time of day / night though.

[LightningChyld]

I'm going to bump this, was in Melbourne for business last weekend and was taken to Nightingales (I think.) Top stuff.

I am bringing myself and three other girls over in Sept for a 4 day weekend, are most of these places still open? And what streets are they on?

[divid3d]

i can tell you that the Long Room is still open, and it's at 162 Collins St, the George Pattison (sp?) building. it's not at 161 Collins - it's across the road from 161 (i'm sick of directing people across the street to this bar :P). i've never been so i can't tell you much else about it other than it looks pretty gorgeous.

[KuRuPTeD]

Long Room is wank, gtfo i don't care how much money you make!

[Bizzy]

We really wanted to go to De Raum when we were down in melb but we ran out of time! We have heard nothing but good things about it!

http://www.derraum.com.au/

[ben_slide]

ginger - by an absolute faark load!!

polly is good.

Murmur in some back alley somewhere = VERY good menu, take their cocktails pretty serious..

Gin Palace is cool

[LightningChyld]

I'll hit you up for a tour, Benny!

[ben_slide]

anytime!!
get in touch if your interested! always up for it!

[Mandarinas]

Gin Palace i like the most :)

[ravelikespastic]

Not a fun place but great cheap cocktails- $5 cocktails from like 7-9pm at Watergardens Hotel. Go early and leave before anyone see's you.

[Syphon]

1806.

Win.

[adrenalin]

Best Bars website launched in Australia www.sinnights.com .

Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin... Cocktail Bars & Lounge Bars.

:thumb:

[ijanssen]

I like Madame Brussels

[mattpolo8]

slight bump. cocktail bars always change with a solid turnover of bar staff every year. some lose the appeal, some don't.

am looking to take a pretty lady out for some cocktails in the cbd after the afl on friday night...where's good!!?? i have looked at murmur and saw someone suggest it here. i run a cocktail bar up in canberra so looking for something to impress and for some ideas for my new menu.

[Anselm]

Which joint in the Berra?

Der Raum in Richmond (probably closer to the G than the CBD) is the best in Melbourne and oftens features on World's best lists. You'll probably need a mortgage though.

In the CBD I like 1806, Gin Palace and GOlden Monkey.

[mattpolo8]

oh its just at the tradies. big reno's and a $1.2mill cocktail and tapas bar went in. looking to get the return as quickly as possible so open to new ideas.

got a hotel on flinders so wasnt looking at anything in richmond, plus im not big on rum, did see their menu and looked cool though.
gin palace will be too pricy for me i think. and 1806 will be too packed yeah? and don't you have to book a table? that idea kinda puts me off a bit. i was looking for something smallish. golden monkey menu looks the goods.

at the moment
murmur
golden monkey

can probably barhop 3 places. passing on 1806 and gin palace (even though i LOVE gin..stupid i know)

[Syphon]

Slightly out of the CBD but "The Everleigh" just opened up on Gertrude St a few months ago and I've heard nothing but amazing things. Run by a few guys who've worked with Milk & Honey (London & NY) for over 10 years so it'd be worth a look.

[sacamano]

Gin Palace ftw!