Melbourne’s eclectic bar scene covers the cool, the cold, the cosy and the chemical.
What does Nick Cave, a monkey, a bar made of ice, and a corset have in common? A hurly burly bar-hop in Melbourne! Melburnians are spoilt for choice when aching for a bevy, and they all have their favourites. Out-of-towners however may find the options overwhelming and it seriously is enough to drive you to drink, if only you can choose where to go! Here are a few recommendations to help you along the way.
You could be mistaken for thinking you’ve stumbled into someone’s lounge room at the Red Monkey Tea House, especially with the kitsch forest wallpaper in the cosy room behind the bar. The zen-like vibe conjures up oriental illusions, which may explain the “Red Monkey” part of the name. Originally a teahouse it has evolved into a low-key bar, and depending on the occasion, serving laid-back beers or lethal cocktails. The menu is fun and cheap with pan-fried calamari or the thin-crust pizza both at $10.00; and lining the stomach is advisable for what’s to follow.
It’s reported that Nick Cave once frequented Prudence, but the bar-staff insist he actually drank at the grungy local across the road. Everyone loves gossip and his tunes are belted out alongside Tom Waits’ anyway. The intimate booths, beaded curtaining and nooks and crannies of this rambling pub lend themselves to secrets. Downed with unpretentious service, the usual concoctions, and open seven days a week, Prudence is worth a visit if only to explore the intimate spaces and start your own rumours.
It’s time to jump on tram and head to Elizabeth St in the heart of the city and get to work at The Workshop. Housed in a former motorcycle repair shop, it accommodates large numbers which keeps it buzzing, but with so many secret corners all is not lost for a rendezvous any day of the week. Urban, and so very “now”, the industrial space caters to dancing, live performances, art exhibits, light lunches, or creative-types craving the art of conversation, even if it is with their notebooks; of the old-fashioned and modern variety.
Movida has been keeping gourmet bar-flies satiated for years with its tapas, Spanish sherries, beers and wines. Look away if you’re hungry: slow cooked duck shank with hazelnuts, raisins and onions, wet roast lamb breast with fino and paprika sauce, aged jamon, silky croquettes, and churros feature on the menu. Always packed and often a queue, patrons don’t mind waiting with a bevy in hand and with the opening of three other Movidas around town, including Movida Next Door (which is next door), you don’t need to go far for your fix of Spain.
Feeling a little hot under the collar? A drink at the Ice Bar is sure to cool you down. Pull up a pew on the ice couch and admire the ice sculptures as you sip your drinks in glasses made of, you guessed it, ice. Yes, at minus 10 degrees, it’ll be cold but once snuggled up in the provided ski gear and a hot toddy, the night will be memorable if only for the chance to live like an Eskimo for the recommended half an hour, before thawing out upstairs in the Ski Lodge.
If that wasn’t weird enough for you, in the laneways of Melbourne an experiment occurred between a bar and a science laboratory. A chemical reaction, and then voila, the The Croft Institute was born. Spread over three floors, test tubes, beakers, and industrial sinks set the funky asylum tone, after all its cool to be little crazy. Upstairs brings back awkward high school memories with a school gymnasium where groovers bop along to international acts and DJs spinning their tunes. Navigating the darkened laneways to find this joint is an adventure worth taking, even to just check out the turf growing on the bar.
Practicalities:
Red Monkey Teahouse, 470 Victoria St, North Melbourne; (03) 9326 7572; www.redmonkeyteahouse.com;
Prudence, 368 Victoria St, (03) 9329 9267
The Workshop, Level 1, 413 Elizabeth St (entrance A’Beckett St), (03) 9326 4365, www.theworkshop.com.au
Movida, 1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne; Movida Next Door, cnr Flinders St and Hosier Lane, Melbourne; Movida Aqui and Movida Terraza, Level 1, 500 Bourke St, Melbourne; (03) 9663 3038; www.movida.com.au
Ice Bar, 296 Russell St, Melbourne; 1300 423 227 or (03) 9663 3877; www.chillon.com.au
The Croft Institute, 21 Crofty Alley, Chinatown; (03) 9671 4399; www.thecroftinstitute.net; best to check the web-site for directions on how to find it
Burlesque Bar, 42 Johnston St, Fitzroy; (03) 9415 8088; www.burlesquebar.com.au
Red Bennies, Level 1, 373 Chapel Street, South Yarra; (03) 9826 2689; www.redbennies.com
House of Burlesque, 397A Brunswick St, Fitzroy; (03) 9417 1192; www.houseofburlesque.com
Bottoms Up Burlesque, 3 Pitt St, Brunswick; 0411 119 956 (Willow) or 0402 689 355 (Jacquie); www.buburlesque.com.au
The Australian Burlesque Festival also tours to other capitals and check out the web-site to keep updated for the next festival in 2012. www.australianburlesquefest.com
| BURLESQUE DETOUR: NOT JUST FOR THE BOYSYour night can take a different course entirely; one that involves the art of tease. So get your money shaker down to the Burlesque Bar or Red Bennies for a night of fun and titillation. Although using elements of striptease, the female form is both admired and respected during performances. While injecting humour, intrigue, and delight into its shows the girls interact with the audience while remaining alluringly mysterious. You might feel inspired to learn a few moves yourself, and the Burlesque Bar, the House of Burlesque, or Bottoms Up Burlesque can make your fantasy come true with classes for all levels and bodies. Learn the art of hula hooping, circlesque (burlesque and circus performance), go-go dancing, cabaret or vintage burlesque, or master some new moves for the boudoir. After all that exertion, glamour-pus’s may have a hankering to be captured in all their Burlesque glory in a photo-shoot with a professional make-up artist and photographer. Those who have artist talents in other departments can create their own masterpieces in one of the Burlesque drawing classes. If you’re lucky enough to be in town during May and June, you could catch The Australian Burlesque Festival 2011 which showcases some of Australia’s finest performers. |
Published in Asian Geographic Passport November 2011
