My first one:
Lucky Coq (cnr of High and Chapel Street, Prahran)
Type: Bar
A very funky two-level bar, it perfectly combines an upmarket contemporary design with a casual atmosphere (most likely caused by the relaxed dress code). Downstairs you will find a very modern bar design, yet don't let it fool you. With the ability to purchase pizza at the far end of the downstairs room and other examples, you will find it to be a very casual setting. Making your way up the stairs, you'll find a much more casual setting, both in design and atmosphere. Couches all around next to the bar, a pool table, and a small outdoor area with a few tables and chairs make up the second floor.
This isn't the perfect place, though, and a few key problems keep it from being a really good weekly place to go to. It is a really crowded place and especially downstairs, the design of the bar doesn't help relieve any of the pressure. Another problem is that this is very much a starting place for the night. It's not somewhere that you should spend the entire night at and it would be wise to plan visiting another place before your night is over.
Despite these two problems, Lucky Coq is a really nice venue to start your night at, and with it's welcoming atmosphere, it's close to being a bar you can take a nice, weekly visit to.
Another Review:
Platform One (8 Banana Alley, Melbourne)
Type: Club
This club just a short distance from Flinders Street Station has become a popular venue for the commercial dance scene over the last few years and it can be seen why with the quality house DJs that can be found there on a weekly basis. You will also find friendly bar staff who don't mind a chat when the bar lines slow down. The venue itself is also pretty good, carrying an underground cave design that strangely fits.
However, there are a lot of problems with the place. The crowd is very hit-and-miss, some nights you'll have a good crowd, others not. Bar prices are standard but I've seen friends get smaller than standard drinks. It's very crowded, even more so than Lucky Coq. Get ready for many squeezes!
It's a place you might want to check out once or twice but you wouldn't go there again unless someone's birthday party was there
Madame Brussels (Level 3, 59 Bourke Street, Melbourne)
Type: Bar
Think you've seen everything possible in Melbourne? Well, guess again, because unless you've visited Madame Brussels, you ain't seen nothing yet. As you step out of the elevator and are greeted by a doorway, a large amount of noise invades your ears. When you draw closer to the door, you are given your first look of the inside of the bar and are quickly reminded of Alice in Wonderland. Numbers of people litter the indoor astro-turf, with a brick road stolen from the Wizard of Oz guiding to the bar and toilets to the left. Steps directly in front lead you to the outside tables and chairs, where you are more likely to spend the majority of the night, conversing with friends over one of the many cocktail jugs available at the bar (Recommended are the Strawberry, Watermelon and Mint Punch, which gives six people a glass and a half each for $45, as well as the Mai Tai Double, serving plenty for two people at $25). With the right friends around you, this is always a fun place to visit, the novelty never wearing off. The noise around is never too loud to make it hard to hear your friends and instead adds to the atmosphere of the bar. This was an instant love and is always great to go to when you need a lift in spirits.
Geddes Lane (specifically Pogo on Thursday nights) (Geddes Lane, off Flinders Lane near King Street, Melbourne)
Type: Club
Behind Streetparty's most known event (Click Click) comes Pogo on Thursday nights. A clubbing event that has swept the indie dance crowd of Melbourne since the end of last year, this four level club has become a huge institution, with security looking for anyone not dressed appropriately (hint: indie/smart casual) and guest lists almost necessary (very easy to find). While it has decreased in its quality over the last few months, it still reigns as one of the ultimate nights out. The basement usually has a live band before switching to retro hits and theme songs, the floor above doing popular songs from the 80s, 90s and today, the floor above is indie electro pumping for the ultimate dancer and the rooftop usually has an album listening going on. In essence, this is all-in-one. Prepare to get sweaty, especially if you're hitting indie electro floor, as it's crowded like all hell. The bottom floor is the best for those that like a bit of nostalgia and Thursdays provide a great night out, even if it isn't as good as it used to be.
Sweatshop and Seamstress Cocktail Bar (Basement and Level 4, 113 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne)
Type: Bar
"Terence, oh my God, these bars, these bars Terence, oh my God, these bars, oh my God!"
These are the exact words I spoke when I came upon the beauty that is the Seamstress building. After months of wanting to check it out, I finally went with a mate last night and I regret not going sooner. First going to the basement level bar called Sweatshop.
Sweatshop: Looking at the compact area, we quickly made our way to the front of the bar to have a look at their selection. Seriously, cocktail lovers will love this building. We decided to share between us what I believe was called the Reggae Rum Punch (or something along those lines). $45 dollars handed, we proceeded to watch the bartender do his thing and received an entire litre of the cocktail in a thermos. That's right, a freaking thermos. So we sat down with our two glasses and went through the delicious cocktail, with a massive kick to it. The tunes being played were incredibly awesome ("Whip it baby, whip it right, let's whip it baby, whip it all night"), so the only disappointment was the lack of room to have a bit of a dance. Once we consumed the entire thermos, we headed up to the fourth level of the building, to the second bar in the building.
Seamstress Level 4 Bar: Much more loungier, with old-style seating and a few booths, we decided to search through the list up here. With an entirely different selection of drinks, and the ability to get "bar snacks" sent up from the restaurant (dumplings, san choi bau to name a couple), this was the perfect place to grab a cocktail and relax before we hit the clubs and then karaoke. So searching through, we saw plenty of options but we decided the bartender knew the best, so asking one of the four English bartenders, we went with the "Bartender's Tipper" (Drink of the Week). Watching him make the cocktails was incredible, cutting fruits to the perfect millimetre, measuring shots without any help, and the added bonus of seeing our drinks on fire for a brief second. The drink was incredibly good (something like: Tuaca, honey schnapps, gin, orange juice, lime juice and passionfruit) and sitting down in the back of the room in dark moody light, I knew I had found a new love.
This place is so worth checking out, even if it's just to start your night. Both of the bars in here are of absolute quality (the guy running the bars last night even got a straw, dipped in our drinks and checked to see if the cocktails were up to the grade) and it's such a great place to relax in.
Totally recommended.
