My one lament though through out my time in Montreal has been the dearth of quality cocktails. Don’t get me wrong, Montreal pretty much has a bar on every corner, ranging from your low end dive bar through to the flashy beautiful people night club that is all about being seen, paying too much for a drink made by a hot bartender, and being packed into a small dark space with music cranked at a level that has you shouting to be heard. Don’t get me wrong, clubs have their place, but I’ll take a chilled bar with a talented bar tender any night.

Which leads me into the tale of my last night in Montreal for the year…

The night started with dinner at a Portuguese restaurant, Chez Michel, followed by drinks on St Denis at bar called La berouf (standard pub but with some fantastic wood work, an impressive collection of scotch and about 30 beers on offer) we then decided to head back to the old port for a drink at Vauvert.

Vauvert is the restaurant and club that is part of the St Paul hotel which has been my home away from home this year. Definitely one of the more popular bars in old Montreal on the traditional party nights of Thursday and Saturday night. It very much fits the mould  of your higher end Montreal bar. House DJ, funky decor, attractive wait staff and the standard drink offerings including the basic array of Tini drinks with an emphasis on either the fashionable (cosmopolitans) or fruity and sweet, all made with an emphasis on fast service and lots volume.

From there it was quick walk down McGill to Le Confessional. This bar is a little more my speed, and it’s been interesting to watch it go through a renovation this year.  The first time I visited in January, it was best described as more of a neighbourhood dive bar that had been there for ever, and hadn’t seen a lick of paint since first opening 20 years ago.  Fast forward 3 months and the interrior was redone. Think plush surfaces, lots of reds, burgendy & dark wood surfaces with chandeliers and mood lighting.  Again, you have the house dj on hand and your standard drink offerings.  My biggest gripe with The Confessional, and it seems to be a popular thing in Montreal, is the use of the electronic pourers for the spirits.  I get  the logic behind it, but when it comes to mixing drinks, it feels wrong and disconnects the human element from the experience of making a drink. But enough of the rant.

After the compulsory drink was consumed, we then decided to head over to L’Assomoir for some more interesting drinks. The problem we had though was that once we got there, they had called it a night.  So in what seems to be a common element for those amazing finds, we resigned ourselves to the night coming to an end and started to head back to the St Paul.

It was then that we wandered past  L’Original. I had actually been trying to get to L’Original all week after having read a write up for it.  The big draw for me was their focus on non mainstream meat offerings, so think venison, duck, Bison etc.  They of course cover your standard beef & chicken offerings but even there they try and mix it up a little bit. 

So we descended the stairs and were greeted with a decor that is if you had to pic a theme, you would say was a modern take on a hunting lodge, complete with wooden moose heads on the wall.

When we wandered in we were greeted by one of the owners, Travis, who was more than happy to give us the run down on the menu and the restaurant in general.  The first thing that impressed me about the menu was that it was only two pages, I like to have some choice, but find it overwhelming to be handed a menu with forty pages and a million dishes.  if nothing else, I think about the logistics of a running a kitchen and keeping the ingredients fresh to support that many dishes.  For L’Orignal, the first page is the standards for the restaurant that are always on offer,  (Les Classiques), things like a duck tartare or a Portuguese grilled chicken with chorizo, the second page is the chef’s menu which changes every 2 to 3 weeks.

I then  got into the important part of the conversation and asked about their drink options.

At this point Travis pointed to the chalkboard and offered us a drink, so who am I to say no to a drink?

Chatting with Jane, the bartender, it turns out that the menu is her creation, so asking for recommendations, she suggested the Red Russian and the Polish Apple Pie.  I opted for the Polish Apple Pie (Freshly crushed granny smith apple juice, Zubrowka bison grass vodka and cinnamon) while my buddy Curtis went for the Red Russian (freshly crushed red apple juice, vodka and fresh beet juice).  Neither drink disappointed. The Red Russian had a nice contrast between the sweetness of the apple juice with the spice of the beet juice while the polish apple pie went down the path of mixing the tartness of the green apples with bison grass vodka and the cinnamon for spice.

By this stage it is nudging 1:30am and dinner was a fading memory so we asked if the kitchen was still open and were given a resounding yes!

The bar menu is the companion chalkboard to the drink menu and again we went for the house recommendations. In this instance that was a serve of mini burgers and a bowl of poutine.  For the  uninitiated, poutine is very much a Montreal staple. You take a bowl of fries, add some cheese curd to it and then drown it all gravy. Like any late night food, it’s one of those food that doesn’t seem as appealing during daylight hours and it’s enjoyment is proportional to the amount of alcohol you have previously consumed, and in the interests of full disclosure, it’s not really a food stuff I have ever had much affection for. L’Original has now changed that stance. Their gravy is rich with complex flavours, the fries are done perfectly and the cheese curds are tasty and had a great mouth feel to the whole experience.

The next item to be consumed then was the mini burgers. First up, points to L’Original for not calling them sliders. These truly are mini burgers.  You get a solid patty of minced lamb, topped with caramelised onions and melted aged cheddar on mini burger buns that are fresh and tasty, so forget about greasy sliders, these things are sublime!

From there the house put on a round of espresso & frangelico shots, apparently another Montreal favourite  that didn’t disappoint.

So 13 weeks of fruitless searching and what I was looking for was a couple of blocks from where I had been staying the whole time. As the french say, ce la vis!

The other tips I picked up at L’Orignal for drinks were PicaPica and Restaurant Jane. PicaPica being another bar that Jane works at and has done a menu for, Jane (the restaurant/bar not the bartender) apparently does fantastic pizza and does good drinks as well, but they shall both have to wait till another trip and another night ….

After my recent trip to Seoul I was fortunate to be able to fly home via Singapore so I took the chance to check out the sister bar to one of my favourite Melbourne establishments, Der Raum, The Tippling Club.

The Tippling Club diverges from Der Raum in that it is also a high end eatery.  The apparent realisation of a long held dream between Matthew Bax and his chef friend Ryan Clift, The Tippling Club (I’m feeling lazy so am just going to refer to is as TTC from now) positions itself at the upper end of Singapore’s restaurant scene. Specialising in small plates and degustation offerings, the menu offers both 5 and 10 course options with & without accompanying cocktails.  According to their website the goal was to create “one big chef’s table, engrossing and drawing the customer into the kitchen and bar and to experience all the magic of the creative process”.

So it was with much anticipation that I arrived at TTC on a Friday night with a couple of friends.  As you walk down the path to restaurant you pass the tippling terrace which gives the first hint of it’s relationship to Der Raum, the terrace is ordained with hanging bottles.

As you then enter the restaurant you are greeted with an impressive view of the kitchen through a large window as well as a fascinating collection of ingredients in bottles which add to the lab feel.

I will  venture a little from the review here and give some background to the visit. Having realised I may have the opportunity to travel via Singapore, I had contacted a friend from Seattle who had recently moved back to Singapore and arranged to catch up and suggested the idea of visiting TTC. She was keen and had another of her old friends visiting from Hong Kong for the weekend, so we arranged a reservation through Josh from Der Raum for the 3 of us for Friday night. Curious as to what this interesting venue had to offer, my friend then took a small group to TTC a couple of weeks before our visit and had left a little less than impressed with the service.  I had contacted Josh about this and he provided an email address to which I forwarded the tale of her experience prior to our arrival.

So back to our visit, when we arrived, we were running a little late, so apologised for our tardiness but as there was no record of our booking, this was not such an issue.  Interestingly this was a similar experience to that which my friend had experienced a couple of weeks prior. This wasn’t an issue though as we were guided to some seats at the bar and were presented with our menus.

TTC has an interesting feel to it.  The seating area overlooks a garden and is covered by a steel & canvas annex that extends from the old building.  While we got the intent of the space, our group was left feeling that it had a bit of a temporary garden marquee feel to it.

But TTC is supposed to be all about the food and drink, so back to menu.  TTC has 3 menus on offer, one for cocktails, the tasting menu and then an ala carte option.  We started with the cocktail menu and decided to go with a Mb Apple Pie, A Clover Club & a Smokey old bastard.  This unfortunately was the second instance where we found the service to be lacking. Within a couple of minutes of sitting down we were asked if we were ready to order, as we were still making our way through the menu, we asked for a couple of minutes.  This then turned into what seemed like 15 minutes, so we flagged down one of the numerous staff and put in our drinks order.

Once our orders had been taken, we were then surprised by how rapidly they appeared. As we were seated at the bar, we were also rather disappointed by the fact that the drinks had been made out of site and were then presented to us with no explanation of the individual drinks nor confirmation that they were satisfactory.

At this point we hadn’t decided on dinner yet, so we asked for the food menu and were presented with the tasting menu.  During our time at the bar we had seen a

number of very impressive  small plates being ferried out to waiting patrons.  From what we saw, TTC does not disappoint when it comes to presentation.  Immaculately crafted with an obvious attention to detail, the reports from my friend’s previous visit were that the tastes match the appearance.

With none of us feeling like indulging in the full 5 or 10 course experience we then asked for the ala carte menu.  Once again this was summarily presented to us with no further explanation nor enquiry as to whether we had any further questions.

By this stage we had been at TTC for close to an hour and had been rather underwhelmed by the service we had received so it was decided that we would relocate to another restaurant for dinner and continue our evening there.

With the cheque paid, we were waiting for the return of the card and the receipt when Ryan Clift came over to check on our experience and see how everything was. We briefly discussed our drinks and complemented him on the menu before we departed.

As we left, we set about discussing our experience. We were universal in our praise of our drinks, their presentation and the menu.  The Smokey old bastard was indeed smokey, the house infused cigar bourbon presented in the tall jar adding to the experience.  The ladies’ clover club & MB Apple pie where both thoroughly enjoyed.  The MB apple pie tasting exactly like it’s namesake while the presentation in the cardboard box making it reminiscent of child’s juice box.

As you may have guessed from the overall tone though, we all left disappointed with the experience.  When you head to a high end establishment, quality ingredients & excellent products are expected, as is exceptional service, and this is where we universally felt the experience was lacking. Be it the lack of introduction or explanation of the menu & the drinks, the mishandled reservations or the construction of the drinks on the other side of the bar, a commitment to looking after the customer was not felt.

For my friend who had been a few weeks prior, this was a repetition of the experience of her party.  For their visit, reservations had been made and when they arrived, there was no record of the reservation, again though they were seated without issue.  The server was informed that one of the party would need to be leaving for the airport in an hour so they would like all the dishes to be brought out together.  The order itself was taken incorrectly and the dishes where then brought out separately, resulting in the member of the party who had to head to the airport not getting to sample any of the food offerings. 

I was very much looking forward to my visit to TTC, but left disappointed. I have no issue paying top dollar for a quality experience. TTC has first rate ingredients, an innovative and interesting menu, with well made drinks & food, but it is all let down by a service experience that is more in keeping with a roadside take away than an establishment that expects customers to be paying $100 to $200+ (70 to 140 USD) per head.

I have no doubt that some people will get the service experience that is expected, and the various accolades that TTC has received would support that, but you would have thought that given the prior notice of our booking, the explanation on arrival that I was in Singapore primarily to visit the restaurant, and the prior notice of one of the party having had a less than stellar experience on her previous visit that at least some effort would have been made to ensure that we had a memorable experience.  Sadly we did, but for all the wrong reasons.

*TTC has a policy of no photography, thus the lack of visual additions to this post.  Images are available on their website for those who are interested.

Another week on the road has seen me back in the Melbourne and that of course meant some visits to a couple of my favourite bars and foremost amongst those is the world renowned Der Raum which I had actually intended to write a review of as part of a follow up to my Melbourne Bars Pt1 post from last year, but as seems to happen, time got away from me and it didn’t happen, so I figured I owed them their own review.

So here it is, nine months on from my first visit and I’m finally putting my thoughts into something that is supposed to be at least vaguely coherent.

In what seems to be something that Melbourne bars pride themselves, Der Raum plays it low key from the outside.  Located on the busy Church St in North Richmond, it is just on the edge of the restaurant & cafe strip with a rather unassuming front porch with some dark wooden slats across the front windows.  As you walk in, the lighting is low and you are greeted by low seating and the bar that takes up the centre of the room.  In reading the reviews of Der Raum, I had heard mention of the unusual bar layout but was not prepared for the visual impact.

The story goes that Mathew Bax, the man behind both Der Raum, it’s Singaporean sister The Tippling club and a supporter of local artists, had been looking for a solution to the lack of space to store the multitude of bottles required by any respectable cocktail bar and engaged the services of a Melbourne artist to work out a solution that was both practical but also worthy of artistic merit.  The answer … Hang the bottles from the ceiling on bungy cord.  Each bottle has a ring attached to the neck and the bottles are simply pulled down & unhooked when required.  It is truly one of those solutions that is incredible simple & elegant, but just works so well.

I must admit to not being in a huge hurry to get to Der Raum on my first visit to Melbourne. The stories of the funky hanging bottles and its reputation for molecular mixology were leaving me a little cold.  My preference was for a bar to be about great drinks & service, and not so much about gimmicks.  Within 5 minutes of arriving at Der Raum for the first time, all my fears were allayed.

A quick glance at the menu and you quickly find a mix of the classics as well as a great combination of house specials as well as signature cocktails from bars like London’s Milk & Honey. Now as you can see from the photos below, the liquid nitrogen definitely makes for a spectacle, be it the Nitro Martini or the Bees Knees with its snap frozen honey.  You almost wish they had a few Jacobs ladder and guy collecting glasses named Igor.

But to focus on wafting mists of the liquid nitrogen is to really sell this great bar short.  Like any quality establishment, the total experience is a mix of quality ingredients, made into great product by staff with both a passion for their craft and great customer service.

And this pretty much sums up Der Raum. On the ingredient side, you will find all the usual top shelf fare, which is then further embellished with a range of ingredients that are imported by the house.  Tequila, Mezcal, Rum or bitters are just some of the ingredients that they source from far & wide.  Even if your tastes are simpler, little things like the absence of a post mix gun & an insistence on quality mixers highlight their commitment to their craft.  You will also find a number of house made ingredients as well.  On my last visit I was treated to a camomile infused vermouth as a starter.  This house special combined the dryness of a vermouth with the herbal tones of camomile and was topped of with some liquid nitrogen for effect.

The guys are happy to work with you on your drinks as well.  The menu provides a great starting point, but if it’s all a little over whelming then Josh & the rest of the team are more than happy to offer suggestions or whip up something based on your input.

As an example, on my last visit I had the idea that I wanted to combine the flavours of chocolate, rum & ginger beer.  The result is what you see to the left.  A variation on a Chicago Fizz, this time, sans the port with the addition of mole bitters & ginger beer.  Or the mezcal old fashioned to the right (if your wondering why the glass is looking a little low, it was due to the fact that I was enjoying the drink so much, it only occurred to me that I should take a photo after having consumed a few sips).

For those who prefer their drinks more as the maker intended, Der Raum offers an extensive selection of absinthe, tequila, rum & whiskey as well as beer and wine for those so inclined.

Speaking of tequila, Wednesday nights offer 20% all tequilas and mezcals. Der Raum also is home to the Melbourne Temperance Society which providers members with discounts on both drinks and the regular special evenings which Der Raum hosts.

The one thing that is missing from the Der Raum menu though is food.  While there are rudimentary snacks available, Der Raum should not be viewed as venue for supper.  There are however, a number of food establishments close by, so a little preplanning is advised for those seeking more substantial consumptions.

It is also worth noting that you don’t want to leave it till too late in the evening as arrivals after 1am will be greeted by the sorry site of a closed establishment.

Der Raum can be found at 438 Church St, Richmond.

Downtown Seoul is pretty much the domain of the hof and the bikini bar.  The basic premise being that you sit down at a table and either pay $200ish dollars for a $30 bottle of johnie walker red and you then get a girl who pours you a drink and then herself one and helps you drink your over priced bottle of scotch.  Alternatively you can buy a bucket of beers for $100 and then your helpful korean girl will crack the top of your beer and then help herself to one of your $18 bud lights.

So what about the bikini bars?  Well they are basically a hof where the girls are wearing bikinis or lingerie, and your drinks cost more.

The alternate then is to jump on the subway and head into the suburbs and then it gets a little more entertaining.  Itaewon is where things get decidedly more western as apparently there is a US military base near by, so western style bars abound, and of course their is a red light district to keep the boys entertained.  As far as the crowds go, you get a mix of koreans & non koreans, be they members of the military, tourists or english language teachers, and they all happily down there beers, each nachos or drink breezers.

On that particular sojorn we also took a further subway trip to the university district where the crowd was almost exclusively young 20 something koreans out enmasse.  The drinks continue with beer & breezers, but then also expanded to include Soju which is the domestic distilled rice wine. Distilled rice wine … isn’t that Sake? Nope, if it comes from Japan it is Sake, if its from Korea it is Soju. The advantage of soju is that compared to other spirits it is cheap. A small bottle is going to set you back $10 or so, you then pour said bottle into small ceramic cups for your drinking companions, who then pour yours (one does not pour their own drink) and you then toast and neck the shot in one go. This process is then repeated until such time as you can no longer pour the soju into the little cups, at which point you pour yourself into a taxi and call it an evening, blissfully unaware of the worst hangover of your life that will awake you the next afternoon when you arise.

So that was pretty much the experience of my first trip, and as such the expectations for my second trip were not high.  Not to be discouraged though, a little searching of the interwebs revealed mention of a cocktail bar of repute named Coffee Bar K, a little further searching showed that it was but a short cab ride away, so off I went.

Coffee Bar K

From the street, it is easy to wander past and not even spot this gem of a bar.   To the right there is a small sign that gets lost amongst the other 5 restaurants, bars & businesses in the building, and the to the left there is a black sign with white writing that again dissolves into its surroundings.

Reading through the reviews, I had been warned of this so the direction of looking for the big wooden door was one of those golden nuggets that greatly helped in finding the entry and venturing towards the bar.  As you enter you are greeted by a collection of leather chairs and sofas as well as some tables with chairs.  For me as always, my goal was a seat at the bar, and this is one of those bars where that does not disappoint.  What is a stand out for Coffee Bar K is that the chairs at the bar are similar to the leather chairs through out the bar, so they are much lower than your traditional bar.  To offset this, the bar itself is sunked with the bar top being at typical desk height and the bar tenders then standing on a floor that is a level below the main floor.  The bar top deserves mention as well. Similar to the bar at the W hotel in Montreal, the stone top (marble?) is lit from below and adds to the ambience.  The music, well its more on the Norah Jones side of things and is played at a volume that means you are not shouting to be heard over it.

You have a very comfortable chair to recline in, you get a great view of the staff at work and you can admire the truly impressive array of liquors on offer. The picture to the right show’s three & a half of the 5 shelves that line the back of the bar.  The 5 barrels you can see all contain single malt scotches  while the shelves to their right are contain a variety of Scottish, Irish, American and Japenese whiskies. The shelves to the right of the barrels contain the varietal liquors from around the world.

Which leads nicely onto the menu. The first impression is that it is your pretty standard menu. Leather bound with the name of the bar in gold writing. The presentation then drops off though as you are presented with close to 10 pages of varying fonts & sizes that list the over 200 varieties of whiskies and  then over 100 spirits & liquors before you reach the cocktail list.  Each page is contained in a light plastic sleeve that also takes away from the experience.  At this point I will imagine that this is probably overlooked by most patrons as par for the course, but given the finish of the rest of the bar, the quality of the furnishings and the obvious thought and effort that has gone into the rest of the execution, it just feels a little jarring.  As far as the cocktail list goes, it is almost encyclopaedic.  It feels like someone has trawled the wikipedia drinks list and done a copy & past.  The drinks are listed by base ingredient and then a symbol is used to denote its character.  Sweet, dry, long, soda & its strength.  This again makes for an interesting touch, unfortunately though the ingredients are not listed, so you are left to base your decisions on the base ingredient and a basic flavour profile.  I would much a listing of the ingredients and to then make a decision from there.

In their defence though, the bar staff were very helpful when I asked as to the ingredients of any particular drink, and were more than happy to let me look at a couple of bourbons that took my fancy.

So what about the drinks then? Well Coffee Bar K definitely delivers on this front. After trawling through the dazzling array on offer, I decided to start with the basics, so ordered an Old Fashioned. From a technical perspective, the execution of the old fashioned was lacking.  The sugar cube was not muddled/disolved while a splash of water was thrown in to dilute the whole mixture as opposed to the slower construction involving lots of stirring and a little time as the ice melts. What did make it interesting though was the presentation. Like their Japanese brethren, the Koreans are big on their ice.  So for their rocks drinks you get chunks of ice that are hand chipped from big blocks that delivered daily.

The other interesting ice component are the hand cut ice spheres that are used as an alternate to the chunks in rocks drinks.  The logic behind the ice balls is that the reduced surface area results . The ice spheres are roughly the size of a tennis ball and are hand shaped. (Ice molds  are also available that simplify the process … must add that to the shopping list, personally I have a couple of silicon ice cube trays that make 1 inch cubes that take an age to melt so keep drinks nice and cold, but don’t dilute them in a hurry). But I digress, the more elaborate drinks are where they really seem to excel. The shot to the right shows one of their apple drinks & an espresso martini.  The Apple drink from memory started with muddle fresh apple slices and some Apple Calvados while the espresso martini started with a tea spoon full of coffee beans that are crushed dry before the drink the rest of the ingredients were added while I have no idea as to the drinks below suffice to say that the writing on the top of the drink in the background was a berry paste that was squeezed out of an icing bag.  The glass in the foreground was frosted and had a blue sugar mix applied in preparation for its contents.

After watching so many of these creations being lovingly crafted I decided to settle on the “Walking in space” as my second drink.  The drink in question was created by one of the former bartenders and was used in the Diageo world class cocktail competition in Seoul in 2009 and is listed as containing Johnie Walker Green, brown Cacao, apricot brandy, fresh orange, pineapple & lime juice with lemon grass.  For my one, the JW green was replaced by a JW black and started with fresh lemon grass being muddled then the rest of the ingredients being added and the whole lot being vigorously shaken with copious amounts of ice. The drink is then strained into a cocktail glass while the garnish is made with a skewered piece of the Lemon grass that is caramelised with a blow torch.  The drink itself is obviously fruitly, but then not sickly sweet.  On your first sip you pick up the lemon grass from the garnish and then the dominant flavour is the apricot brandy, but that is a line ball call.  The mouth feel is almost velvety and while it is not something I would normally order, it was definitely a nicely rounded drink that I would happily order again.

All up then, Coffee Bar K was a great find. Great service, great decor, great drinks, now if only they could do something about that menu…

Cafe 74

With the impending week being a full one, I departed Coffee Bar K, and on advice dropped in to Cafe 74 which is located less that a minute from Coffee Bar K but thanks to the large neon sign and the imposing facade, its hard to miss.  The cafe consists of both a cafe and a club / bar.  The cafe is located at the front of the building and was doing a solid trade, late on a Saturday night.  The lure of assorted cakes & tarts with fresh espresso was strong, but I resisted and headed out the back to the bar and was presented with a fantastic contrast to Coffee Bar K.  The first thing that strikes you as you step into the bar is the music. Serious house tunes abound while the large projection screen behind the bar was playing the fashion channel which happened to have the Victorias Secret fashion show playing. So not such a bad thing really.  As for the decor, to one side you had booths shrouded in beaded curtains and courtyard with more tables & chairs. The bar itself was a simple black stone affair with your more traditional high bar stools. 

It is obvious that Cafe 74 is chasing the fashion crowd, and in keeping with that aim, the menu could easily be mistaken for a Moet, Channel or Louis Vuitton catalogue or premier fashion magazine.  Heavy stock with full colour printing and custom photos abound. The drinks list was fairly typical with a good coverage of the classics as well as the usual array of fruit flavoured “tinis” and a small array of single malts and assorted spirits on offer.  What was also good was the inclusion of the ingredients in the drinks (though I’m not sure about the olive “brain” in the dirty martini) and in an interesting addition, the alcohol content was also listed.  I did notice this at some other bars so am not sure if it is merely a standard practice or is something that is government mandated?

For this round I decided to revisit a drink that I did not have fond memories of based on an early experience of one a few years back.  The drink in question? The Godfather, a fairly simple drink consisting of scotch and amaretto  served in a rocks glass. Once again hand cut ice was used while this time the presentation was minimalist, but classy, a small slice of lemon peel and a strip of cinnamon bark as a stirrer. The verdict? A well made God Father is one of those simpler drinks that will definitely be placed back on the regulars list.

That then is enough for this post. The rest of the bar exploits for the week were not really noteworthy. Average drinks in hotel lobby bars that did not inspire. The next post that is planned is a report on my visit to Singapore’s The Tippling club, so till then, cheers!

Imagine then my surprise when I arrived at the Cathay Pacific lounge at Gate 2 at the Hong Kong airport to find a cocktail bar with a pretty reasonable selection of classic cocktails on offer.  Now to set the expectations appropriately, the liquor selection is not extensive, your basic array of well drinks pretty much being it, but when I ask Zak, my bartender for a manhattan and he didn’t bat an eyelid, I figure things were off to a reasonable start.

Whilst making said Manhattan, Zak was distracted by another customer, so finished mixing my drink then handed it across.  After asking as to the make up of it (Jim Beam & Martini Rosso) he realised that he had forgotten the bitters, so recalled the drink, apologised for his slip up and proceeded to update the drink accordingly.

Now it must be said, it is not the best Manhattan I have consumed, but given that it was at a free bar in an airport lounge, and the fact that Zak took the time to correct his mistake, I think that kind of service deserves recognition.

So if you have the opportunity, head to the Cathay Pacific lounge near Gate 2 and give it a look.

Located in the mezzanine of the Barcelona European Bar and Restaurant in Salamanca square, it started life as part of the bar downstairs with a view to providing an upscale alternative to the bistro & beer offerings. After its initial run did not live up to expectations, it closed for a couple of months as Sean & Anthony negotiated to take it over before finally reopening as a separate entity.

As for the decor, sumptuous leather lounges abound, arranged in a series of alcoves, each with their own table, greeted guests as they climbed the stairs from below. Each alcove then being separated by curtains, providing additional privacy if desired. The exposed wood of both the ceiling and the large architectural beams adding a rustic feel, that could come off as contrived, but instead added to the exclusive club feel of the venue.

Once you reached the table, you would then be greeted by either Sean or Anthony. The multi talented pair playing the roles of waiters, bar tenders and chef as they advised patrons as to the food offerings for the evening as well as the drink specials. 

With an array of exquisite local food offerings, dinner at Das Zimmer did not disappoint. The herb encrusted beef Carpaccio on offer during my visit was particularly memorable! For those so inclined, the wine selection is reported to be excellent, but for me, the array of Antica Formula on one of the tables boded well for the mixed drink offerings, and Sean did not disappoint.  Originally from South Africa, with experience through out Europe and Africa  before arriving in Australia, Sean obliviously enjoys his craft, and his drinks did not disappoint.   

Both Sean & Anthony showed a great passion for all aspects of Das Zimmer and it is a great loss to Hobart to see this fine establishment close.

I wish them both well in their future endeavours, and will definitely be keeping an eye out to see what they get up to next.

Melbourne is a funny place, the past couple of weeks have been witness to an early onset of summer, so lots of temps in the high twenties, low thirties (high 80s for my Fahrenheit conversant friends) mean that Melbournites are sitting at homes worshipping their air conditioners as opposed to heading out to the quality bars and enjoying something in a tall glass with lots of ice & rum, and maybe some mint or fresh fruit.

But I am not one to complain about such things as it means that I get sample some of the great bars without the noise and crowds, but I digress….

So here is the first part of what will be a multipart series on bars in Melbourne. 

1806

1806 was the first Melbourne bar that I was told about, and as the recommendations came from multiple sources it really only seemed fitting that it be the first one I talk about.  Located on Exhibition St in Melbourne, not far from Chinatown and just next to Her Majesty’s and opposite the comedy theatre, it is ideally placed for a pre or post show drink.  For me though, it provides entertainment enough, though you may be advised to go else where for dinner before hand as while the toasted sandwiches are tasty, their food is not at the same level as their drinks (see Seamstress below for food options as they are just around the corner).

Given that it is surrounded by theatres it does seem fitting that 1806 has been decorated in the style that seems reminiscent of a turn of the centaury vaudeville establishment.  The bar is framed by a stage curtain and if you stick around for last drinks then you will get to see the theatrics in full flight.

The bar itself appealed to me immediately with its bar stools and rich wood finish. Behind the bar there is in an impressive array of spirits and depending on when you visit, a signature spirit will be showcased.  Of late the signature spirit has been Chartreuse and if you are  lucky enough to wander in on a night when Merlin is behind the bar, then you can get a full run down on the history of this interesting herbal liquor.

In addition to the bar stools, there are also two levels of tables and leather couches on offer, again both in keeping with the spirit of the establishment, the upstairs effectively a mezanine that over looks the bar and provides a great view.

Enough of the surrounds though, the primary reason for visiting 1806 is the drinks, and here they don’t disappoint.  The name of the bar is a reference to the year in which the cocktail was first acknowledged in print, so a perusal of the menu will take you from the early days of spirits being combined through to the modern era. The signature spirit idea also provides a little variance as you will find a collection of drinks built around the spirit being highlighted.  As the current spirit is Chartreuse you will find a collection of offerings based around both the green & yellow variants.  It is also worth nothing that at the 2008 Tales of the cocktail conference in New Orleans, 1806 collected an award for the best cocktail menu, which is no small feat in itself.

As far as the drinks the go, two that stand out for me at 1806 are the Cartrusian flip and the margarita custard.  The Cartrusian flip being a combination of yellow Chartreuse, islay malt whiskey and egg yolk, while the margarita custard being cuervo, cointreu, lemon & egg which is then steamed and served with a spoon.

One of the other interesting offerings that 1806 has is their cocktail deconstruction event. This 4 hour offering on a saturday provides great foundation in the history of spirits as well as the evolution of mixed drinks.  The Saturday I attended I was fortunate enough to have Sebastian Reaburn deliver the course, which if you can arrange, is something I definitely recommend.  His combination of an encyclopaedic knowledge of spirits and drinks with his humility and his passion to share make for a thoroughly engaging event which if you are interested in cocktails is definitely something  to add to you calendar.

If I am to level any criticism at 1806 it would be that on occasion the staff can come across as a little cool, and potentially a little elitist.  I have been to 1806 on a number of occasions though, and always endeavour to drop in at least once on any visit to Melbourne, so don’t let this really put you attending this quality Melbourne bar with its well deserved reputation.

Seamstress & Sweatshop 

Growing up with a mother with a love of sewing and crafts, Seamstress seemed to welcome me from the moment i ascended the stair case and was greeted with an array of bobbins on the wall and then a ceiling resplendent with an array of silks of all colours and again that familar warmth of sofas and tables and a bar complete with water & glasses & bar stools to welcome the thirsty patron.

Seamstress itself is the bar on the top floor of the building, with the first floor housing a great asain fusion restaurant that is described as bringing “a contemporary Australasian perspective to traditional Cantonese cuisine” so think small plates and shared dishes with fresh ingredients and a nice balance of flavours.  The ground floor houses the kitchen while the basement contains the second bar sweatshop, but more on that in a moment.

Like any decent Melbourne bar, the menu at Seamstress provides a good mix of drinks.  I have now been there for both their Winter & Spring menus.  On both occasions I was quite pleased with the array on offer, not a crazy amount either and good to see a mix of both sweet and sour, the staff are also quick to offer suggestions and whip up a classic or two.

Being connected to the connection downstairs, they also offer a selection of bar snacks that can definitely suffice for a light dinner if the mood takes you.  For me, the not so vegetarian wok box is my pick.

The sister (ugly step sister?) to Seamstress then is Sweatshop. You’ll find her toiling away in the basement, surrounded by raw concrete & brick, exposed beams and industrial wire mesh, a stark contrast to the oppulence & splendor of Seamstress. But like any good fairy tale, this sibling has her own hidden beauties waiting to be discovered, and they are worth discovering.

Don’t let the industrial feel or unpolished appearance put you off though. Great drinks are definitely the order of the day, with bar staff who know their product and care about what they serve, sweatshop is definitely worth visiting.

Be aware though they are not open every night, so my first visit on sunday night found me heading upstairs to Seamstress, in no way a bad thing, just something to note if you are planning a visit.

As always, the trip was started with a couple web searches looking for cocktail bars that might be of interest as well as any other options for my brief visit.  The resulting list really only had two entries, Onba and the Lark Distillery. So for this first post I shall discuss Onba, then follow it up with posts for Lark, IXL, T42 & Das Zimmer.

ONBA

First up then is Onba.  Located in North Hobart it is a kilometre or so away from the waterfront and is located in a nice old building which according to the menu, dates back to the early days of the colony.  The layout is very much that of a restaurant/cafe with a small bar with 4 or 5 seats being located in what I gather was originally a hallway or entrance, but is now home to a array of tables.

Obviously some thought has gone into both the cocktail and the food menus.  My initial reaction to the drinks menu though was one of derision. Once you make your way through the array of coffees, beers & wines you are then find the cocktails broken down by their base spirit, starting with Vodka.  This is one of those areas that I struggle with.  I can appreciate that reality of cocktail consumption is that the primary consumer is probably younger females who’s taste lends more towards fruity & sugary with any alcohol present being  deftly hidden. So in this regard, Onba doesn’t disappoint. The vodka drinks utilising lots of syrups & fruits.  From there the menu continues in a similar vein with the theme appearing to be that any drink can be improved by the addition of berrys, infusions or honey.

The menu does acknowledge the classics though, so I was pleasantly  surprised to see the Sazerac listed, and also encouraged by the note on each page stating that the original variants were also on offer for the asking.

When it came time to order though, after having initially been asked twice in quick succession if I was ready to order, I was then apparently forgotten for what seemed like 15 minutes (maybe 10?) a waitress from another section asked if I had placed my order, so a Sazerac was ordered along with some bread & olive oil and a main to accompany.

For the sake of brevity I will focus on the drink. As I have previously mentioned, the Sazerac is one of my favourites, so I also find it a good measure of any bar.  In this case it did really sum up my experience at Onba.  It had all the right elements, but the execution was lacking and everything was just a little off. First off was the presentation, as you can see, the drink came out with a second glass filled with ice and an instruction to add ice as desired.  This in itself is not big deal, but when the glass that the drink was served in was warm, and the drink itself was barely below room temperature then this is not a good start.  As for the drink itself, garnishing a Sazerac with a twist of lemon is traditional and is done so as to release the oils into the drink and give it that extra edge.  In this case the rind had been poorly cut and the I would guess that it had been placed in the drink without either wiping the rim nor squeezing it to extract the the oils.  The other notable addition was the maraschino cherry, again not in keeping with either the traditional drink nor the drink advertised on their menu.

As for the rest of the experience, the bread was stale, but the chicken breast stuffed with chorizo was well done.  With these consumed though, I had no desire to seek either a second drink or to look at the menu, instead my desire was to head back to the waterfront for a return to Das Zimmer (review to come).

Given my visit to Onba, I can’t say I would be I am in a hurry to return.  From what I observed, they do have some talented & diligent staff, but they would appear to lack consistency and some short cuts in the kitchen leave some basic elements wanting.

note: an email was sent to Onba detailing my experiences so  I am curious to see their response, so will update this post with any developments on that front.

First up is 399 Bar. Located at 399 William St, North Bridge. Digging into my fading memory, these guys have been open for about 6 months, but they certainly seem to have things sorted.  I popped in on a Tuesday night and was greeted by a number of patrons already seated at the bar and in a number of the booths. Initial impressions where positive, the simple fact they had stools at the bar is a positive in my book!  Taking my spot at the bar, I asked for a drinks menu and was told that they don’t have a menu and instead like to see what a customer likes to drink and then shape something around that.  Definitely a ballsy move and one that very much places the onus on having bar staff who know what they are doing.  So after a quick discussion with Andrew McIntyre we settled on Vieux Carre. So again points scored for knowing one of the less common drinks and also executing it reasonably well.  From there Andy suggested an Algonquin, so rye whiskey, dry vermouth and pineapple juice. One I hadn’t tried and on the day, not something that grabbed me, so Andy was happy to take it back and he whipped a sazerac in its place.

So 399 gets points for good bar staff, as it was a Tuesday night, they were also running through a training session for their staff, so next to me, a class was being given on techniques and the importance of balance in a drink and what flavours work and those that don’t.  Again more points for 399 for taking the time to invest in their staff to ensure a quality experience.

On the food front, 399 classes itself as doing small eats.  This equates to almost being tapas, but they avoid the tapas tag to set expectations appropriately, so the menu is set on a chalk board and you can choose 3 items from a list of tapas staples like chorizo or olives, alternatively they have a one pot option.  So food while not being their primary focus, is something that is on offer.

I’ll be sure to drop in next time I’m in town.

Next up on the list was Ezra Pound.  This small bar has only been open a few weeks now and is located in a little alley just off William St, (189 William St, Perth) a block to the north of the train station. The first big challenge for me with Ezra Pound was actually getting any information about it with regards to opening hours or contact numbers.  The guys behind the venture wanted to create a local pub that focuses on nothing more than being a good local that offers a solid selection of beverages, but doesn’t go over the top. Unlike 399 these guys do have a cocktail list, but it has to be one of the simplest and most elegant examples I’ve come across. On offer, Cuba Libre, Negroni, Tom Collins, Old Fashioned, Sidecar & a Martini.  So they cover all the classics, cover pretty much the spectrum of tastes, and don’t make a fuss about it in the process.

For their spirit selections, again they have kept it simple. A couple of bourbons, nolly pratt as the vermouth, 4 or so whiskeys and the staples necessary to make the drinks on offer. 

In one review I found, they discussed the use of jam jars to serve the drinks, the night I was there they were opting for a classic rocks glass, and I think that is far more in keeping with bar than chasing the gimmick of the jam jars (or mason jars for my north American friends).

With regards to decor, they’ve gone for a classic feel. Old style sofas and comfy chairs, stools at the bar, and a nice talking point in the 1930s cash register that apparently was shipped out from New York.

These guys seem to have a pretty good idea of what they want out of the bar, and they have pretty much hit the mark for creating a great local, and given the passion of the patrons I was chatting to on the night I was there, they have created something the market is looking for.  Definitely glad I made the effort to track down this little gem.

http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2009/08/murray-stenson-rocks-sorrentos-drinking-lessons/

which has me once more pondering my city of abode.

I also love this pic of Murray from the article

If you are a Seattlelite, then it might be worth checking out this link

http://www.seattlemag.com/0p36b8be123/drinking-lessons-at-the-sorrento/

which provides information on the bi monthly event.