A survey of Melbourne’s best bars for last year’s The Age Good Food Guide found better boozing in the ’burbs was on the rise . Slowly but surely, that trend is continuing, with more spots opening in suburbs not without licensed venues, but where locals are crying out for a neighbourhood watering hole to call their own. Here are three to try.
Bar Brillo, Aberfeldie The “espresso bar” sign is all that remains of 25 Tilba Street, the cafe Carlo Mellini has spent the year flipping into backstreet wine-diner Bar Brillo. It now services the north-west suburb when neighbouring grocery-cafe Aberfeldie Salumeria closes for the day. “It made sense for the neighbourhood to have variation,” says Mellini, who also owns Avondale Heights’s Cannoli Bar .
“We just want to make Aberfeldie great.” So it’s out with Italian coffee and pastries and in with small plates and glasses of vino in a pocket of Melbourne short on night-time options. A handsome walnut-coloured bar borders the open kitchen, where jars of house-pickled vegetables line the wall.
Chef Thomas Du is serving a menu he’ll shake up with the seasons. You might find wild-venison salami; kingfish crudo dressed with blood orange, pickled radish and wasabi leaf; or tagliatelle with a rich lamb ragu – a Mellini family recipe. “Brillo means ‘tipsy’ in Italian,” says Mellini.
And that department is sorted with some organic Sicilian wines that nod to his heritage, and a short but sharp selection of amari, the herbal liqueur usually served as a digestif. Open Thu-Sun 5pm-9pm 25 Tilba Street, Aberfeldie, instagram.com/bar.
brillo Natural Science Wine & Liquor, Blackburn Blackburn residents embraced Tristan Jallais’ all-Australian bottle shop when it hit the east in early 2022. But they were desperate to be able to drink there, too, he says. Fast-forward two-and-a-half years, and Natural Science is now also trading as a bar.
“It was so needed in a fairly barren area for drinking establishments,” says Jallais, who’s prioritised making it welcoming for everyday occasions, not just special events. “You can rock up in your trackies, or in a suit after work,” he says. Plus, it’s family- and dog-friendly.
Importantly, boozing doesn’t have to break the bank. A handful of easy-drinking Victorian wines (Harvest Moon sauvignon blanc, Kooyonga Creek tempranillo) are $9 a glass, and corkage is $15 for any bottle in the shop. You’ll also find four rotating beer taps and plenty of vermouth, including those that Embla chef Dave Verheul makes under the Saison label .
Hungry? BYO snacks are encouraged, or you can order from nearby pizzeria Lorena. Open Wed noon-8pm; Thu-Sat noon-9pm; Sun noon-6pm 9a Salisbury Avenue, Blackburn, naturalscience.shop Dutch Rules Distilling Co, Mitcham Among the warehouses of Whitehorse Road, distillery door Dutch Rules has proved to be a gin-fuelled win for the east since it opened to the public earlier this year.
Sri Lankan founder Danny Perera – also behind Clayton brewery Two Rupees – has been distilling on site since 2022, but now the converted warehouse is also a space to sip his award-winning gins, laced with spices imported from his homeland, and beyond. Purists can experience the intricacies of each gin on a tasting flight, the shiny copper still in the background. But the fragrant Thai gin lends itself deliciously to cocktails such as the Welcome to Mitcham, with mint, cucumber, lemongrass cordial and a hit of fresh lime.
Visit in the late arvo as the sun streams through the huge glass bifold doors out front, and order snacks such as farmhouse terrine, charcuterie with mustard figs and parmigiano reggiano with olive oil and balsamic. Open Wed-Thu 4pm-9pm; Fri 4pm-10pm; Sat noon-9pm; Sun noon-7pm Unit 1, 586 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham, dutchrulesdistilling.com.
au The Good Food guide to the best 20 bars in Melbourne, right now.
