NOW EXPERIENCING:Eau-de-Vie
Saturday: 4:00 PM – 1:00 AM
Phone
(03) 8393 9367
Website
eaudevie.com.au
Instagram
@edvmelbourne

Read time 4 Mins

Posted 18 Aug 2022

By
Michael Harden


The cocktails and whiskies are taken seriously here, but a sense of wit and playfulness and a dash of theatre keep things light and make for 1920s speakeasy-style good times.

Eau-de-Vie Bar Interiors
Why you goMelbourne’s whole hidden-bar thing, with venues lurking behind unmarked doors, up flights of rickety stairs or down gloomy lanes, is so widespread that at times it can feel like a cliché or a gimmick. Sometimes it is, but there are truly excellent bars behind some of those hidden doors. Case in point: Eau-de-Vie. The first Melbourne bar from Sydney’s Speakeasy Group (it now also has Boilermaker House and Nick & Nora’s in the Victorian capital), Eau-de-Vie was designed to make a splash in a crowded market, wowing the punters with its well-considered and successful 1920s-speakeasy vibe, atmospheric whisky room (complete with whisky lockers where regulars can keep their stash) and formally dressed bartenders doing theatrical things with flames and nitrous oxide. It’s also very much at home with the classics. The space is luxurious with a suitably clandestine feel – it’s easy to miss the entrance and the feeling of relief when you actually make it inside adds to the fun – but there’s also a sense of wit and playfulness. While the cocktails and whiskies are taken very seriously here, that’s no barrier to sinking back into the leather banquette, letting the jazz soundtrack wash over you and having yourself some 1920s speakeasy-style good times.
Why you stayThis is a bar that has attention to detail as a core principle. It’s the kind of place that when you order a classic cocktail like an Old Fashioned, it will arrive in the right kind of quality glass, the bourbon will be top-shelf, a coaster will be involved and the ice and dilution will leave you with absolutely nothing to complain about. Equally, you can order something slightly ridiculous, frivolous and fun. The highly entertaining cocktail menu – it has a theatrical theme with section titles like Shakespeare’s Favourites and Bal du Burlesque – delivers balanced and delicious combinations of flavours, despite its many ingredients and the fact a drink may be on fire when it’s served to you. Add a snack menu that’s similarly attuned to detail – freshly shucked oysters, good cultured butter to go with the quality bread – and a moodily lit, comfortably upholstered atmosphere presided over by people who know what they’re doing and you have a place that encourages you to forget about the world outside the hard-to-find door and concentrate on the good times in front of you.
Cocktail glasses and bottles at Eau De Vie Melbourne
Cocktail glass at Eau De Vie Melbourne
What drink to orderThere’s no point coming here if you’re not going to try at least one cocktail (the interesting mocktails here count as well, so no excuses). Sure, there’s good Champagne on the list and the short selection of beer contains no duds, but you’re in a 1920s speakeasy so lighten up and get with the program. Classics are always available, but much fun awaits with the house cocktails. Why not live a little and order The Valentino, a surprisingly successful combination of bacon-infused whisky, marmalade syrup, sweet vermouth, lemon juice, cherry and smoke? Or perhaps go for something vibrant and floral, like the Watermelon Bomba where rum, absinthe and pisco share a glass with a watermelon and fennel syrup, lime and honey. It might sound a little crazy, but in this atmosphere it makes complete sense.
What to pair it withThe snack menu at Eau-de-Vie knows its place and doesn’t try to outdo the drinks in terms of flash and dazzle. Still, it manages to keep things interesting with good cheese and cured meats, excellent slow-cooked and shredded duck and sherry rillettes and a particularly good combination of cured salmon served with finger lime, salmon pearls marinated in Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin, and crisp crostini toasts.
Regular’s tipWant to learn more about what you’re drinking? Eau-de-Vie offers a variety of masterclasses on both cocktail-making and whisky, held in the luxurious Whisky Room.
Food and drinks pairing at Eau De Vie Melbourne
Bar interiors at Eau De Vie Melbourne
Don’t leave withoutFor the whisky fans, it would be a crime not to check out the whisky menu here, which includes around 30 Scottish whiskies alongside a brilliant collection from America, Ireland, Sweden, Japan and Australia.
Make it fancyFor those wanting to make a night of it, Eau-de-Vie offers a five-course dégustation menu that comes with paired cocktails, served at the 16-seat dining table in the tucked away Library room.