BarAmigo’s two pesos- make sure you know what you’re signing up to before saying “I’m in”
Time – Fri 26 Mar 2011 5.30pm to 1am
The plan (if you can call it that)… from the Carlton Hotel, get to Spiegeltent by 11.30… but you must stop off at every bar and have a drink along the way… Sort of like Harold and Kumar go to White Castle… maybe. So here’s how it starts…
Friend: You in or you out?
Eddie: Ummm… what for?
Friend: Tonight… you in or you out?
Eddie: ok then… I’m in!
And there you go… Well, it actually started a couple of hours before this conversation. We arrived at the Carlton Hotel at 5.30 and had two Fat Yak pints over the next 1.5 hours… you get change for a $20 when you order a Fat Yak pint and a Sav Blanc. The bottom level of the Carlton Hotel is cosy but with plenty of character. The stuffed emu, giraffe and rhino certainly create talking points. At 5.30, we make a bee line for the bar table and stools at the back before anyone else can get there. Spare seats are becoming a rare commodity at this time. Over the next hour or so, the bar gets busier with the after work crowd. Generally an older crowd (i’m 28) and I’d say most around early to late thirties on average.
So here were the rules… walk from the Carlton Hotel down Bourke St towards Swanston. Turn left onto Swanston, hit up each bar on both sides of Swanston all the way to Spiegeltent (at the arts centre).
7.05 – The first spot was Karaoke Bar and Lounge on Bourke St. “Is it open? Does this count?” “Yes it does cause its name has the word ‘Bar’.” We try the door, reluctantly, and it opens… We have to sing! At 7pm… We get to the top of the stairs and there’s a bemused guy mopping the floor… “Are you open?” Mop guy… “NO”. I guess its fortunate for my friends cause they don’t have to hear me sing…
An empty Red Violin at 7pm on Friday
7.10 – Red Violin is next. Seems like it just opened for the evening. It’s almost empty with only one group of 4-5 sitting in a couch area. Great tunes with Ladyhawke, Placebo and Presets. Pity there’s no one around to listen to it. It’s pretty loud and but you can still chat across the lounge area. Around 10 wines available by the glass. Carlton draught pots at $4 each. Good move getting onto the pots I think.
7.30 – Martini Bar at the Westin (we lost Hi Fi Bar along the way somewhere). Martini Bar is a hotel bar but I’m pleasantly surprised at how busy and lively it is. Maybe cause it’s grand prix weekend. We’re clearly the youngest here with most patrons over 40. Actually a diverse range of ages from late 30s through to late 50s. Easy to get a seat and of course there’s table service. Cocktails go down well for the girls at about $20 each and $7 for Little Creatures Pilsner on tap works for me. We end up sticking around till about 8.45 cause a couple of other friends joined us… and no, they are not committing to our journey.
8.50 – La Vita Buona. We reckon we’re a little behind on time so the debate starts as to whether this is a bar… After several precious minutes, we realise it’s a wine bar so we gotta stop by. Glenfiddich 14 year old on the rocks ($14) for me and port ($7) for my friends. We must have really annoyed the bar staff with our indecisiveness and general lack of respect. If anyone from La Vita Buona is reading this… we apologise! We are clearly the most disorderly people around the place. Its reasonably busy with people enjoying several wines and bunkering down for the evening. Looks like a good place to chat and have a low key drink – what we should have been doing.
The bar at Three Below
9.30 – Three Below. Back to Carlton pots at about $4 each. My hip pocket says thanks. The heaters outside make it rather comfortable sitting at the bench outside. Three Below is a lively crowd with many people around us enjoying a smoke under the heaters. Time for a quote “The plan tonight was not to write off tomorrow. Just a quiet drink!” Funny how plans change…
10.40 – We hit Young & Jacksons after a quick stop at Maccas on the way. Thankfully it was decided unanimously that the place next door to Three Below and Brunetti’s don’t count. For some reason or another I’m not the greatest fan of Young & Jacksons. Maybe it’s the tag of being one of the oldest pubs in Melbourne and everyone knows about it. Or maybe cause I haven’t really given it a chance and never spent much time there except for a quick drink before getting on the train to go to the races. Anyway, it was always going to be a quick stop and a black sambuca shot later, we’re on our way.
11pm – Beer Deluxe. Debate raged amongst us as to whether this counted… “It’s on the Russell St side of Fed Square”… “NO… it’s part of Fed Square so it counts”… The argument is settled as we see lines at Transport and Riverland. For me, its a replacement for both Transport and Riverland cause we’re not lining up tonight… especially with our deadline. We settle on a Jaegerbomb… no just kidding… beer for each of us. Although Beer Deluxe is lively and busy, we can still get a seat at a bench. Noisy but not too noisy to talk. A random survey of the general population says that 3 out of 8 people know the author of War and Peace. The author’s name starts with T. Obviously I’m part of the majority. I’ve been told I should read the book.
12pm – Spiegeltent. Just like Harold and Kumar… we’re a bit behind schedule but we’ve made it. Forgot to mention we stopped at Curve Bar along the way but I’ll let my friend start up a blog and she can tell you why… $5 cover charge to Spiegeltent and we’re all set. Bring it on. It’s going to be so awesome when we taste those burgers… I mean hit the dancefloor with the swing band playing. Biggest let down ever. Ever is a massive overstatement but the context calls for it… There’s about 25 people and a DJ. We leave and get our $5 each refunded on the way out.
12.30 – Ponyfish island. Needed to go somewhere else to finish the night after that. This post is now way too long so I’ll talk about Ponyfish some other time. You’ve probably tuned out by now.
Salud
Eddie
BarAmigo – Your friend at the bar
Share on Facebook
