Red Hummingbird
1st floor, 246 Russell St, Melbourne
www.theredhummingbird.com
BarAmigo’s two pesos – A classy, rather commercial, mainstream, but not over the top bar to enjoy a drink with friends.
When visited – Fri 7 May 2011 8.30pm to 10.30pm
Red Hummingbird is simply a nice bar to grab a drink with your friends. It’s nothing special or over the top but it maintains that bit of class that sets it apart from other venues.
We’ve just come from Seamstress and are looking to continue drinking at a nearby venue that’s not too grungy or feels cheap. Red Hummingbird fits what we are after as it doesn’t have that “cheap” feel to it but it isn’t too expensive at the same time. You won’t get boutique drinks here as Red Hummingbird is rather commercial and mainstream. It’s the older but smaller sister of Emerald Peacock. The same people run both venues.
Red Hummingbird cocktail bar at around 9pm on Friday night
At 8.30pm, we’re rather surprised that there is a set of ottomans and a table available for us. Perfect size for the 4 of us to start and a couple of other friends to join later. Good to rest the legs after standing up for a couple of hours.
Beers by the bottle at $8 or $9 a pop. Me and my mate settle on James Squire Golden Ale – it’s the most “boutique” out of Red Hummingbird’s selection. My friends continue with their wines. Later on, my friend gets the Booty Call cocktail which she says is pretty good. Maybe she was just attracted to the name 
9.30pm my mate complains that it takes quite a while to grab a drink. Must have been people ordering cocktails.
The crowd at the Red Hummingbird cocktail lounge are all content sticking to their own group of friends. It’s surprisingly sparse but its generally a range of ages. Some early 20s through to some late 30s sticking around. The work crowd has well and truly left by now so it’s becoming younger as the night progresses.
We don’t bother venturing upstairs as it’s a reasonably brisk May evening. Plus we have our seats and can’t be bothered moving. But during summer, Red Hummingbird’s roof top area is a winner. It fills up rather quickly due to its limited size but it’s well worth it. Hopefully they have their marquee up by now so that there is some respite for the cold winter nights ahead.
The DJ helps creates an upbeat atmosphere
Around 10pm the music goes up a notch in volume which makes it a little difficult to maintain conversation across our ottoman area. Don’t quite understand why the volume is turned up… its not like a dancefloor is going to start here. Everyone is content sitting and chatting. And its not adding any extra atmosphere.
Red Hummingbird is a reliable place for a drink on a Friday night to catch up with your friends. Don’t expect anything too special though. Its 10.30pm and we really need some food… time for cheap chinese on Russell st… and hopefully home after that… but unfortunately I ended up getting a drink at Emerald Peacock. At least I can sleep in tomorrow.
Salud
Eddie
BarAmigo – Your friend at the bar
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