Lustre Bar

The Verdict

Perched above Melbourne’s most achingly cool laneway (Centre Place), Lustre Bar is a bit of a CBD institution. One of those venues that lives in the back pocket of your brain, laid-back and snug, just waiting for you to climb the stairs and give it another go.

Well here’s a good reason to do just that: they recently invented cocktails in a cone.

Yep, the bar has come under new management in 2017 (husband and wife super-team Adam and Emma Clark), and it seems their first order of business was, basically, to make cool shit. Our words, not theirs. Along with revamping the grazing menu and re-styling the space, they’ve unleashed a range of specialty cocktails, served in choc-coated waffle cones (courtesy of the Coffee In A Cone guys). There’s choc berry, peppermint and hazelnut, plus a frankly ridiculous affogato: a smooth mix of Kahlua and espresso, served beneath a generous scoop of fluffy white vanilla ice-cream. Where has this been all our lives?

Your food options are limited, but delicious. Along with the well-styled cheese platter and golden Arancini balls, Emma and Adam have added Bourbon bacon popcorn, fried in duck fat and drizzled with maple syrup. Goes down pretty well with a glass of Prickly Moses Summer Ale or The Raconteur IPA. Scotch-lovers are also in luck—the whisky list is divided neatly into Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside and Islands.

Really though, the best thing about Lustre has always been the space itself. Warm and inviting, with a cracking window bar running along Flinders Ln. The perfect spot for knock-off drinks...and maybe a cone-based cocktail or three. 

Image credit: Lustre Bar