Curious – Our Review

Head down the rabbit hole at Curious, an architecturally gob-smacking cocktail bar in the basement of W Melbourne, for swish drinks and one of the coolest vibes in town.

Curious

Location: W Melbourne, 408 Flinders Ln, Melbourne, VIC 3000 Ph: (03) 9113 8862

It must be a real pain trying to develop a bar that stands-out in a vibrant city such as Melbourne. But with Curious, the designers have hit the jackpot.

Enter the slick entrance of the W Melbourne on Flinders Lane and you’re in just another contemporary hotel – albeit a very nice one. However, glance to the right of the reception and you’ll spy a slat-ceilinged passage leading down a wide flight of stairs. Follow your instincts (Alice), descend the staircase and embrace the stunning interior of Melbourne Cocktail Bar – Curious.

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The Space

Genuinely striking.

At the bottom of the entrance stairs, you find yourself in a cavernous underground cocktail bar.

The ceiling is the most remarkable feature of the room, but boy is it worth the price of a drink! Straight struts of timber are arranged in such as way as to seem curved. Meanwhile, clever lighting somehow manages to both illuminate the space and high-light the amazing wooden structure. It’s like being inside the stomach of Jonah’s whale.

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To the right, the bar looks like it’s constructed from stack slate. To the left, a wave of rich blue banquettes ripple along the wall. Crimson chairs and rose gold-tinted table tops pick up the pink accents from the lighting above.

The name of the drinking den and the magical, tunnel-like dimensions of the room make it clear that we are in an architect’s interpretation of Alice’s rabbit hole in Wonderland. And if we need any further confirmation, there’s a regal bunny statue watching us imperiously from behind our seats.

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The Drinks

So is Curious Bar a case of style over substance? Well…

As you know, here at Eatability, we love a Cocktail. And the selection at Curious when we visit is good, but not astounding. Plus, we’re talking premium prices.

The Original Sin hits the spot, whilst the Hemingway Daiquiri – Diplomatico Planas Rum, Grapefruit, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur and more – makes my Rum loving companion very happy. Personally, I dip into the silky depths of The Last Word – a winning combination of Melbourne Gin Company Gin, Green Chartreuse, Lime & Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur.

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Suffice to say that we are all happy to quaff our choices, but not wowed by their originality.

The Food

The Curious Melbourne website promises food to match our drinks and it does a pretty good job. Certainly price-wise.

Is it just me, or is $15 for a plate of Mount Zero Olives a tad steep, even if they come with Rosemary, Citrus and Toasted Olive Bread? Similarly, whilst the Charred Chermoula Spiced Lamb Skewer and accoutrements is fabulous, at $22 dollars a pop, I would hope so.

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A better option is the Australian Wagyu Slider. This pleasing morsel arrives with Root Vegetable Crisps, McClure’s Pickle, Aged Cheddar and Whiskey Oniopns – I kid you not. At $25, it’s a bargain, but given that I could dismantle 3 of them, definitely only the ‘Bite’ that the menu describes them as.

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Overall

Curious Melbourne is a real beauty – polished, sophisticated and quite unique . But for us, there needs to be a bit more soul behind the flashy facade.

The staff are lovely and the design is next level, but after a couple of cocktails we were done.

But then that is very probably what most people want from a cocktail bar – a drink or 2 in a glorious setting.

What we can say is that you really should head down the rabbit hole at least once in your life!