Top Five ... Underground Hideaways
The Age
Saturday November 26, 2005
1. M.O.O. (Money Order Office), basement, 318 Little Bourke Street (off Driver Lane), city. Phone: 9639 3020.
Melbourne's old Money Order Office has had several incarnations. It was once the office for illegal aliens, a slightly different bent from its current life as luscious restaurant and wine bar. Recently voted Australian Wine Bar of the Year, M.O.O. is kitted out with period fittings that co-partner Callum Baker-Ralton has collected on his travels. Note the gate that magically opens at the end of the staircase - originally built in 1760 by Tijout, famed for building the gates of Buckingham Palace. The low-lit, sumptuous space carries an air of opulence with red leather chesterfields, antiques and an extensive wine collection. A wrought-iron gate (once window grills from a nunnery in Barcelona) separates the restaurant and bar. Stop for lunch, dinner or a Spanish sherry.2. Mo Mo, basement, 115 Collins Street (enter from George Parade), city. Phone: 9650 0660.Wanderlust will surely come to greet you the moment you enter this divine modern Middle Eastern dining lair. You could be in Morocco, Lebanon or Turkey at this upmarket underground noshery. Head chef Greg Malouf produces standout fare such as quail baked in vine leaves with mint, ma'ahnnie sausage and red hot chilli pepper cream, or Arab-Andulusian whipped avocado and coriander soup with spiced calamari. Earthy surroundings, gentle Arabian tunes and a dish of Bedouin-style spiced rabbit will have you calling for Casablanca.3. Long Room, Georges Building, 162-168 Collins Street, city. Phone: 9663 7226.As the name suggests, this is one long room. It is opulent, decadent and completely over the top - a far cry from the Georges base-ment of old. Refurbished to within an inch of its life, contemporary fuses with old-world in this low-lit bar as velvet intermingles with leather, Queen Anne armchairs sit alongside Barcelona chairs and marble melds with mirror. A throng of antler chandeliers adorn the tapas bar and a colossal moosehead bedecks the floor. Stunning wrought iron gates act as divider screens, and cosy nooks are lined with day beds. If that isn't enough, sashay to the rear of Long Room for a quiet one in the Cognac bar.4. Il Solito Posto, shop 4, 113 Collins Street (enter from George Parade), city. Phone: 9654 4466.Il Solito Posto co-owner Michael Tenace was forced to sell his prized Alfa 11 years ago to pay bills after setting up his underground eatery (which translates to "the usual place"). It was one of the city's first "basement" restaurants. Now this ever-popular Italian trattoria is going through some changes with new chef Darron Paul (most recently ex-Livebait) at the helm. Dishes range from handmade potato gnocchi and osso bucco to crispy skin king fish. Step into the lower dining room and you'll find peek-a-boo light wells that reach up to the Collins Street footpath.5. Mink, The Prince, 2b Acland Street, St Kilda. Phone: 9536 1199.St Kilda is on show 24/7 - it's bold, brazen and in your face at any time of the day or night. To many it's grunge versus glam with a peppering of Swedish backpacker-style. There's nothing seedy about Mink, an underground vodka haven beneath St Kilda's classic Prince of Wales complex. A mix of elegance and Iron Curtain mystique, this chic vodka bar is home to about 45 house-infused vodkas and about 80 branded ones. The interior was inspired by the carriages of the Trans Siberian Express. Smitten bar kittens can linger with a martini or luxuriate with a Cuban cigar before dancing to DJ beats.
© 2005 The Age
