Gin Palace, Melbourne, Australia - Review
Names have been changed to protect the devious and those who wish to continue to maintain respectable day time careers
. The night began as any other does, a sequence of flashing mobile phone screens and the most haphazard of plans gradually came to rushed fruition, as is common place amongst our useless group, however, this aside, we eventually decided upon the Taxi Bar in Federation Square. It should be noted that unless one's tastes extend to being hassled by smashed middle aged business men, then the bottom floor of this bar need be avoided like some form of plague infested pigeon, it is also much too cramped for my taste. Taxi's saving grace is its far more appealing cocktail bar on the top level, where both myself and my much beloved companion who shall be known as birthday boy (for dignity reasons and the fact that it was his birthday on this particular day), set off kicking off our night. Now before I go any further I would like to bring to everyone's attention a troubling epidemic infecting Melbourne Bars, city wide... the faux cosmo. This filthy imposter is an opaque shadow of the delightful cosmo and can contain cinnamon or salt around the edge of the glass, burnt orange peel and can now apparently be orange in colour as well? As a diehard fan of the original, I must admit my bias to any bar that can still produce the genuine article, and Taxi delivers. We enjoyed our cocktails in the simple comforts of Taxi's spacious armchairs before remarking how inconvenient it was that the only bathroom was two treacherous flights of stairs down and so decided to continue our adventure off into the Melbourne city night. After much debate (birthday boy enjoys his cocktails in multiples of two) we decided to head towards the earlier agreed upon bar which would ultimately become the host venue for birthday boy's birthday drinks. A minor metropolitan inclined alley later (anything worth going to in Melbourne is hidden in alcoves or down alleys) we spied the modestly luminous sign for Gin Palace. We entered and set about establishing ourselves in one of Gin Palaces many alcoves, the seating in this bar is of particular interest as it is designed in such a way that you need not see anyone else in the bar if you so wish, which is handy for keeping all disgraces private but is constant battle when waiting on members of a party who are unfamiliar with the lay out, (we lost half our crew to a settlement two members set up in another corner). Regardless, Gin Palace is lovely and does its namesake proud with a dizzying array or Gins available and they can also boast one of the best martini menus in Melbourne. The staff are all very friendly and even offer the dangerous option of table service. A word of caution to this tale, to begin a tab, which let's be honest is always an amazing idea at the time, requires either a credit card of drivers license to be left behind the bar, and if your anything like us, there are far more pressing matters usually at hand when leaving a venue, in this instance for example it was who will help pour birthday boy into his proverbial prepaid yellow and green chariot and then what everyone was hoping to get at the illustrious 24 hour Hungry Jacks. With all this drama, it is easy to forget the 'guarantee', and that next morning walk of shame to retrieve it can be anything but delightful. Until next time...by: Alex Schleibs Make Delectable Halloween Treats With Sticky Fingers Premium Baking Mixes Ireland To The Uk Made Easy Travel Egypt - Get The Best Travel Deal So Funny And So Cute Halloween Toys Build Your Own Wood Deck and Have an Indian Summer BBQ! The Edge West Palm Hosts "A Night of Halloween Hauntings at the Edge" Day tour to Luxor from Makadi Bay The Introduction Of Timberland Classic Boots Egypt Holidays - Light Travel: Carry-on Only Hotels Celebrities Like To Stay At The Spring-summer 2011-the Sign Of A Promising 2011 HDMI Cable for 360 - Best Deals, Prices, And Comparisons Entry Free For Tourist Attractions