Dessous
Low-lit basement with top-shelf snacks.
Dessous
Contemporary$$
Damn, Melbourne does a good basement bar. Enter via an inconspicuous black door in an office foyer and suddenly you’re in a minxy haven of flickering candles, heady cocktails and luxurious velvet chairs.
The wine list is extensive but thoughtfully arranged, and the small menu is an arresting mix of Euro and Asian influences, with enough heft for you to stay for dinner.
A two-bite spanner crab doughnut with salmon caviar is one of several glamorous bar snacks, along with crumbed discs of shredded pork hock. Pair them with the rhubarb and tequila of a Rhubarbra Streisand before bigger dishes, and flavours, arrive. Pork belly draped over punchy XO rice with fermented peach, perhaps, and a claypot of baked vermicelli noodles, smoky and crowned with king prawns.
Ready to disappear with your date, your squad or even yourself? Head underground.
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