Review Bar 61 - Northcote

Cocktails were Fantastic!!!!! The food was also very good and the staff nice!! We’ll definitely be back! We had such a good evening!

I'm not one to write a review however the way we were treated at this bar this week was beyond atrocious. Long story short, one of our friends had brought his own flask from the location we were at prior to this. He was told (very aggressively may i add) to put it away by presumably the bartender. The flask was not seen again that night, the group simply wanted a nice night out. However, the same bartender then came out accusing a different man of drinking from the flask, insisting that he saw him in the security footage behind a table drinking from it. This didn't happen and I'd suggest you watch the footage over to see this. Firstly, I find it very uncomfortable now knowing this employee sits behind a screen watching the actions of all patrons. It gave everyone a very unsettling feeling as if we were consistently being watched, quite unprofessional. Secondly, if you're going to monitor the CCTV footage, ensure you clearly understand what is going on before you falsely accuse your customers of doing something. Not only was he extremely rude, but insisted that "at least two people leave" when thought he had seen the man drink from the flask. Then, after we all got up to leave, two of the men asked why he was being so obnoxious, to where he said "I only asked two people to leave, not the whole group", as if we were simply going to let two of out group members head home for the night. The icing on the cake was how all night we were purchasing drinks, and (almost) the only customers there. Rather than trying to communicate, he started with threats, to which lead to us leaving. We simply moved to the bar down the road where there were not issues at all. The whole situation did ruin the convenience of the night and left a really bad taste in all of our mouths - businesses wise, I can't fathom why he'd do this, especially since we had no plans on leaving. Overall, just a very unusual experience - but the part that led me to writing a review was the shocking treatment. If you have a large-ish group and wanting to go out, i wouldn't recommend this place - however the piano bar next door did sound like it was going off (older audience though, but still looked like good fun) Incident occurred on the 27/5/22

Just had the worst whisky sour I’ve ever tasted in my life. Utterly undrinkable. Free soda water though 👍🏽 EDIT: no worries, from what I can tell he forgot the sugar syrup entirely and used stale egg whites. Maybe if he spent less time styling the foam and more time cracking fresh eggs and following the recipe it would have been okay.

Really cool new restaurant and bar in the Westgarth strip on High Street. Lovely modern fit out. Great play list on. Good looking wine list too that picks the eyes out of some key Australian and overseas wine regions. The menu looked seriously good too. There were about 5 things that jumped out straight away as things I wanted to try. I had a good chat to Andrew who runs the business. He was super nice to me BEFORE he knew I might write a review. I also met the chef Ricky. What I liked about Andrew was not just his ideas and vision for the business, it was the fact that he spoke so positively about the other nearly cafes, bars, restaurants and other businesses. I had one quick monkey shoulder this afternoon to fortify myself against the bitter cold. That and the delicious heated house made chips made braving the cold easy. Great restaurant and bar. It’s an easy 4 for me with the chance of a higher score when I return soon with my partner for a meal.

Cocktails where spot on. Vibe was amazing and several spaces including a beer garden to kick back and enjoy yourself.

$5 spirits gin and tonic and pint early bird happy hour and cocktail plus quick good value Mexican food perfect before the movies 👍

Fantastic service and staff are so friendly! I had my 21st in the beer garden here and it was great, there were flexible options regarding food and drinks, we had a personal bartender for the function, the music was great and everyone had a great time! Definitely recommend 🙌🏻

Great Bar! We’ve celebrated my birthday and my wife’s birthday here, service is always great and staff are so friendly, its always good to come down for a few cocktails as they are some of the best in Melbourne and bartenders are always up for a chat when is not too busy.

Awesome vibe, cocktails are ace, burger was on point!

This is a fairly new Latino / Italian (?) themed place on High Street in Northcote. We came in for an early dinner and were the only table. Started with polenta chips which are always tasty. The flautas were cigar shaped with potato and a few other ingredients and were the best dish of the night. Empanadas had delicious fillings but were a little undersized. The sweet corn with mozzarella and bacon topping was interesting. There was copious amounts of corn underneath. Beef sliders were a fail because the meat was so dry and lacking any juice or taste. The beef skewers were also a fail as we found the meat to be overly chewy. All in all, an ok feed but wont be rushing back anytime soon, unfortunately.

This is a fantastic restaurant to go with your mates to have a wonderful cocktail at the bar and then some delicious food. The head chef there is Ricky and he certainly knows how to accommodate your taste buds. Great variety on menu and very pleasing taste experience. I will certainly be back.

Really cool new restaurant and bar in the Westgarth strip on High Street. Lovely modern fit out. Great play list on. Good looking wine list too that picks the eyes out of some key Australian and overseas wine regions. The menu looked seriously good too. There were about 5 things that jumped out straight away as things I wanted to try. I had a good chat to Andrew who runs the business. He was super nice to me BEFORE he knew I might write a review. I also met the chef Ricky. What I liked about Andrew was not just his ideas and vision for the business, it was the fact that he spoke so positively about the other nearly cafes, bars, restaurants and other businesses. I had one quick monkey shoulder this afternoon to fortify myself against the bitter cold. That and the delicious heated house made chips made braving the cold easy. Great restaurant and bar. It’s an easy 4 for me with the chance of a higher score when I return soon with my partner for a meal.