Bunker Lounge
Clem Bastow, reviewer
January 11, 2007
Bunker Lounge is both bunker-like and lounge-esque.You might be pleasantly surprised by Bunker Lounge.Address:407 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Phone: 9650 5099
Style: Cocktail/Wine BarSUMMING up a venue in five words or less can be so problematic; anything referred to as a "gentlemen's club", for a start, is surely up for false advertising, while something called a "lounge" is generally anything but (see: pumping music, excessive cigarette smoke, lack of television and/or piles of collected magazines). But this is not the case with Swanston Street's Bunker Lounge, which is both bunker-like and lounge-esque.
Buried beneath Druids House opposite RMIT, Bunker Lounge is nestled at the bottom of an otherwise anonymous and faintly Gotham-ish staircase; a long, concreted room carrying on underneath the city without a care for the rest of the world. Its walls are daubed with graffiti and stencils, as well as a variety of pop-art (ish) prints and silk-screens (and, er, Midori posters; more on that later).
The room is low-lit in warm tones with a bright and - surprisingly, for its subterranean nature - relatively airy bar the focal point of the room, surrounded with '70s dag-chic bar stools.
Oversized armchairs and velvety banquettes create conversation pits around the space, accompanied by shin-killer coffee tables, with a pinball machine and two retro-cool games consoles bringing up the rear (sadly, but thankfully for my loose change's sake, they were not turned on when I visited).
The drinks menu is - compared, at least, to the city's growing number of pretentious "mixologist" bars - a humble affair, with cosmopolitans and frozen margaritas on the drinks/specials board on our night out.
The frozen margarita, however, was rather perplexing, made as it was with Midori (turns out there's a promotion on and we spent the rest of the night taking turns wearing the flashy branded aviators we "won").
But if this confusing drink was the lowlight, the bar's vibe more than made up for it (especially the good-natured bartender's grappling with the positively '60s hand-turned ice crusher). And even though the earlier, emptier hours of an evening can bring Bunker's, well, bunker-like tendencies into sharp relief, the chatty and friendly bar staff and accompanying regulars give the place a homely, welcoming feel.
When the night eventually gets under way, a variety of urban (sorry, "phat") beats and classic rock is on the menu, with DJs spinning most nights; Thursday's Hot Wax Salon is given over to female DJs, a nice change from the usual male/trainspotter landscape.
With Melbourne's weather the way it is at the moment, as it was when we visited, Bunker's biggest draw card is the temperature. Take a tip from Coober Pedy's residents and, when it gets too hot to trot, head underground. You may not find any opals, but you might be pleasantly surprised.
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