09 Oct Bond Melbourne, Melbourne CBD

The former Bond Bar, which was itself once part of the car park situated above it, has now been rebranded into Bond Melbourne after a $5 million no-expense-spared refresh. It now features luxurious golden curtains, and a striking lighting design from Hachem.

Curved design walls, flexible space that can be divided into up to seven sections including private rooms with separate bars and bathrooms, such as their decadent Green Room experience available for $50,000. For the rest of us, Bond Melbourne still offers a intimate lounge experience, live DJs, couch areas for booking, and small stand-up tables near the bar.

They’ll be introducing a liquid nitrogen cocktail soon, though unfortunately it happened to be unavailable on the night I visited.

Canapes floated around throughout the night, prepared by Smith & Iron, the catering company hailing from the hospitality duo behind Hammer & Tong. We got a taste of lamb sliders with tzatziki, chicken sausage rolls and spinach and ricotta mini-quiches.

Bond Espresso (Belvedere Vodka, Kahlua, Vanilla Chocolate Monin, Coffee); Amaretto Sour (Amaretto, Lemon Juice, Sugar Syrup, Egg White)

Despite the absence of the nitrogen cocktails, we still got to taste a range of other cocktails, some of which were part of their $10 Friday happy hour special. My favourites were the espresso martini and the Senor Bond, which was a blend of agave, citrus and passionfruit. Also sampled was the Butterscotch Surprise (butterscotch schnapps, Licor 43, lemon juice, egg white), which I was admittedly a little cautious about trying because it sounded too sweet for my tastes, was actually quite well balanced.

Senor Bond (Agave, Citrus, Passionfruit) $26; Blood Orange Caprioska (Blood Orange, White Chocolate, Vanilla) $22

Bond Melbourne also offers function and catering packages, having a 550 patron capacity and the possibility of an amphitheatre setup.

Disclaimer: I was invited to Bond Melbourne as a guest, however, opinions expressed here are purely my own and not influenced by them in any way

Bond Melbourne
24 Bond St
Melbourne, VIC, 3000
(03) 9981 9007
www.bondmelbourne.com.au/