DRINK > Apollo Inn

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Apollo Inn opened in the heart of Melbourne’s Flinders lane restaurant precinct in 2023, it was ostensibly a good place to have a quick cocktail while waiting for a table at Gimlet or one of the other nearby restaurants. But it was so popular that the queues to get in for a drink at this 28 seat bar can be as much as 30 – 50 deep well before the venue even opens at 5pm. So unless you plan well you might not have the option to just drop in before dinner. But don’t let that stop you because Apollo Inn is a special place and sometimes special places deserve a little more planning.

In 1844 one of Melbourne’s first public houses, the Apollo Inn, opened on the corner of Flinders Lane & Russell St, where Gimlet now sits. Today, Apollo Inn is our ode to the ageless art of the cocktail, the bar, the bartender and the drinker.

Defined as an ‘intimate cocktail bar’ and named after the original Apollo Inn which opened in 1844 (one of Melbourne’s first public houses) it was located on the corner of Flinders Lane and Russell St (which is where Gimlet is today).

Apollo Inn is part of the Trader House team – the group of Andrew McConnell restaurants which include Gimlet, Cumulus Inc. Meatsmith, Marion, Cutler & Co, Supernormal (Melbourne & Brisbane), Builders Arms Hotel and Morning Market corner store, bakery and grocer.

You enter through a fifties narrow building foyer, beyond that to a pair of studded caramel leather doors that open into another (dark and narrow) hallway leading to a heavy velvet curtain – it is a theatrical entrance and one that is carefully designed to get you ready for the mood of the venue.

There are 10 bentwood seats at the long polished stone bar this is where serious drinks are made and served for those who enjoy watching the bartenders magic.

For those who are looking for something a little more cosy, there is banquet seating with small tables and lamps to supplement the appropriately low lighting. The mood is sexy but serious. This is the perfect place for a classic cocktail like a dirty martini which comes mixed to perfection.

There are snacks on offer but no serious food, this is a bar for drinking not a restaurant pretending. That said, the bar snacks on offer are a pretty smart line up. You can have Sydney rock oysters or Pacific oysters from Coffin Bay if you prefer ($6). There is sea urchin on rye, with crème fraîche and Espelette pepper (a version of capsicum cultivated in the Basque Pyrénées) ($14). A prawn club sandwich ($24), classic beef carpaccio ($26) and perhaps the most decadent white sturgeon caviar, salmon roe, crème fraîche, potato rosti and chives ($24). If you are looking for something sweet they have a Creme Caramel ($14).

Apollo House is that most Melbourne of venues, small, incredibly stylish, hard to find and harder to get into but when you get there you will know why!

Apollo House do take some reservations so it is worth getting in touch to be assured of a seat.