Sleek, moody and secluded, Union Electric Bar is where the locals go to play. Make yourself at home and sample your way through the eclectic cocktail menu – we recommend the zingy Hotline Sling.

When the weather is fine head to this summery rooftop venue, where it’s all about sweeping CBD vistas and peaches and cream vibes, which match perfectly with their fun, frosty, cocktails. For something more serious, you’ll find an extended list of shaken and stirred concoctions downstairs.

Tucked away in Melbourne’s Malthouse Lane, Eau De Vie is where the 1920s meets the 2020s. Here, cheese and charcuterie pairs perfectly with theatrical cocktails befitting the prohibition era.

By the bar barons behind drinking institutions, Heartbreaker and The Everleigh, this opulently-styled French bar and brasserie serves up classic cocktails in half-sized portions, giving you a good excuse to go an extra round. Follow it up with Champagne in gold coupettes and the alcohol-soaking house specialty, a wagyu burger drenched in a red wine and bone marrow Bordelaise sauce, available until 5am.

A favoured establishment among Melbourne cocktail enthusiasts, this award-winning bar is bound to impress even the most discerning drinkers. Here, only the finest, tried-and-tested classic cocktails are served – think negroni and old-fashioned swills.

Serving up charm, old-world cocktails and a European-influenced snacking menu, Romeo Lane is a firm favourite among Melbourne’s laneway frequenters. The cocktails, like the food offerings, are artfully presented in the handsomely yet simply adorned space.

Bomba’s revamped rooftop bar rocks a come-hither bikini alongside a cracking Iberian cellar, making it the height of summer revelry. The bikini, of course, refers to Catalonia’s famous street food sandwich, a flavour bomb of jamon and cheese toasted on fresh white bread. Wash it down with a drop from the lovingly curated drinks list made up of small artisan Spanish producers.

Beloved by many but spotted by few from the street level, Madame Brussels is a summer go-to for shared punches, garden-party-style foods (think finger sandwiches) and soirees. Choose between the sunlit Terrace or the rum-stocked Parlour.

So Frenchy, and very much chic, Beneath Driver Lane serves up an exciting cocktail menu – try the ‘Cornflake Flip’ –alongside French-bistro-inspired dishes. Better yet, its late-night menu is available until 3am.

Effervescent, spirited and fun-forward, Gin Palace is a cocktail bar that’s anything but tiresome. Keep an eye on its event calendar for bottomless gin punch brunches, masterclasses and more.