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Madame Brussels
Who and what is Madame Brussels?
You may well ask! With only discrete signage at the street, and a journey up via the world's ugliest lift, it's a fantastically trippy relief to land amid this rooftop version of one of Alice's strange adventures.
Even for those in the know, Madame Brussels is one of Melbourne's more obscure elevated bars: difficult to find again, because you're brim-full of her famously eccentric hospitality when you leave, and never quite sure whether the last few hours could really have been so ridiculous.
The original Madame Brussels was a notable 19thC character, famous for laying on hospitality of an altogether more intimate variety. Having been left a widow and mother when only 28, she applied her charms and business acumen to fill an aching void in the marketplace. Such was the demand for her special brand of hospitality, she developed a chain of successful brothels around the eastern fringes of Melbourne city, maintaining decades of busy employment for the ladies in her charge.
The good Madame's reputation is honoured by the more recent institution which bears her name. Still providing individual attention to the needs and special requests of customers, and striving to bring joy and delight to their experiences, Madame Brussels now specializes in serving fabulous cocktails, jugs of punches and Pimms, in surroundings that blend the salubrious with the surreal.
There's an indoor hedged bar wreathed with trelliswork, where nearby garden chairs beckon with their promise of a garden party complete with pink beverages and frosted cupcakes! Handsomely attired staff - seemingly on their way to a social hit of tennis - sparkle and flirt, leaving a gladdened trail of smiles in their wake.
Hidden beyond the garden gates is a room of mystery and intrigue, called The Parlour "up the rear of Madame Brussels". Warmly panelled, plush and indulgently Bavarian, this den of iniquity is home to a head-spinning collection of rare dark spirits, and cabinets bristling with crystal decanters where dedicated clients store their favoured tipple. Whilst often reserved for private functions, The Parlour plays host to a winter season of bizarre special events, when you can join in a crochet-circle, learn the art of fondue fabrication, or dabble in the mysteries of strip-tease!
Best of all, though, is the Madame's ample unclothed frontage, thrusting its doubly splendid balcony over the top end of Bourke Street. No matter how unseemly the weather, there are warm and sheltered corners of the outdoor terrace, with additional fluffy pink blankets and hot-water bottles on request! And where else would you want to be any warm Summers' evening, other than catching a zephyr curling through the latticework of the uppermost balcony, your frosty libation in hand?
What more could you possibly desire? So, what are you waiting for? In time-honoured fashion, Madame Brussels beckons.
You may well ask! With only discrete signage at the street, and a journey up via the world's ugliest lift, it's a fantastically trippy relief to land amid this rooftop version of one of Alice's strange adventures.
Even for those in the know, Madame Brussels is one of Melbourne's more obscure elevated bars: difficult to find again, because you're brim-full of her famously eccentric hospitality when you leave, and never quite sure whether the last few hours could really have been so ridiculous.
The original Madame Brussels was a notable 19thC character, famous for laying on hospitality of an altogether more intimate variety. Having been left a widow and mother when only 28, she applied her charms and business acumen to fill an aching void in the marketplace. Such was the demand for her special brand of hospitality, she developed a chain of successful brothels around the eastern fringes of Melbourne city, maintaining decades of busy employment for the ladies in her charge.
The good Madame's reputation is honoured by the more recent institution which bears her name. Still providing individual attention to the needs and special requests of customers, and striving to bring joy and delight to their experiences, Madame Brussels now specializes in serving fabulous cocktails, jugs of punches and Pimms, in surroundings that blend the salubrious with the surreal.
There's an indoor hedged bar wreathed with trelliswork, where nearby garden chairs beckon with their promise of a garden party complete with pink beverages and frosted cupcakes! Handsomely attired staff - seemingly on their way to a social hit of tennis - sparkle and flirt, leaving a gladdened trail of smiles in their wake.
Hidden beyond the garden gates is a room of mystery and intrigue, called The Parlour "up the rear of Madame Brussels". Warmly panelled, plush and indulgently Bavarian, this den of iniquity is home to a head-spinning collection of rare dark spirits, and cabinets bristling with crystal decanters where dedicated clients store their favoured tipple. Whilst often reserved for private functions, The Parlour plays host to a winter season of bizarre special events, when you can join in a crochet-circle, learn the art of fondue fabrication, or dabble in the mysteries of strip-tease!
Best of all, though, is the Madame's ample unclothed frontage, thrusting its doubly splendid balcony over the top end of Bourke Street. No matter how unseemly the weather, there are warm and sheltered corners of the outdoor terrace, with additional fluffy pink blankets and hot-water bottles on request! And where else would you want to be any warm Summers' evening, other than catching a zephyr curling through the latticework of the uppermost balcony, your frosty libation in hand?
What more could you possibly desire? So, what are you waiting for? In time-honoured fashion, Madame Brussels beckons.
