Melbourne's Crown complex has been working hard to reinvent itself right. It's removed some of its older drinking and dining hotspots, replacing them with more contemporary venues intended to attract a younger and more diverse crowd. Basically, Crown is trying to be cool. And one damn good way to achieve this is by enlisting the help of the hugely popular Mischa Tropp (Toddy Shop) to create a new venue. And Tropp has well and truly delivered that much-needed cool factor — in spades — with his new venue Kolkata Cricket Club, which opened at the end of 2024. The 150-seat venue is inspired by Bengali cricket clubs and members' bars, which the Indian community reclaimed following independence. You can either drop by The Sports Bar — downing some beers or cocktails while watching a cricket match — or settle in for a long feed at the adjoining KCC Dining Room out back. Food throughout the Kolkata Cricket Club has strong pan-Indian and Bengali influences but is executed with Tropp's signature contemporary twists. Highlights have got to be Tropp's famed butter chicken, his rich goat curry and anything from the tandoor oven. Kolkata Cricket Club is a banger of a venue, well worth venturing into the Crown labyrinth to find. And if this is a sign of what's to come at Crown, this old haunt might just pull off this reinvention.
