Sip, Snack and Savour: These Melbourne Bars Are Pairing Haku Vodka Martinis with Rice-Inspired Bites
This winter, discover elegant Haku Vodka martinis paired with inventive snacks that celebrate Japanese rice craftsmanship.
Sip, Snack and Savour: These Melbourne Bars Are Pairing Haku Vodka Martinis with Rice-Inspired Bites
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This winter, discover elegant Haku Vodka martinis paired with inventive snacks that celebrate Japanese rice craftsmanship.
Made in Japan using hakumai — 100 percent Japanese polished short-grain white rice — and filtered through bamboo charcoal, Haku Vodka is as refined as vodka gets. Hakumai is prized for its purity and subtle flavour, and it's what gives Haku Vodka its smooth and subtly sweet profile and clean finish. It's a spirit that rewards slow sipping and thoughtful pairing — an ideal base, in other words, for a martini.
This July and August, a handpicked selection of Melbourne bars and restaurants are spotlighting the Japanese vodka with limited-time creative martini serves and paired snacks to match. From sultry laneway cocktail dens to buzzy Euro summer-channelling hot spots, here's where to experience Haku Vodka in its most elegant form.
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Tucked away on the quietly charming Bond Street, Jayda is a sleek, dimly lit cocktail den that feels like the perfect fit for the 1930s art deco building in which it lives — and an ideal spot to sip an ice-cold martini.
Pull up a stool in the sleek front room — or settle into one of the sofas in the salon hidden out back — to enjoy a Grain of Truth, a clean, crisp mix of Haku Vodka, kombu-infused sake, rice-washed bianco vermouth, mirin and toasted sesame served straight from the freezer. It’s paired with a spiced nori tuna cracker that never overpowers, but rather enhances the smoothness of the Haku Vodka. The bar is also shaking up the richly layered Amber Frost, a mix of Haku Vodka, pine needle and honey vermouth, amontillado sherry and black lemon.
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With a name like Holy Grail, a nautical aesthetic might not be what you expect at this venue, but there’s no Camelots, killer rabbits or incompetent knights here. Instead, you’ll find ropes, dark timber finishes and plush chesterfields aplenty, in a space that feels more like the bowels of a ship than a medieval hall.
The venue’s playful vibe is echoed in its cocktail program. This winter, you can sample the Hakumai Hot n Cold, an intriguing serve that sees Haku Vodka served below zero degrees with a touch of chocolate and edible warm rice cream foam. For something more orthodox, order the Traditional Hakumai-tini, which features a vermouth-rinsed glass topped with chilled Haku Vodka and finished with a citrus twist.
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Brunswick Street is home to the Melbourne outpost of Hong Kong export Kushiro, a buzzy izakaya with a menu of creative plates and cocktails. Its three Haku Vodka creations are a testament to this creativity — the headline serve is the Chimaki Martini, an earthy mix of Haku Vodka, sticky rice cordial, hojicha, dry white port and bamboo leaf. You can also try the Yukiguni, a cleverly retro serve of Haku Vodka, triple sec, lime and green mint cherry, or the aromatic Hinokitini, which features sandalwood vermouth, Lillet Blanc and cardamom bitters.
The food is just as inventive. You can pair your pour with a tasty one-biter like the nori senbei topped with hakumai, seaweed and a dusting of nori salt, or tuck into a selection from the sashimi menu, which includes highlights like kingfish sashimi dressed with tosazu, pickled green chilli and pickled tomato, or the luxurious scampi tartare served with a lobster bisque panna cotta, tomato kanten and nori senbei.
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With its gold-trimmed mirrors and tinkling diamond chandeliers, Le Bar Supper Club is an ode to the rip-roaring 20s, with a healthy dose of French flavours and a prohibition-era attitude — and that it’s in Beaumauris, of all places, gives it that extra edge of mystery.
This winter, it’s shaking up a Haku Tojuri Martini that’s as unapologetically theatrical as the setting it’s served in. This mix of Haku Vodka, seaweed-infused sake and seasoned tojiro is prepared tableside, with each element presented individually, to honour the spirit of omotenashi, a Japanese expression of hospitality that’s based solely around creating a welcoming, respectful and memorable experience for guests. This elegantly simple serve pairs with a homemade seaweed and sesame rice cracker. For something bolder, the subtly umami Far Rice West Martini features Haku Vodka, pear and kombu non and a dash of white soy before it’s garnished with pickle. Head in on the right night to enjoy your serve with live jazz, swing or chanson, or even a burlesque show.
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If Euro summer isn’t on the cards this winter, a night at Rossi might be the next best thing thanks to an approachable Italian menu, buzzy atmosphere and an airy, plant-filled space that easily transitions from restaurant to bar as the night gets later.
This winter, the Greville Street venue is spotlighting Haku Vodka via two serves. The Kabocha is a Japan-meets-Mediterranean number that features Haku Vodka, dry vermouth, clarified rice milk miso, black garlic and pumpkin seed oil, paired with a baby pumpkin arancino that rounds things out smartly. Those after something a bit more pared back can try a dirty Haku Vodka martini, which brings out the natural sweetness of the spirit.
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With its pastel tones, grey accents, smooth surfaces and a front bar that opens into a bright, lofty atrium, the deceptively named Ugly Duckling is actually quite the stunner. In fact, with its contemporary design and polished patrons, it draws many more parallels with the ‘beautiful swan’ part of the famous fairytale.
It’s a space that almost feels like it was made for sipping a smooth martini — and this winter, there are two Haku Vodka-anchored serves available. The Haku Rice-Tini is an earthy, umami affair that features Haku Vodka, olive and rice wine vinegar shrub, rice-washed dry vermouth and olive tapenade, while the Haku Dry Martini brings the herbacious and aromatic Cocchi Di Torino vermouth into the mix before being finished with a twist. You can let the flavours unfold slowly and pair your serve with a simple yet effective bar snack like house pickles, marinated Sicilan green olives or the excellent bread and butter.
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In a two-level subterranean space on (well, underneath) Chapel Street sits the luxurious Japanese restaurant Yugen Dining. It’s a multifaceted destination with a dramatic aesthetic and an impressive commitment to detail, an ethos that’s reflected in its design as much as it is in the considered and creative bar and dining program.
Its Haku Vodka pairings are great examples of this. Headlining proceedings is the Gohan Martini, a beautifully balanced combination of Haku Vodka, toasted rice junmai daiginjo sake, rice vinegar and toasted nori that leans into the spirit’s clean hakumai-backed profile — and its paired snack of crispy rice, salmon tartare and spicy mayo delivers a killer one-two punch. Fans of the classic dirty might also want to sample the limited-time Umami Martini, a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin mix of Haku Vodka, dry vermouth, shio koji and spring onion oil.
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Blacksmith Bar may, with its name, nod to its Swan Street building’s past, but there’s no soot, anvils or clanging of unknown origin here — just exposed brick, plush leather seating, dark timber accents and 1920s-style chandeliers in a moody, Prohibition-inspired setting.
Unsurprisingly, well-executed classic cocktails are the focus here, though you’ll find a clever little tweak here and there. The winter-only Hakumai Martini illustrates this, a curious combination of Haku Vodka, yuzu sake, Australian honey vermouth aged in kombu and beeswax and served ice-cold from the freezer, with a smack of heat coming from the paired baked rice cracker. If you want to let the Haku Vodka shine, you can also order it in a traditional dirty, dry or wet variety.
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Venture down a street (Little Lonsdale), scurry down a lane (Hardware) and hop up a level (one) to La La Land, where a lavishness of brown chesterfield-style couches awaits. Inside, the Brooklyn warehouse-esque windows provide the light, and around you, a motley of suits, casuals and dates are a spatter.
It’s a good place to bring a mate for a proper catch-up — or even just yourself and a book for a solo cocktail and chapter. This winter, you can settle into one of those generous chesterfields with a Shiroi Kumo, a thoughtfully built drink that features Haku Vodka, rice-washed Lillet Blanc and lemon bitters, served in a coupe with a rim of crushed rice crisp. It comes with an equally considered paired snack of white miso puffed rice ball on whipped salted yuzu butter. Right now, the bar is also serving a classic Haku Vodka martini with a twist.
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Some curiosity is required to locate W Melbourne‘s aptly named subterranean cocktail bar. Your efforts will be rewarded as you step inside the award-winning space that feels like a cocoon: dark timber twists overhead a moody, stony bar, and plush blue and red seats, a deliberate blend of colour, shape and texture that makes the space feel like an immersive, surrealist art piece.
This July, the bar is hosting a Haku Happy Hour between 5–6pm each night, where three Haku Vodka-backed cocktails will be available for less than $20 a pop (and full price thereafter). Pencil in a booking or try your luck with a walk-in, but you should make it happen on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday night, when the live DJ programming —including vinyl night on Wednesdays — kicks in from 6pm, and from 8pm on Saturdays.
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For over two decades, Black Pearl hasn’t just been at the forefront of Melbourne’s cocktail scene — it’s been shaping how the city drinks. And while flashier bars may have come and gone, this Fitzroy institution has remained a fixture of boundary-pushing creativity and a launchpad for some of the country’s best bar talent.
This winter, it’s collaborating with Haku Vodka to shake up the limited-time Stine Age. This inventive take on the martini sees the hakumai-based vodka paired with a bright mix of yuzushu, Oscar Bianco vermouth and absinthe, resulting in a sip that’s as approachable and elegant as its setting.
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While it’s named for the year the word ‘cocktail’ was first defined in print, 1806 is an ode to Prohibition-era theatricality. Red velvet chairs accent the dark wooden decor, and wherever you sit, you’ll see strapping waistcoat-clad bartenders shaking and stirring with serious flair. But, in this space that was once home to two of Melbourne’s most popular dinner theatres, it’s the cocktails that take centre stage.
Right now, a double bill of Haku Vodka cocktails is stealing the spotlight. The headline act is the Wagashi (和菓子), a silky mix of genmaicha-infused Haku Vodka, picked plum-infused vermouth and soy milk that’s garnished with a savoury Senbei cracker. The support act holds its own: the Tsukemono (漬物) is a punchy combination of Haku Vodka, pickled shallot brine and aromatised wine, landing somewhere between a dirty martini and mulled wine.
These Haku Vodka Martinis and paired snacks will be available throughout July and August. For more information about Haku Vodka, head to the brand’s website.
Images: Arianna Leggiero.
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