As the accompanying bar to Vue de Monde, it might be all too easy to think of Lui Bar as an afterthought, a mere staging area for the dining room it's connected to. But instead, Lui Bar makes the case for restaurant bars as destinations in their own right.
The bar is perched 55 floors above the city in the Rialto — Lui Bar is named, in fact, after Luigi Grollo, whose construction company built the Collins Street tower in the 1980s. It's home to an impressive drinks offering, with cocktails that champion Australian flavours (much like its fine diner sibling). The drinks do more than just feature local ingredients, though: the list is a celebration of Melbourne's cocktail history, with tipples that take inspiration from the city's first cocktail boom during the Gold Rush, right through to today.
The venue also takes the concept of drinking snacks to new heights thanks to its Vue de Monde-designed menu, which showcases clever technique as it reimagines classic local bites — think seafood rolls, handmade beef sausage rolls with a spicy ketchup and a chocolate lamington filled with raspberry gel. Add to the mix a standout wine list, incredible views from 236 metres above the city and live jazz on Sundays, and an evening at Lui Bar is no mere afterthought.