Black Cat

Really love this little place. Whilst so much of Brunswick Street is slowly getting a modern refurbishment, Black Cat is keeping it real with old-​school sofas and chairs providing a great vibe. I’ve discovered some great music courtesy of the DJ’s here, but it’s not a dance venue. This is a laid-​back chill fest, a funky getaway, overflowing with great vibes. It doesn’t try to do everything, but if a drink in a relaxed but funky setting is what you’re after, this is one of the best spots on the strip.

Fantastic vibe, nice outdoor area as well as fantastic couches for lounging. Mulled cider and wine are perfect for winter and the DJ’s are always on point. No computers after 9 pm– genius!

Abundant ambience. Black Cat is squishy couches and lamps galore — it feels like hanging out at a friend’s house, but the friend is infinitely cooler than I will ever be. On a Wednesday night, there was plenty of space and a great soundtrack thanks to some DJ guy. I hear it gets pretty packed in peak times but for a mid-​week wine it was perfect.

I’ve been a regular here for many years and I’m glad to see it still here amongst the trendy generic cafes that invaded Fitzroy.
The place is as funky as its always been with its mismatched old furniture and good music, often spun by a DJ later in the evening.
There have some simple but nice things too eat. The coffee is good too. Add to that they have beer and other alcoholic drinks.
Last but not least there’s a nice outdoor space.

Ah Melbourne your weather is crappy today — cold and windy! Walking along Brunswick St looking for a café and spotted this place on the corner, walked and realised it was a bar with the most loungiest (don’t think that is even a word) old skool sofas but people were also drinking coffee… Sold!
Bar tender/​barista chick is very nice and makes deliciouso latte and a cappachino :)
Cool place to come load up on caffeine or alcohol (whatever takes your fancy) in order to tackle the long walk that is I think similar to King St, Newtown in Sydney!
Ok I’m going to enjoy this coffee and sweet tunes now. Cherrio!

One of my favourite bars in Melbourne, the Black Cat is where I take friends when they visit my ‘hood of Fitzroy.
It has everything: decently-​priced drinks (shoutout to New Zealand’s Monteiths!), lovely couches to snuggle on, gorgeous dark décor punctured by an enormous mirror, an outside area covered in greenery that filters out some of the smokers’ breath. And above all, it has a working 1980s arcade game you can play for a few dollars.
This is THE bar to go to for a chillaxed evening mid-week…or to send two of your friends to when you’re pretty sure they’re going to end up hooking up. Those loveseats help move romance along.

I was taken here on a date by a young woman. Unfortunately, the lights were too bright and the chiptunes on the speakers too loud. Perhaps she didn’t really like me.
I also found the place to be really exposed and small — no sense of privacy.
OK place for a quick pit-​stop drink before moving onto somewhere more interesting.

It’s my favourite place on Brunny St when I’m not sure if I want a wine, coffee or cocktail. Especially when I’m likely to hang out for an hour or more, and enjoy all three!
Their espresso martini is excellent! Good selection of wine, beers and tasty treats (they have GF bread for the chicken /​coleslaw sandwich. YUMMM!)
Best of all, they have the same couches as when my Mum was a Melbourne Uni kid hanging out there in 80s. Many lazy conversations are absorbed into their velvety exterior, and the overall effect is a fancy lounge room you can’t find any reason to leave.
TIPS
— It’s not all that big, so if you have several people, don’t expect to get a couchy area to fit you all straight away. There are only 5 distinct social spaces inside which seat around 4 – 8 people each (of course they can all be used for smaller groups, couples etc).
— Outside area is great for smokers /​beer-​drinkers.
— Music can get a bit loud when the DJ starts which is difficult if you’re in a group.

Amaze-​ballz! Great lil atmosphere. Like a kids ball pit… You just want to jump in.

Definitely enjoyed the vib here. Showed up here around 10:30pm on Melbourne Cup Eve and it was pretty relaxed which I found surprising. The space is pretty small inside but if it’s nice weather, they have a decent amount of seating outside. The beer selection was decent, nothing like the states but one of the better spots I went to in Melbourne. They have DJs playing in the evening but they weren’t so loud that you couldn’t hear anyone in your party.
Overall a pretty awesome café/​bar to hit up for a drink or two and enjoy a conversation.

Dive Bar? Isn’t that some sort of double entrembre
for some sort of rapaciously sleazy, lecherous, underground pick up bar?
Turns out it is a «substandard bar of low or questionable quality in which the
owners aren’t fussed on updating 30 year old décor and 70 year old interior».
«An inferior, rather crappy, shabby and poor quality bar, used for the purposes of solicitation.» Or so my sources tell me. The first time i went here i was half way
through ordering the world’s biggest ever food order when I realised i had
forgotten my wallet! Embarrassment.
Well it is a bit dingy, but I wouldn’t call it a pick up joint, per se. Not more than
any other that is. It happened to be quite friendly; a place where people you
don’t know actually talk to you. This a good thing. Arbitrary stranger friends, whom
you may end up drinking a little too much with. Yet another good thing. It’s not
the place for loners though; they get absconded and scolded very fast. I’ve seen it.
It’s cool hanging out in the benches/​covered graden-​esque type area, and there’s
an inside too, but i was too busy remembering the cool outdoor seating to
remember it.
Good drinks, and things available, and most times it has been a fun chilled,
happy night out. One of those places where you don’t really care, and don’t
have to be serious. I use it as a pit stop before heading to Kodiak club, which
I’m slightly or madly smitten with. Black cat is pretty cool for an under the radar
hang-​out hideaway from the more commercial aspects of our world.

Not to be confused with the Night Cat, which is further up the road and to the right (on Johnston), the Black Cat IS Fitzroy. It has been here for ages, a bit like me, someone who has been coming here for over 15 years. Oh dear.
It’s the kind of bar I feel compelled to bring overseas visitors to with the goal of giving them a proper insight into Melbourne drinking culture, and also to show them a really good, relaxed night out.
I’ve never had a bad time here. Nights at the Black Cat always ends in inebriation, lots of racuous laughter and the bouncer telling us it’s time to come inside (they seem to close the lovely trellised outside seating area pretty early — around 11pm maybe?).
There’s only one thing about this bar that weirds me out, and that’s the strange and large mutant insect, neatly mummified in a picture frame. Look for it the next time you’re standing at the bar waiting for a drink — it’s on the wall of curiosities behind the bar, halfway up and a bit to the right. Terrifying.

So, a café is a café is a café, right? I mean, there’s tons in Fitzroy. Some even roast their own beans. But how many have comfy, ooooold couches? How many have a beautiful garden trellis outside? How many are on the sunny-​afternoon side of Gertrude street?
Now take that number that you counted, and subtract a number equal to one less than it. Okay, got your new number?
I know, I’m confused too, but the new number is one. There is only ONE place in Fitzroy where you can coffee it up all morning, kick yourself back in gear, and then start on some butt-​kicking MARGARITAS and watch the people pass by.
On a side note, they’ve actually got some yummy food. Just don’t forget a margarita with it.

I don’t know if the name of this grungy Fitzroy bar is a reference to the 19^th century cabaret of the same name; an allusion to the cult Japanese manga series; or simply a snappy little almost alliteration but I like it all the same.
A decidedly dive barish bar about midway down Brunswick Street, Black Cat attracts a mixture of girls who like girls, patrons that look like they listen to The Cure, and the occasional cashed up hipster replete with matching pet whippet.
With holy grail of cider Monteiths on tap and its own cool, disheveled ambience that practically encourages daytime drinking, Black Cat is as good a spot for an afternoon tipple as a night out with its sweet — sheltered — outdoor seating. Fitzroy at its laid back best.

Halfway between a dive bar and a student café, hidden behind some of the only greenery on Brunswick St, Black Cat is a great place to go for a quiet beer or wine (or coffee, though it’s really not the best).
Second-​hand couches haphazardly arranged inside mean it’s easy to find a cosy nook to snuggle into, and the front window gets the afternoon sun. Outside, a few wooden tables amongst the vines create the perfect setting for lazing and boozing.
At night, a lively bust still bohemian atmosphere takes over. The service is very — if not sometimes too — relaxed and friendly (order and pay at the counter) and street press mags are on hand if you find yourself there without company.

With its comfortable couches and relaxed vibe, it is clear that Black Cat has had the time to settle and establish itself. For years (I have no clue how long), Fitzroy locals have frequented this place. If you heard one thing and one thing only about Black Cat it is that Black Cat is a Brunswick Street institution.
By day, Black Cat is a café with customers ordering coffee and enjoying ‘people-​watching’ on Brunswick Street. With its covered outdoor seating area, it’s also a great place for a day time drinking session if you’re keen. Whilst it does serve quite average pizzas and dips sourced from nearby cafes, you don’t go here for the food.
In the evening, Black Cat becomes a bar serving two taps — usually one beer and one cider. With different djs throughout the week, you can be guaranteed a variety of music. If you’re an aspiring dj, Monday and Tuesday are open deck nights.

I absolutely love Black Cat! It is one of my favourite spots on the whole of Brunswick Street and is probably the closest bar I have to a local. If you are trying to give guests a feel of what a typical bar in Fitzroy is like then Black Cat is your spot. During the day it is really relaxing and more of a café with a cool interior complete with comfy couches, a leafy beer garden exterior, good coffee, friendly staff and chilled music. At night, it really starts to buzz with revelers most nights of the week. Thursday through to Sunday there are live DJs and open decks for people who want to spin some tunes. DJ Umut is a personal favourite playing a mixture of funk, blues and general happy tunage.
Drinks are priced reasonably and they have Monteiths Cider and Golden Lager on tap, which is pretty neat. The size of Black Cat — being very small inside — is both a positive and a negative. It’s a great spot to meet new people and hang out with friends. But then at the same time it is so popular that it can be too rammed.
If hitting Fitzroy, Black Cat is a must!
NB: they also do some light meals but I haven’t tried these yet…

Die Brunswick Street in Fitzroy ist gepflastert mit alternativen Bars und Cafés. Und das «Black Cat» gehört dabei definitiv zu den Läden, die man besucht haben muss. Die Bierauswahl ist erstklassig, der Service freundlich lässig, die Musik zu 89% auf der angenehm coolen Seite und die runter gerockte Wohnzimmermöblierung erinnert an Berlin Friedrichshain und lädt zum relaxten Verweilen ein. Und an den heißen Tagen gibt es auch noch das ein oder andere schattige Plätzchen in der «alternativ» zugewucherten Außengastro. «Lonely Planet» Leser, was willst du mehr?