Hairy Canary

Went in just for the name, and lived it. We will go back. We only had time for two cocktails, both were fantastic. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable. Would be keen to see what it is like for a night out.

This cool little chic bar not only met my expectations but exceeded them (thus the 5 stars!). Delicious eggplant chips as well as truly fabulous croquettas (vegetarian with just the right amount of melted mozzarella). The green salad was fresh with just the right amount of dressing. We loved the sangria and the great service. A great find in Melbourne.

Really busy, really crowded, really noisy. But… nothing was a trouble for staff. Excellent service, friendly and knowledgeable. Great menu, reasonably priced and food was lovely. Would go back there again. The staff made the night very enjoyable and clearly a favourite of many as tables turned over quickly. Have dined at a number of tapas places as is would be one of the best. Also do pizza but no one at our large table decided to order so cannot comment. Recommended.

Popped in here for a round of drinks on Friday night for the mere fact that it was situated across the road from our hotel and what a delight it turned out to be!!!
I can’t speak for the food but the cocktails were first class. There was a wide variety of drinks to choose from your classics to the weird and wonderful. Salted Caramel Espresso Martini was definitely a hit as was their twist on a Mai Tai.
Staff were lovely too!

Really like this place.
I’ve heard the name before, but totally stumbled across Hairy Canary on a weekend barhop.
Cool music, friendly service and good drink choice, especially for vodka which gets a massive tick in my book.
Now for food. Hairy Canary offers mostly tapas style food, such as beef with broad beans, tomato and mozzarella salad and king prawns with corn bread. They also have a choice of pizza’s.
Knowing I had a dinner date later on that evening, but needing a snack fix, I went for the egg plant chips. Cue lake of drool. These bad boys were a crunchy gooey taste sensation.
I would love to try more of the food and drink on offer, and this first experience has me hanging for more. Hopefully this is the beginning of a beautiful culinary friendship.

This was the second stop on a min-​bar crawl I undertook this weekend to tick some of my bookmarks off my list. This means I was still sober to enjoy the deliciousness that was to come.
The boy and I rocked up at that awkward time of 5pm Saturday so we were a bit peckish but saving ourselves for a visit to Shandong Mama later in the night. We ordered the eggplant chips to share. YUM. Not in the slightest bit healthy for you but they are my new addiction. Crispy on the outside, gooey and fabulous in the middle with a dipping sauce to boot.
Washed it down with a glass of red for under a tenner (a bargain in Melbs these days) and promptly ordered another one. I secretly wanted to order more chips but I was pretending to be restrained so early in the evening… next time though, I make no promises.
Table service is offered and a long choice of vodkas rattled off when the vodka and soda was ordered.
Music seemed befitting of an episode of True Detective quite randomly.

I’ve been to the Hairy Canary twice to catch up with girlfriends and share a drink (or two). The first time we were able to sit in the back, enjoy a bottle of wine and a few snacks with friendly service.
When I attended again recently we were seated in the back section and ordered a few drinks, but were then asked to move to the front because we were not eating a meal. The waitress was polite, but we were left to gather up and move all our things plus all of our drinks and dishes without any help from the waitstaff. A little assistance carrying clunky things like a mug and teapot would have been appreciated. (Or seating us in the front section of the restaurant to begin with.)
When we moved, the waitress who was then serving us was also rather pushy about us ordering additional drinks. On this occasion, the Hairy Canary lost the charm I experienced on my first visit as a place in the city to meet up and enjoy the company of friends.

A perfect little tapas restaurant on Little Collins. Hairy Canary is a great when I’m in the CBD, and unsure of what to eat.
The service has always been attentive and patient when I’ve dined with my girlfriend. We’ve only on dates nights here, but there are large booths that can accommodate parties of 6 – 10. If you have more than 10 people planning to eat, I’d look elsewhere.
Good wine selection, and I heard the cocktails are nice, although I’ve never had one.
Pizzas are good. I really enjoy the Patatas Bravas, and the eggplant chips! Just thinking about those dishes gets me drooling!
A great idea for seafood lovers and drunks is the Paella, made to order for the party. For a party of two, we were stuffed (after having Eggplant chips first!). It was a little oily, but you don’t notice it until you hit the bottom of the pan. By the time that happens, I’ve consumed a few glass of wine so I’m all over that olive oil!
Whether you’re a local or a tourist, Hairy Canary is definitely worth checking out for casual ambiance and great food.

I have frequented The Hairy Canary at least ten times over the years. When I lived in Sydney (and even Brisbane for a while) I would escape the dull dining and beverage scenes in each of those cities and find refuge in Melbourne. One of the first ports of call at around lunch was always The Hairy Canary because of its proximity to the Grand Hyatt Melbourne however now it is a convenient stroll across the dirty Yarra River from Southbank.
This is a more «social» venue which is refreshing. You are allowed to take whatever seat that you want and classically speaking you can eat, drink and chatter all you want and you are not molested by pushy staff that like to push the main meals or move you along. On that note, I have not found many places like that in Melbourne, which I continually use a benchmark for service, since the horrible dining scene in Sydney usually involved pushing mains and bodies in and out of a revolving door. Some of us in Melbourne wonder why the seemingly «good» eateries are closing in Sydney however considering service is usually so poor, with Justin North’s Etch and Becasse the exceptions on the list that I am providing, I am not surprised the liquidators are circling. Check out this link for the latest round of Sydney restaurant closures as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald as of July 2012 if you can be bothered.
This is the first time I noticed that the Hairy Canary has a special and aptly it includes any of their pizzas for $ 10. They have a pizza oven that is conveniently rendered into their front kitchen wall and I have always found the crusts to be done properly so I was excited to order one and a bottle of Cricketer’s Arm beer.
I am usually bemused when I see a large group of people coming into an establishment and placing a coffee order but since this was a relaxing afternoon I decided to observe and evaluate so I could properly judge service as the aforementioned server was the only employee on the floor. Bemusement usually leads to consternation in moments like this since I realise that when large groups of women order coffee’s that everything else is forgotten by the staff and the resulting slurps and hisses are just not coming from the coffee machine but the red faced customers as they wait. In this case we ordered a couple of bottles of beer. I do not even think they needed a tool to be opened but they remained chilling in the refrigerator whilst the single server, reminiscent of when Slim Pickens attempted to fly the bomber in Dr Strangelove; however we know how that mission ended up in the end.
What I appreciated about Bar Americano is a sign is (sometimes) posted that reads «Please do not ask for a latte after 2:00 PM as refusal often offends» and this philosophy needs to be adopted by all eateries after lunch service and beyond as not to impact diners who just require a beer to be opened. Given the profit margins on a Heineken are at least 125% after noticing what a case cost on my recent trip to Costco Docklands, management should be pushing service to open the bottle and get them out as soon as possible instead of standing around and burning coffee produced by the B-​52 bomber.
Despite the wrong priorities afforded by service, The Hairy Canary is a relaxed place to meet up, have some tapas, a pizza, a few drinks and start your afternoon. I have also frequented this place later in the evening on a Friday and it is equally relaxed and it should be included in your itinerary as a fuel stop if you intend to power through everything that Melbourne has to offer one day.

If you come with a group of friends you’ll want to score the table space at the back before anyone else does to truly have a great time. Food is fantastic, service is exceptionally better than most other places. In fact I would say their service is their selling point.
For some reason, whenever people ask me what place I recommend to eat in the city that is impressive, Hairy Canary always pops into my head first. I can think of flashier places, but this place comes naturally.

Hazza Canazza!
Always a great place for a cocktails and nibblies — whether they be snack size or full meals.
Like Hope M. — I agree it’s a Melbourne institution and I remember coming here when I first arrived in Melbourne. It’s a tried-​and-​tested institution, I always seen to bring out of towners here (both from overseas and interstate) and they have a great time.
I’ve been here with groups of up to 8 as well as with one or two people and there both sizes of groups work well in this venue.
They used to have a mango chili martini on the menu, that’s always recommended…

Hairy Canary is a chic cosy space located on Little Collins. After spending some times in the popular Chinatown district (with BYO) we decided to head to for something with a little more class and ambiance.
Hairy Canary was a lovely small dimly lit venue that allowed a seating area that resembled a balcony, giving us a view of little collins (and the drunk passer-​byers). We only ordered ciders and there was only one on the menu (monteith i believe) and we basked in our ciders and the awesome atmosphere.
The staff were friendly and checked up on us regularly to make sure we were okay for food and drink. A little hidden gem that is worth a visit.

What can you say about Hairy Canary? It’s yet another Melbourne institution — I remember coming here as a geeky eighteen year old from the country and being blown away by how chic and ‘grown up’ it was — I’d never set foot in a cocktail bar before!
It’s been many, many years since then and I’m now more comfortable in cocktail bars than my own lounge room. While Hairy Canary has lost some of its intimidating ‘otherness’ for me, I’m still impressed by how attentive their service is and the way they can whip up any number of cocktails. For the uninitiated martini drinker, it’s actually one of the least intimidating cocktail bars in town to get started in.
The crowd tends to be an interesting cross section of people having after work or pre-​dinner drinks, but over the years I’ve noticed the bar tends to be well over 50% female at any given time. This makes it a warm and non-​sleazy spot to enjoy a drink alone if you’ve got time to burn — an indulgence very close to my heart!

The perfect location to indulge in some pre-​theatre drinks, and a few warm olives of course. The real winners on the menu are the rustic pizzas with minimal toppings and maximum flavor. And, I was very surprised to say that the coffee gets two big thumbs up from me. Service is absolutely amazing.

Hairy Canary was probably one of the first bars in Melbourne I went to. I remember having a dry gin martini made properly and getting a bit tipsy. That was nearly three years ago. Since then I have frequented the place many times.
A small bar located on Little Collins Street, Hairy Canary gets quite busy over the weekend. However, during the week, it provides a cosy spot for a small group of friends — the tables are small and the place is usually unable to accommodate large groups of people who are all eating. Their food is Spanish inspired tapas (Hairy Canary as in the Canary Islands, not the bird). They do offer larger dishes, but I stick with tapas or pizzas — try the lamb pizza, Jamon Iberico board, or char grilled chorizo. All great for sharing.
Whilst the food is good, Hairy Canary is actually a bar that serves food. Their cocktail list is smaller than other cocktail bars, but there are many interesting concoctions such as Skipping After The Moustached Green Fairy (absinthe, lemon peel, coffee beans and jalapenos) and the martini that tastes just like a gingerbread man. They also make classic cocktails very well.