The Croft Institute

Love this place. Been visiting here since i first moved to melbourne three years ago.
I suggeat coming in during the week and beating the rush and lines that occur on a Friday or Saturday night. It also gives you a chance to have a chat with the amazing staff about their drinks list. Highly recommend a syringe drink for the first timers.
The laboratory theme is also impressive in its own.

Hahaha not someplace that’d be my go to hangout place, but def fun theme and they really carry it out.
The syringe is a really fun touch for the drinks and the drinks themselves are pretty good but on the sweet side.
There’s a «science lab» setting on the ground floor, gym on the third and a weird bathroom layout on the second floor. There’s a bed in the girls bathroom and a weird waiting area outside of them.
Getting there… Just as creepy as inside the bar. Go down the alleys and just keep walking.
Ps there’s a $ 5 cover charge.

The Croft Institute is an interesting neighbourhood bar that resembles a high school science lab, tucked down a slightly dodgy-​looking alleyway in bustling Chinatown. It spans three floors, each with a unique theme (think: gymnasium or hospital ward).
In terms of the beverage list, The Croft is a little overpriced (even for Australian standards. You’ll also pay a cover charge of $ 5 per head if entering after 10pm). However, the bar staff are highly inventive and alongside the usual suspects, you’ll find a boutique wine list and many interesting cocktails in ‘syringes’. There’s even something termed ‘The Experiment’ which changes ‘formula’ to the whims and fancies of the mixologists. It’s exactly as specified — an experiment — and seems to always contain green chartreuse.
During our visit to The Croft, we were decidedly boring — ordering a duo of predictable Old Faithful from a beanie-​clad barman. They were ok; slightly too sweet for my liking, more reminiscent of marmalade than a mixed drink. Whilst we sat and sipped, we watched a steady stream of technicolour glasses leaving the front bar, adorned with novelty syringes and twists of lime. It’s an interesting concept, drinking alcohol from a syringe. It brings a whole new meaning to ‘double shot’ for nerds like me.
The Croft is definitely worth a visit if you’re a fan of test tubes, urban grunge and science themed venues. It’s hip and very Melbourne in a quirky, twisted kind of way.
Adversely, avoid The Croft if you’re scared of back alleys, have photosensitivity (flashing neon lights, y’all), and/​or have watched too many documentaries about haunted mental institutions on Netflix.
Apparently it used to be one in its former life, and asylum ghosts like chartreuse…

So basically this place didn’t meet up to my expectations. I expected this really sci-​fi-​y bar with upbeat vibes and music. Got everything but that. The entrance was cool. I liked how it was hidden in the depths of some graffiti art but feels a little scary walking there alone. No cover charge which is nice. But when we entered my immediate thoughts were, «This is it?». It was basically just an almost empty room with a table with high chairs and two seating areas. Drinks were expensive but that’s standard. The syringe is what makes this place what it is, but literally any one can do that. I expected an actual shot of alcohol in the syringe and then we shoot it into our cups but that wasn’t the case. Wanted to use my card but they had a minimum. Which I hate. Drink was good but wasn’t feeling the vibes so I left shorty after finishing my drink. The bathroom has a hospital bed in it. It had creepy vibes and it used to be (don’t quote me on this) a mental asylum. Or that’s how they marketed it. Overall and upsetting night.

Pretty cool place really hidden at the end if a dark alley way! Typical Melbourne! Alley way with very cool Street art!
Cocktails are served with seringues — don’t bring your drunk friends there, they will pour drinks everywhere playing around with the seringues!
Washrooms are pretty cool too — going for the hospital vibe with a patient bed!

Was introduced to this bar in the back alley of Chinatown through a street art tour. We were told that as the theme of the bar suggests, this was the location of an actual mental institution in the past.
Intrigued by what was shared with us, we decided to go check out this bar one of the evenings. Opened at 8pm, a queue was already waiting outside at 7.45pm. (This was on a Saturday evening). Once inside, you are greeted with neon lights at the bar and medical instruments that decorates the bar.
Popular for their syringe cocktails, choose from a range of 5 or consider other classics. Great atmosphere and of course a hip spot to be seen.

In the past I’ve only visited the outside of this place, admiring the street art. Now I may be biased but the first time I went there I ended up befriending the bartenders so I’ll try to keep my review as fair as possible in respect to this fact. They have syringe cocktails which instantly appealed to me as did the mad science /​former mental asylum aesthetic. If it were me though I would amp up the experience way more & have staff dressed as doctors and wristbands that resembled hospital admission bands. Perhaps I was expecting the bar equivalent of a theatre restaurant… a fully immersive experience. The gymnasium bar on the third level is a great place for a dance. The waiting room area is fun as is the gurney in the ladies bathrooms. The bartenders aren’t afraid to mix strong drinks if this is your fancy. Love this place. Highly recommended.

Going to the Croft Institute means being so excited even before getting into the bar –yeah, I was still not used with the whole «lane concept», and having to walk a hundred meters or so in a dark lane sprayed with street art and graffitis to finally find the bar at the very end of it was quite exciting to me-​.
The atmosphere in the bar is quite special as well: medical stuff everywhere as decoration, it’s pretty dark and looks a bit «cold». Everything perfectly sticks to the hospital atmosphere. And the beanie bartender was so friendly and welcoming.
The cocktail mixes didn’t have anything so special or too complex –ended up having a Deus Ex with some yellow chartreuse, which basically is my favorite alcohol, thank you for that– but they taste quite good anyway! And I loved drinking my cocktail with a syringe. (yup, a syringe)
Prices are pretty fair as well, with cocktails from 12 to 16 dollars when we visited.
Would definitely visit again if I go back to Melbourne!

Such a fun place to grab a drink! Love the theme, and the bartender made me a fabulous concoction that was served with a syringe as a straw :) love that it’s tucked away in the alley!

Randomly came in here one night. I thought it was a really cool place. A couple ppl with me thought it was a little seedy, there were some sketch dudes just standing around alone, and also the hospital décor is kinda weird. But wtv. I ordered a bunch of shots, and had fun dancing to the awesome music that was playing. I’d come here again. It’s definitely more of a drunken weirdo bar/​club vibe, than a night to sit around and chat with cocktails, though, that’s for sure. But depending on your mood/​company, that can be fun too.

I was taken here by my couchsurfing host and I thought I was going to die. From the sketchy entrance or from the unpredictability of hosts, you tell me. Not to mention that once inside the bar there are syringes, hospital bed in ladies’ restroom, etc.
OK so maybe I added a sprinkle (or lots) of drama above, but Croft Bar is like a mad scientist meets mental institution meets bartender type of place. Did I love it? No. Do I think it’s cool? Yes. Will I be back? if I can find it.
The drinks are good but pricey. Not loads of seating but it’s to be expected in an already small space. Croft Bar isn’t somewhere I would ~rave~ about, but it is really cool in a twisted way. Worth checking out if you dig it.

Another one of Melbourne lane way down a lane way bars. This one has a mad scientist feel to it. Staff was very friendly plus I was happy with my cocktail. And even more happy with the fun drinking syringe that came with it.
We were lucky to get some seats, and as we were enjoying our drinks, we kept seeing people go into what we thought was the restrooms. We all thought silently to ourselves, isn’t it odd that so many people (males and females) were going in together with hardly the same numbers coming out? So we finished our cocktails, and went to go check it out, yep there was more to it.
Travelling upstairs you pass a smaller, private function room and the higher up you go, it’s a gym! Full with a DJ, another bar, a basketball hoop and other physical activity instruments that I don’t even know the names of. It was a fun adventure discovering The Croft and getting out you come to realize the, ‘oh right, I’m back in the world sensation.’ Crazy.

Think youre crazy for coming to this old mental asylum … you wouldnt be the first. Syringe and cocktail gimmicks and authentic patient waiting rooms makes this place something you really should do once … but once youve ticked this box its time to move on

Dark lighting.
Gimmicky 60mL shot syringes. White people bouncing to hip-​hop.
Lots of winning here.

The usual array of messy, inebriated, high-​five requesting patrons lining the alleyway should have been warning enough here on a weeknight.
We walked in and found one person manning the bar and two girls crafting cocktails with more mixers than should be legal.
A seating area by the door had two couples sitting in it who were mouthing off at the staff. The atmosphere was charged, it wasn’t a nice place to be.
Possibly a bad night but not somewhere I can bring myself to recommend to others based off my experience. I get the theme but this night it felt extremely seedy and borderline aggressive.
Time I went here is important. When the above happened was 10pm on a Tuesday.

I dug this place — despite the fact I didn’t stay long. The lovely door-​man waived the entry fee for us as they were experiencing a slow night. The lovely bar-​man let me taste the gin before I ordered a drink (always SO appreciated!) — it was Bulldog, for those of you playing at home, and it was delicious. The lovely DJ-​man played a fun mix for us (not for US, but you know…).
And for those of you that have heard about it — the toilets ARE just as creepy as ‘they’ say.

The Croft Institute is the worst disguised super-​villain lair ever! It’s hidden away at the end of a graffitid up alleyway, with nothing on the outside to indicate it’s anything other than a lair of doom. It’s all set up as a mad scientist lab, from the bathroom decorations across to the cocktails served with syringes.
It’s worth going at least one for the kitsch value alone. It’s fun, it’s different and they swear they no longer experiment on human test subjects.

This place has a creepy alley entrance that is decorated in graffiti. I thought there was a chance a homeless man might jump out and shank me. The bar itself is dark and decorated in a mad science/​hipster mashup that was unique. The bartender was quite good and made me something delicious and cinnamon on demand. He also used fresh grated nutmeg, which was a nice touch. Overall, I think the place is a little kitchy but whatever, the drinks were good.

I think I had a far better image of The Croft Institute in my mind than reality (I guess that’s what you get when you have an overactive imagination). I’d heard about it for such a long time, seen the photos popping up on various social media outlets, so I finally got to give it a go recently and was a little underwhelmed.
They have their theme down pat, with the creepy hospital/​asylum/​laboratory schtick and the drinks we had were delicious. However it isn’t the biggest of places and was pretty packed when we visited. Everyone had a syringe drink in their hand which I found ever so slightly tacky (but I guess it runs with the theme) as I had the impression it was more of a cocktail bar. Perhaps I should have tried it *gasp* before it was cool.

A must visit for my holiday. My partner and I braved the rain and walked through the city and the messy and dirty corridors to find this place. When we got there it wasn’t open until we pounded on the door. Ryan, the bartender opened it up and we were good to go.
Being the first 2 people at the bar had its advantages. I liked how Ryan personalized my custom drink to my taste profile. We must have spoke over 10 minutes in determining the right liquors to use. I cannot imagine him and his team doing this when the bar is packed. The drink I got was the Robert Burns. Whiskey, bitters, and a slight fruit. Perfect to warm me up from the summer rain and wind.
The interior of the bar is cool and different with all the science lab dishes. I also enjoyed the Department of Male Hygiene. I wish we had time for a second drink, but we had to jet off to our next stop.