The Toff In Town

Had a really nice night of live music totally ruined by the bar staff who messed up our order and refused to replace our drinks with what we actually asked for, adding a garnish of attitude that I also didn’t order. Worst.

If you like dancing, blaring music and dim as hell lighting then you’ll love The Toff. The drinks are awesome, the bar staff were so friendly and the atmosphere was great. The balconies are absolutely packed so prepare to get some sardine in a can action. Awesome mix of people from all around the world. If you don’t like stairs or you’re stumbling drunk then don’t attempt the walk up. And for gods sake girls, don’t wear six inch heels on the stairs, it will end in disaster and no you don’t look hot wabbling around like that.

Great venue. We are a party of 5 on a crazy busy Friday night but staff were excellent. Seated us quickly. Food was excellent — we were spoilt for choice. Good wine list.

What a discovery! Can’t believe after all the times i’ve been to Curtin Rooftop or Cookie i’ve never wandered in here.
We couldn’t get a table at Cookie, so were recommended to try the Toff. We were ushered to the bar to see if we could get a table, had a drink and in a few minutes the lovely hostess came back saying she had got us a table at the back, but unfortunately it wasn’t a booth. This was more than OK, as it was a Sat night and we didn’t have a booking. The table was fine.
The menu was similar to cookie, but certainly more aimed at tapas style and sharing. We were recommended to order between 2 and 3 dishes each. Being Vegan i asked what was available as vegan and the waitress brought back another whole menu which specified what was vegan which was amazing. I ordered 3 things — the deep fried mushrooms, sweet potato dumplings and tofu/​mushroom dumplings with green curry. They were absolutely amazing. The serving sizes were surprisingly large and i could have only ordered 2 dishes. The dumplings were the highlight for me. Just divine. As a bonus we got brought out a cashew/​coriander salad which was phenomenal. So fresh and tasty.
We weren’t drinking on the night, but the cocktails/​drinks sounded pretty good. Our It was reasonably prices and the service was really terrific. I will definitely be back here again.

On a busy Australia Eve, The Man and I stepped in here after the fun and frivolity of watching the sunset up at Rooftop bar. I may have had a couple of drinks in a plastic pineapple. Don’t judge. Down at Toff in Town, the atmosphere could not have been more different. We ordered our signature nightcaps, a manhattan for me and a martini for The Man. The bartender went to work, chilling glasses, preparing fresh fruit peels, and finding all the correct implements. What was this? A for real bartender that really cares about making drinks? I wish I caught his name because he was the embodiment of grace under fire. Orders started piling up and other bartenders came to him with questions, but nothing could throw him off. He was steely in his resolve to make me the perfect manhattan. And indeed, he did. I loved the little private booths along the back hallway and the dim, sexy lighting. A truly intimate, old school establishment. Come with a few dollars though, our two drinks clocked in at $ 46. Ouch. Can’t say anything about the music side of the venue, but I highly recommend this place for an expertly made cocktail and a trip to a bygone era.

Went here last night with guests from out of town. Overall, really really impressed. The service was spot on, the food was to die for and the atmosphere was bumping. If eating, don’t pass up the lamb cutlets or chilli burger! So good we ordered them a second time!

Have to admit that I only really hit up the Toff for gigs or other shows — this time a trivia night called Quizjam which was on as part of Melbourne Music week — and despite usually loving more intimate music spaces like this, Toff doesn’t really top the list.
Could have just been the night, but the dudes manning the band room bar provided the slowest bar service I’ve experienced for some time. It was pretty full in terms of seating around tables, but far from chockers in general so couldn’t work out why we were waiting so long for a beer. We weren’t the only ones either, as everyone just started going next door to the lounge-​bar to get their drinks, where there was actually more people crowding the bar, but just better service and better choice of tap beers also.
Still, overall I like the overall segmented lay-​out of the place and enjoy scoring a bar-​stool or booth for a pre or post gig drink. There was a time when I got jaded with Curtain House as a whole, as Toff/​Cookie/​Rooftop all seemed to always be uncomfortably overflowing its capacity but seems in the past few years since I’d last been things have evened out more and the Toff in particular has got its chilled feeling back.

The Toff in Town is split into different areas — the bar, Choo Choos restaurant, and the band room area. I generally only come here for the music, so this is what my review focuses on.
The separation of bar/​seating/​music venue has it’s pros and cons. The pros being that you can come here without a band and enjoy yourself (unlike say the hi-​fi bar). The drawback is that if you’re seeing a band, there’s no reason to be there more than 5 mins either side of the set and interludes are uncomfortable.
Don’t come early. Find somewhere else to hang around, because there is zero seating here and the room is too small to just mill/​drink in. Except people to splash beer on you as they pass. You also won’t be able to see what’s happening on stage if you stand at the back, or if the band sits down which is what happened when I was there.
The acoustics were fine and it’s an intimate venue to enjoy a band in… but I wouldn’t hang around here any longer than necessary. Sneak out early and snag a booth across the hall to cool your heels.

Like any good cocktail the toff in town is a mixture of many different ingredients that make one perfect place. One part fancy cocktail bar and another part fun band room and dance hall, the Toff is a regal nod to the buildings past days as a gentlemans club.
The cocktail bar side has some great private train carriages to tuck your group into and roll the doors closed. On certain nights they open up the band room for live gigs, mini festivals and mayhem. A massive plus with this place is the coat check as you walk in and the bartenders excellent knowledge of their drinks. They have a wide selection on the back bar to choose from and some really good beers and wine. It’s also open quite late every night so perfect for that late night tipple when you feel everything else is winding up.

As a place to go out for a night out with friends Im not sure that this place really works. The dancefloor area is incredibly loud and the fact that you have to go between the 2 sections is a bit annoying. The bar behind the tram carriage area is far too small and the whole place feels totally cramped!
But the tram carriage area with cozy booths mean that ‘cramped’ can be seen as ‘cozy’ — and this means that this place is good for one thing: A MIDWEEK DATE!
If you have met someone on the weekend and are looking for a place to go midweek on a date where you can snuggle up in a booth, then this is the place for you! Its pretty much empty during the week and you will probably get a booth to yourselves.
I suppose there is also the option of using these booths for being a tacky couple pashing if you meet someone on the dancefloor, but then they will probably be packed on the weekend!

This was one of my favorite bars in Melbourne. We ordered the Tokyo iced tea with the tapioca balls. It was delicious and very unique. I would love to go back for dinner if I return to Melbourne.

The Actual train carriages at the Toff prove quite a challenge to
find free at nay time and occasion of the day week and night.
Interestingly enough I’ve found the smoking areas, cramped as they are,
prove the best for entering random conversations with strangers and the like.
It is mostly challenging finding somewhere to sit down and its usually
always busy, but that doesn’t detract from the drinks. Absinthe! Various amounts
of other spirits, liqueurs and such and beers, wines, and it can get very easy
for all of this to blend in together as one. Great late night/​hospo drinking spot too
when chance affords me anyway.

Toff, along with its conjoined siblings Cookie and Rooftop Bar, is my go-​to bar in Melbourne. The main bar is decked out with a pretty nice collection of spirits, and inventive bar staff who love whipping up something original if you don’t know what you want.
On a few occasions I’ve been able to get a train-​carriage booth, which definitely adds to the classy feel this bar musters up. Grab someone you actually want to talk to and settle in for a bit of cosy conversation, sans crowds. At a press of a buzzer you can order drinks and also something to eat from a wide menu; everything I’ve eaten there has been really tasty, so you’re sorted for a couple of hours at least.
The bar has a nice feel to it, although it does pack out quickly, especially on weekends. That said, everyone is usually pretty friendly, so it’s already miles ahead of some Melbourne venues.
Tip: go on a Sunday afternoon at around 5 – 5.30pm and you should be able to get a booth and enjoy your drinks before it gets too busy.

I don’t know how I always end up here at the end of the night. I always say to my friends ‘let’s go somewhere different’ and ‘I can’t go back there again’ but somehow it draws us back.
On a Friday night, it gets prettybusy with the after work crowd, but hang around till after 1am/​2am and it gets better. The music is a mixture of hip hop crowd pleasers and is great for a bit of a boogie. If you stay late enough you might even get to see the bar staff dancing on the bar to ’ Whitney Houston’s I Want to Dance with Somebody’with their tops off (Yes I have seen this once and yes I’m talking about the guys only).
My fave part of The Toff is the cocktail bubble tea. Despite being $ 12 and not having enough ‘bubbles’ they are still so good and go down way too fast. They also do a range of other cocktails and the balcony overlooking Swanston St is great to people watch from above.

I think I said this about Rooftop, & I’ll sure say it again about Cookie. The bouncers at the bottom are complete dicks. I was once with a friend and she was wearing converse shoes, jeans, and a cardigan, and I was wearing leather boots, leather jacket shirt and scarf, and she was okay to go through but apparently I was too casual. That was like 4 years ago and I have never gotten over it.
But I digress, I love Toff. Drinks are expensive but quality. Not an amazing smoking area, but having one is better than not. Probably one of the best places to have a boogie. In fact, it’s probably the only place I go to have a boogie. Great place to meet girls. Wew!

The Toff is the second-​floor bar in Curtin House. It’s got one large drinking room, but with seats ringing the outside and many sliding-​door private booths in the middle, it feels pretty crowded.
There’s a stage where live music acts play, but it’s quite separate from the rest of the bar, and doesn’t intrude if al you want is a drink.
There’s an outdoor seating area, a platform built into the back of the building. This was the only area we could fit into on a busy Saturday night, amongst the smokers.
It’s an OK bar, maybe a little more crowded than I’d normally care for. Not sure how I feel about the segregation of the private booths: not very social.
The place certainly has a buzz to it, though, and I like that it has different areas you can try out.

The Toff is a great place to go for an awesome night out in Melbourne. With different levels of the building catering to different wants and needs, there’s a little something for every person and every mood. After hitting up the rooftop bar the night before, I set out for the mid level that evening to enjoy a night of live music in their venue space. It was a singer /​songwriter acoustic set. I found the Toff to be the perfect intimate venue for an act of this size. We arrived a little too late to snag a table on the floor, however. I should have known it would be a «must get there early» type of spot. Instead, my two friends and I pulled up barstools around the back of the U-​shaped bar. It meant we had to dodge and glance through /​over people’s heads the whole night, but it also meant we were close to the whiskey, so I considered that a win.
The vibe was very mellow, even though it was packed. Standing about as far back as one could be, it still felt like I was part of the action. I was happy to be able to groove around back there without the fear of getting in anyone’s way. I would definitely consider making the Toff a regular spot for seeing live gigs. I hear the booker brings in some interesting acts, so I’m invested in keeping my eye closely on the website.

The Toff after midnight on a Saturday night is the safest bet for a good night in Melbourne if you’re looking to dance and party.
On Saturday nights they often have bands playing earlier in the night (and they seem to have a decent band booker, so whatever is playing is likely to be decent), but if you don’t want to pay and you’re happy to start your night a little later, just wait until midnight when there is no longer a door charge.
After midnight, the Toff goes disco. Not contemporary-​hipster-​DFA-​disco, but genuine bona fide 70’s disco. The combination of the too-​camp-​to-​function music, the fake smoke and disco lights, the occasional impromptu drag performances, and a crowd who are there to dance until the lights come up, make the Toff an awesome spot to party.

The Toff In Town is a swanky bar loosely divided into four sections — at least it is in my mind. There is the Toff ‘shows’ which is a large band room that houses a great many fantastic gigs and dance nights. It is nearly always good for a dance (unless they are hosting a noise art performance that is) and is nearly always worth checking out. The Toff band room has it’s own bar and stage and is entered through a separate door, which is useful especially if there is a cover charge for the band playing so you can opt to head to the other bar section to the left of the entrance.
This is the Toff ‘bar’ where you can get all sorts of fancy cocktails, beers, wines and spirits. They also offer the normal range of drinks if you aren’t after something a bit fancy, but either way the drinks here are quite pricey. The staff all know what they are doing and lend a helping hand to the ‘full cocktail bar’ experience.
The dining section is a number of train carriage inspired seating booths in the centre of the room. Which is why, I believe, they call their restaurant «Choo Choo’s». Choo Choo’s serves up a delectable range of Thai inspired food designed to be shared — that is if you don’t gobble down all the morsels while your friend is in the bathroom.
Last but not least is the caged outdoor deck looking out amongst the back alleys of surrounding buildings. It is not only a good place for smokers to hang out, but also an area to perch on the warmer evenings, or if you just want a little fresh air.
These are some of the reasons why The Toff in Town is consistently voted Meblourne’s ‘best bar’.

Housed in Curtin House, the Toff in Town caters to individuals with many needs. Feel like dancing? Head to the right where a bar and dance floor waits with music ranging from rock to pop. Feel like relaxing with friends or having dinner? Head to the left where a bar and private booths awaits. For smoker and those who just like the outside, you can find a balcony in the back.
The main area known as the ‘carriage room’, where a train carriage made up of booths runs down the middle, attempts to create an air of refinement that reminds you of gentlemen in tuxedos. When a friend made reservations for her birthday, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d been there before but only for a drink. The booths, which could intimately hold 6 or 7 people, would be a tight squeeze if you were eating. Luckily, we were just having drinks and for that many people, it was perfect.
Whilst I did look at the menu of Choo Choos, the Toff’s Thai restaurant, I wasn’t hungry. I took advantage of their fully stocked bar and ordered cocktails — a gin cocktail with grape, lemon, vanilla, and juniper (Lilac Velvet). Pretty, pretty good, but definitely paying for it — their cocktail list averages $ 18-​$ 20.
On a Friday night, the Toff was too busy for me to enjoy the experience. With booths that become private (close the door and shut the blinds) and buzzer to call for table service, the Toff is best experienced amongst a group of friends catching up on a weekday evening. Rather than yelling at your friends, you can actually talk to them.