Jungle

Dropped into this fun cocktail bar with four girlfriends, paid for a cocktail and then waited 20 mins. A group of seven guys walked in straight after I paid for my order and were served straight away. I asked two separate staff members about the whereabouts of my cocktail, their response was pathetic. For a new business I was hoping for better customer service.
I won’t be going back and will stick to the. Lychee Lounge.

You know when people talk a place up so much that your expectations exceed reality? That is Jungle for me. Don’t get me wrong, it is a cool little spot and they take time to make good cocktails– which is a huge plus. I will come back to this funky little tiki bar and try a zombie. Maybe that is what it will take to impress me (5 types of alcohol in one glass) but for now it is just another bar.

I was really very, very, very excited when this venue popped up on a pub crawl map I was conquering. I heard tales of drinks served in monkeys and pineapples. This place was supposed to be my jam. I was so hyped for it. When we arrived it was pretty busy but the waitress said we were more than welcome to take a barrel out the front, which we did. It is a small place and I imagine it’s fairly busy most times. The drinks were good but not the best you can get in West End. The real charm lies in the novelty of it all. The over the top fruit garnishes and the carafes and glasses and vases that these drinks are served in. Stop by to check it out or if you’re stumbling past duck in for a drink or two but don’t be prepared to settle in for a long one. I just don’t get that kind of vibe from the establishment.

This is a place that is a TARDIS, as in you remove technology and modern paraphernalia and step into a time where you can enjoy raw stripped down furniture, and exposed rock reminiscent of Elvis/​Frank circa 1950’s. If you think that Bundy rum is the only rum in the world, well mate, you’re in for a surprise as the shelves have such a variety that you’d need to visit several times before you’d tasted them all. Your drinks are served in appropriate drinkwear, with mai thai, mojito or piña colada inside, of which sound wankerish but actually are bloody good. Even the ginger beer is good in this evening heat.

This adorable little tiki bar is my new favourite spot for cocktails in West End. The place is decked out with carved footstools, bamboo walls and grass lanterns, and rocking with Be-​Bop-​A-​Lula 50s songs. The drinks are strooooong, mostly rum-​based, and come in an assortment of tropical kitsch containers, including a length of bamboo, a ceramic monkey statue, and a pineapple, and adorned with cocktail umbrellas and fruit on toothpicks. What’s not to love? We had a few drinks and the star was definitely the piña colada, which is the one that comes in a pineapple: it was creamy, rummy, and deliciously blended. But if you want something simpler, they have a phenomenal selection of rums, including some that are usually difficult to get a hold of in Australia, like my fave, Flor de Cana Gran Reserve. Even the staff are kitted out in Hawaiian shirts and poodle skirts. This is the perfect pick me up after a long work week! Run, don’t walk.