A secret garden bar has opened in time for long summer nights in Melbourne…

Shhh. We’ve got a secret…

The hidden Melbourne bar scene is rather robust. You don’t know where the hidden Melbourne bars are, until you know where they are.

And, well, we’ve got a little something we’ve been hiding ourselves..

Follow the sound of glasses clinking and cocktails being shaken via a secluded doorway and you’ll be transported to a leafy oasis set against a startling city view.

The Secret Garden Bar is a 40-person inner-city bar, which, up until now, has acted as a self-sufficient produce source for QT Melbourne’s food and beverage team.

The bar feels like a lush, private terrace, yet our shady retreat sits in the centre of Melbourne with sky-line views, nestled behind our iconic Rooftop at QT.

Just in time for summer and teaming up with gin-experts Four Pillars, our intimate bar features a unique cocktail list that highlights herbs grown in the venue’s very own garden.

The ‘Passion Killa’ cocktail blends Four Pillars’ Bloody Shiraz Gin with sour passionfruit, while the ‘Wild Strawberries’ makes use of the secret garden’s wild strawberries and coriander, muddled with the distiller’s Rare Dry Gin and ‘Wild Rosé’.

Or, you can choose your own adventure. Get your green thumb on and pick your very own herbs from the garden to mix with your gin of choice.

To eat? Score a spot and you can sample dishes from our Secret Garden Bar menu, created by our very own Executive Chef Andy Harmer in collaboration with Four Pillars’ ‘Creative Director of Made from Gin’ Matt Wilkinson. Our favourites are the Gin Pig Skewers with Marmalade Glaze and Gin Pig Chipolatas.

How to get in? Be cool. Just ask one of our staff members and they’ll show you the way.

We’re open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5pm. 

words by cat spanti