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Disuko’s rooftop in the heart of the city.

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After-work drinks? Try one of these 12 hot new Melbourne bars

Post-5pm, beeline for mango and sake cocktails on a resurrected city rooftop, $15 martinis that come with a loyalty card, and fried goat’s cheese at a St Kilda newcomer built for group hangs.

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The view from Fitzroy’s On Top bar on the rooftop of the StandardX hotel.

‘I’ve never seen Fitzroy like this’: Sweet view, sweeter cocktails at a new rooftop bar On Top

  • Tomas Telegramma
Flatbreads are lathered in whipped spring onion butter like Macca’s hotcakes gone salty.
14/20

Summer nights are made for the flatbread and $3 skewers at Melitta Next Door

  • Frank Sweet
Hands Down is Fitzroy’s newest cocktail bar.

Get a taste of Spain at Hands Down, Fitzroy’s new drinking den

  • Tomas Telegramma
Boire is the casual offshoot of popular restaurant Manze in North Melbourne.
14/20

Boire, the casual sibling to a busy restaurant, combines DJs, snacks, wine and good times

  • Besha Rodell
Moondrop is bringing Chinese influences to cocktails in a legendary Fitzroy site.

Fitzroy cocktail destination The Everleigh is reborn as bold new bar Moondrop

  • Tomas Telegramma
The third-storey rooftop terrace on Bourke Street.

Bounce from bar to rooftop to restaurant at retro-cool city Japanese spot Disuko

  • Tomas Telegramma
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Three Horses bar in the Melbourne CBD.

Pull up a stool at the Caretaker’s Cottage team’s next smash-hit, Three Horses

  • Tomas Telegramma
81 Bay in Brighton is connected to Baix restaurant by Ian Curley.
14.5/20

Splurge on prawn toast and champagne at boujee bayside wine bar 81 Bay

  • Dani Valent
Fried goat’s cheese with chilli marmalade.

The Carpenter’s Ruin, St Kilda’s laidback local, is ready for anything

  • Dani Valent
Hannah Green’s Daphne is a pub, wine bar and restaurant rolled into one neighbourhood institution.

Mondays equal $15 martinis at Daphne, the new kid on a hot block in Brunswick East

  • Tomas Telegramma
Bar Selecta bar director Joey Tai (left) and co-owner Masaki Hisaike.

Selecta, a 10-seat bar channelling Tokyo nightlife, brings the party to a Hawthorn backstreet

  • Kosa Monteith
A mix of Braulio Amaro, coffee and cucumber, topped with Czech Pilsner

Clever cocktails meet laidback vibes at cosy Pendant (and there’s Guinness too)

  • Tomas Telegramma