Dessous
Dessous sits in a heritage basement under Flinders Lane, its name the French for underneath, where chef Dan Sawansak tops a savory corn-custard donut with sea urchin and salmon roe. The Mulberry Group opened it in 2019, the team behind Higher Ground and the Kettle Black.
Why go
Sawansak cooked at MoVida and Higher Ground before this, and his Thai background runs through a snacking menu built to drink alongside. James Hill, who came from City Wine Shop, runs the list, an international spread that pushes into unfamiliar regions and varietals with a strong pour by the glass. The room is a windowless cellar of velvet and dark timber, so it works for a date or a solo seat at the bar more than a big group.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the savory unicorn donut, corn custard under sea urchin and salmon roe, the dish the kitchen is known for. Add the soft potato pillows with bottarga and butter, the pickled artichokes with XO and stracciatella, and the pork-belly sando. Ask the floor for a glass from a region you cannot place.
- Avoid: leaving a weekend seat to chance. The basement is small and books out, so reserve or arrive early.
What locals & experts say
- Broadsheet (Best Wine Bars in Melbourne, 2026):
lively cocktails and refined snacks are on the cards at this dark and daring basement bar,
where the listfocuses on biodynamic and sustainable drops.
1 - Broadsheet (first look): the food is
the sort of dishes that beg for the acidity of a good wine or the power of a strong cocktail.
2 - Concrete Playground: the basement is
a warm and moody assembly of deep greens, plush velvet and dark timber.
3
Good to know
- Timing: dinner Tuesday to Saturday, running late. Closed Sunday and Monday, so it is not a start-of-week option.
- Booking: reserve for a weekend, since the basement is small. Walk-ins work early in the evening.
- Near MCEC: about 1.5 to 2km across the river into the CBD, a 20 minute walk over a footbridge or a short tram.
Verdict
could-visit — Re-ruled from should-visit on 2026-07-30. Nothing here got worse; the comparison got sharper. Melbourne is a wine-bar city, and this pass established two things about where Dessous sits in that field. It holds no hat in the 2026 Age Good Food Guide, an edition that hats eleven other CBD wine bars and bistros. And when Broadsheet asked 27 working chefs in June 2026 where they go for a snack and a glass, they named ten venues between them and this was not one. What is real stays real: a dark basement Concrete Playground calls a warm and moody assembly of deep greens, plush velvet and dark timber, a biodynamic and sustainable list run by a sommelier out of City Wine Shop, a savory unicorn donut under sea urchin, and a five-minute walk from the MCEC. Go if you are near it. Peer-field depth is the whole argument here: being a good wine bar in Melbourne is a crowded achievement.