Gimlet at Cavendish House

Andrew McConnell built Gimlet inside the 1920s Cavendish House on Russell Street around a square black-and-gold marble bar, and Broadsheet reads that bar as evidence of "the team's determination that this is a bar first, eatery second."

Why go

Take the venue at its word and go to the bar. Six Melbourne chefs name Gimlet in Broadsheet's chef-recommendation series, the joint-highest tally in the city, and the two most recent are talking about a stool rather than a booking. Behind it sits a wood-fired oven doing meat and vegetables over coals, and two chef hats in the 2026 Age Good Food Guide, which is the strongest critical marker Victoria has. Gourmet Traveller's Michael Harden reads the room as "a gorgeous room, a clever conversion of a cavernous 1920s space," and the cooking as European classics sent out with real precision. Nothing rotates here and nothing needs to: the confit duck and the vadouvan chicken have carried the menu since Harden reviewed it.

Order this / avoid

• Order: at the bar, rock oysters opened to order with rye and seaweed butter, and the house Martini built on orange-bergamot bitters. In the dining room, Gourmet Traveller rates "a superb confit duck salad (the duck boned, panko-crumbed and fried)" and "a pack-leading roast chicken flavoured with vadouvan sauce and fried curry leaves." Harden's advice is to "order dessert and linger."
• Avoid: walking in on spec for dinner. The dining room books out, so reserve ahead, or take a bar seat for the martini and oysters.

What locals & experts say

• Gourmet Traveller (Michael Harden): "It's a gorgeous room, a clever conversion of a cavernous 1920s space," and the food reads as "a newcomer with a veteran's style and confidence." ref
• The Age Good Food Guide (2026): two hats, City and Suburbs. ref
• Six chefs, and two of them mean the bar. Hugh Allen of Vue de Monde: "even just sitting at the bar with a nice glass and some snacks, the atmosphere is great." Khanh Ong, on where he eats late: "Gimlet! For the cheeseburger." Rosheen Kaul picks it for occasions and names "that Lyonnaise salad." Gareth Whitton of Tarts Anon calls the brasserie revival "world-class" here, and Stephanie Alexander rates it on the one thing nobody else mentions: "the acoustics are very good."

Good to know

• Timing: open from midday into the late evening, and it keeps a bar going for walk-in oysters and drinks. Confirm your date.
• Booking: essential for the dining room, via the venue site; the bar takes walk-ins.
• From MCEC: about 2km at the east end of the CBD, a tram or a fifteen-minute walk across the river.
• Guides: there is no Michelin standing to hold; the guide's first Australian edition covers South Australia only. ref

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

must-visit — Promoted from should-visit on 2026-07-30, and the send is the BAR, which is the whole reason. Six working Melbourne chefs name this room on their own time, joint-highest in the city corpus, and two of them are talking about a bar seat rather than a booking: Hugh Allen goes for 'a nice glass and some snacks', Khanh Ong for the cheeseburger and 'Gimlet anytime of the day for anything'. Broadsheet reports the marble bar 'speaks to the team's determination that this is a bar first, eatery second', so the format is the venue's own stated priority, and the bar takes walk-ins. That is the St. JOHN Bar case, attached to the right room: oysters opened to order under seaweed butter, a Martini with orange-bergamot bitters, and a wood-fired kitchen behind it, holding two hats in the 2026 guide. Book the dining room for an occasion and pay $$$$ for it. Take a bar stool any afternoon and the same kitchen costs a fraction.