In the middle of last week I was sitting happily at home contemplating an alcohol-free day, and how much my overworked liver may appreciate such a wondrous happening. Long story short, is I got a phone call saying there was a new wine bar down the road in Essendon, and that I should tag along to check it out. If you like a very competitively priced glass or bottle of wine, I suggest you do to. The wine bar down the road in Essendon turned out to be the Essendon Wine Bar. The night I went was the soft opening, and there was the odd fixture waiting to be fixed in the back of the venue, but it also gave us a chance to look through before it was all polished and suave. One of the highlights for me was seeing inside the old safe (the venue was a NAB branch in a previous life) which now serves as a liquor store (as in backup booze cache, not bottle shop). Somewhere between being a bank and becoming a wine bar, this was also a nightclub, so some of the furniture has been re-purposed, but much of it is slick and new. The back of the venue will retain a wide dance floor and as it will be open until late a few nights a week, but it will be given a facelift. The smoking area out the front is a nice spot when there are no smokers, and there is footpath seating. Food is outsourced to neighboring restaurants. Armed with my initial freebie-opening-night-celebratory-wine, I perused the wine list. It was still being printed, but the interim one was interesting and featured a number if wineries I had never heard of. Second glass of wine was a Heathcote Shiraz, and it was great, at $6 a glass or $22 a bottle. In consultation with my group, we invested in a bottle for the third round. Then another. A third, equally-well-priced bottle was purchased, but I can't remember what it was. Then there was a discussion about sampling a white, so we did that obligingly without doing too much damage to the bank account. Finally it was time to leave as the sober driver wanted some sleep. A beer for good health courtesy of the bar manager was all that stood in the way of a swift departure. Throughout all this I nibbled on samples of the catering, and can tell you the olives a good, the arancini balls delightful, fries moreish, and meatballs worth the wait. As a special tip for those of you who made it this far into my review, bottles of Champagne, real Champagne from Champagne, start at $65 a bottle for Mumm Cordon Rouge or Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label. Now tell me you don't want to check this place out! read more

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Got a groupon as a gift at this place and as mentioned on the coupon went made a booking for 9pm this evening. The place smelled of puke (or was it cheese), either way it was not too pleasant. The voucher was for a 'Wine Tasting Experience with a Meat and Cheese Platter' for two. Their menu states that a platters include 'cheese (4), cold meats (3) Marinated olives, water & gluten free rice crackers' and the pictures on the website looks scrumptious. Infact, I though it was one of those hidden gems, a cozy nook and and was eager to try their yum cha. However, when I made the booking last evening I was told that I could only order what was available as yum cha was outsourced. The wine list consisted of a few low to mid range wines and I settled for a glass of '2013 Mike Press Pinot Noir Adelaide Hills' and my husband settled for a glass of Pimm's. As for additional food, we were told told that the only food available was from the pizza menu. Husband came back with the drinks from the bar and it took approximately 30 minutes for the Tasting Platter to arrive upon questioning it's whereabouts. The slightly rude personnel behind the counter had the nerve to say 'It is because we are busy', when we politely questioned as to how much longer it would take. Made a mental note to not spend a penny more than what the voucher would cover and to take our dinner bill elsewhere. The cold cuts, prosciutto and the salami tasted funny, the cheese was alright, the water crackers were soggy and who the hell serves Peckish Crackers. I could have made a better platter at home. I wish restaurants would stop existing for the sake of existing and actually do justice to the culinary art. Absolute disappointment! read more