Matt L.

Asian fusion, coffee and cocktails - what more could you want? Seamstress is a gorgeous four level venue housed in a former textile factory. The street level houses the Drystore Espresso weekday-only cafe with a handful seats and sandwiches, catering for the corporate crowd. Down in the basement is the Sweatshop bar. Almost a polar opposite of the top level cocktail bar, it has the vibe of a classic "dirty but nice" basement bar. The first level houses the restaurant dining space and is in the style of a long dining hall filled with scattered tables. Finally, the second level is home to the cocktail bar. The more elegant level of the four, it has a mixture of coffee table-style seating and booths accompanied by leather armchairs and floor lamps. The building's previous use is maintained throughout the levels with clothing and tapestry hanging from the ceiling and sewing machines built into some of the tables. Dimmed lighting, exposed brickwork, unstained timber and chipboard furnishings add an element of what could be described as grungy intimacy. On this particular visit, the restaurant was fully booked but I was able to be seated at one end of the cocktail bar upstairs. The food menu is mixture of bar snacks, à la carte sharing plates and set banquets. The sharing plates are all available in three sizes, cater for varying party sizes, and is a creative mix of pan-Asian cuisine. Scallops, soft shell crab, duck, salmon, tofu red curry, wagyu - there's a dish for everyone. The kitchen prides itself on being vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and allergy friendly. The banquets comes in two choices and two sizes, 8 and 10 courses, and are a selection of the à la carte dishes. I went all out and ordered one of the 10 course banquets, for one. Seamstress's banquets are known to be huge and a bit of a challenge of sorts and the staff were a bit surprised when a solo person ordered one. Designed around sharing, the 10 courses are divided up into blocks of 2 or 3 dishes served at a time. The first set of dishes were Maple seared scallops with smoked rainbow trout, crispy shallots, apple salad and spicy nam jim dressing and Snake bean and golden sweet potato wontons with green pea purée. Tender, perfectly cooked scallops with a nice sweet and spicy accompanying salad. The wontons were also well cooked and full of flavour. These are two of the most popular dishes and are highly recommended to order when dining à la carte. These were followed by Crispy soft shell crab with apple and celeriac slaw and sriracha mayonnaise, Spice-rubbed Atlantic salmon with Thai pepper sauce, black rice and pineapple and sambal salsa and Roquette and broccolini salad with pickled ginger and tofu and tahini dressing. Another excellent selection of dishes with a tropical and spice theme, although the salad felt a little out of place. The final sets of savoury dishes was the Housemade red curry with kataifi-wrapped tofu, winter mushrooms, baby corn, Thai eggplant and bok choi, Honey soy braised wagyu shin with parsnip puree, crumbed cauliflower and vanilla caper salad and Caramelised eggplant with red miso and silken tofu sauce, crispy spice-crusted firm tofu and toasted sesame seeds. This is the point where the quantity of food started to feel a little overwhelming, but I pushed through. There is a bit of a tofu trend throughout the dishes and I'm not the greatest fan but still enjoyed it. The eggplant dish didn't seem to fit with this combination of dishes and could possibly have been served earlier on. Finally, there was not one but two dessert dishes, each served separately. There was the Lychee, plum wine sponge, raspberry coulis, popcorn sesame cream and yuzu curd and the Puffed rice coated banana fritters with dips of coconut anglaise, chocolate rum ganache and hazelnut praline. Two equally well presented dishes that were a perfect conclusion to a mammoth dining experience. After completing dinner, I enjoyed a few cocktails which the friendly bar staff made based on my desired tastes. Service throughout the night was excellent with staff explaining components of dishes as they came out and the bar staff providing welcomed banter. Seamstress is an intimate yet bustling venue that caters for any occasion with coffee, drinks and food on offer and is well deserving of its previously awarded titles of Cocktail Bar of the Year and Best Restaurant Bar.

Christina C.

This place is amazing!!! Highly recommended. I held an event last year for work and it was just fantastic from start to finish. They really get you and would go above and beyond for their customers (event). My first impression going up to the cocktail bar was rather strange but that's Melbourne (a bit on the quirky side) who doesn't look eating and drinking with dresses and pants hung up on top of your head? There's three levels that would suit all your needs. Casual bar downstairs, coffee-casual meals in the middle and cocktail bar upstairs. All unique depending on how you feel the night. The stairs a bit tricky though, make sure you hold onto the rails if you've got heels on! Food was amazing...the corn fritters was my favourite! I have been there once more a few months ago and it was so delicious. It can be a bit dark so make sure you get your friend to shine some light on your food for awesome pictures!

Mark J.

Oh my giddy godfather, this place is soooo cute! Honestly, I don't normally love affectation in a bar, but this one is affected in exactly the right way to open my wallet. It's three levels: a fancy couch bar up the top, a kind of garage bar down the bottom, and a restaurant in the middle. I can't really speak to the restaurant, but the two bars are pretty damn cool. They're not unique in terms of their actual contents - there's nothing unsual on their drinks list, for example. The presentation for both the bars really helps in setting a mood - kind of intimate for the upstairs and a bit more raucous for the downstairs. Seriously worth checking out.

Chely May R.

Seamstress is a lady of many trade, and all this she does in seamless manner. Fitting name for a fitting trade. Cafe by day and restaurant by night, find her after hours running the sweatshop and more intimate cocktail bar upstairs. Her waitresses are elegant and professional, the meals are wonderfully served with the scallops dish and elderflower dessert as highlights. This is a place for seamless service. They customise your dishes to the party size and appetite, I definitely felt well taken care of here. Well done lady Seamstress.

Michelle W.

Its been years since I last visited Seamstress. The food is still great, we had the set menu that cost $65. But god, the food took ages and by the end of it, we were all exhausted and ready to go home. Everything on the set menu was delicious. One of our friend was vegetarian and they were able to cater to him which was great.

Elizabeth T.

Wonderful food and a wonderful ambience. We ordered plates to share and we're rewarded with wonderful juicy steak and tasty veggies.

Julia L.

Seamstress is a great little spot for pre-theatre drinks. I've never eaten at the venue but i can vouch for the cocktail bar upstairs which provides an extensive list of drinks matched by exceptional surroundings and extremely attentive hosts. Alluring to a sweatshop type theme with garments free hanging from all angle this small nook located on Lonsdale will not disappoint. If you are keen to make the trek upstairs the mood and atmosphere here also make it worthwhile so much so that you soon forget your in Melbourne. Soft lighting and friendly, knowledgable waiter service. Seamstress is still one of the best places I have visited yet for a massive selection of seasonal mixed drinks. My top choices include the Vodka Espresso, Pisco Sour & Singapore Sling. If your feeling adventurous why not try the Bartenders choice. Sweatshop is open Monday to Saturday 5pm to 1am Friday and Saturday

Sophie L.

Venues such as Seamstress are part of what makes Melbourne such an amazing city. A beautiful design concept coupled with knowledgeable staff and delicious cocktails, this place is worth the rave reviews. In theme with sibling bar Sweatshop, the walls are adorned brightly coloured garments and the lighting is dark and moody. Seamstress brings to mind a tasteful opulence. Make your way up the winding staircase and you'll be well deserving of a treat. Cocktails such as the Venetian Cooler (French sparkling, pureed peaches, pomegranate, lemon and a splash of sherry), Rum Floradora (white rum, raspberry syrup, lime juice and ginger beer) and Grapefruit Julep (vodka, lime, honey, pomegranate and fresh pink grapefruit juice) are a meal in themselves.

Hope M.

Next time you're up this end of town and fancy a dessert, I say screw dessert and head for Seamstress for a cocktail instead! You'll need strong legs to get up the stairs past the Sweatshop and the restaurant level, but once you make it to the top you can relax in comfy chairs under little Chinese children's clothes that hang from the ceiling and enjoy the lovely service. The staff at Seamstress are great - they're super friendly and happy to make recommendations or explain what some of the more obscure cocktail ingredients are. They also do beer and wine, but really, you can have those things pretty much anywhere. Tip - Seamstress bar is a great spot to take a date after dinner... It has low lighting, alcohol a-plenty and the dodgy old wooden stairs are a good excuse to grab the hand of that special someone to stop them tumbling to an early death...

Patty Y.

We went upstairs to the bar while we were waiting for our reservations from another restaurant and I am glad we did! The bar was an Asian fusion for cocktails and they also had regular cocktails. The service was nice and they had comfortable chairs! Some Asian bars have these stools that are so uncomfortable, but not this place! They want you to sit your big butt down and stay awhile. It worked. Two Old Fashioneds, a Rum Swizzle and a martini later we left our comfortable seats for our dinner reservation feeling pretty good! I will be coming back to try the food.

Jasmine P.

Loved this place and would definitely go back! The wait staff were friendly and knowledgeable about the menu for both the food and drinks and were happy to recommend dishes as well as quantities of food to order as you can have the same dish in small medium or large serves (depending on the dish). This is definitely a place which is all about sharing food with everyone on your table, so if you love to share and want to avoid food envy this is a great spot to try.