Gingerboy and Cookie (Thursday Hedonism Part 2)

The Tour de France has been as action packed as my visit to Cookie last Thursday. Drug accusations, tacks on the road, dogs and illness. None of these themes directly applied to me but it is all happening at Cookie. Cookie, like the Rooftop Bar, is located at 252 Swanson Street in the Melbourne CBD. As usual it is filled with the after work "professionals" where everyone jostles as the bar for position attempting to look good. This is really the only place in Melbourne that I have frequented in the last three months that reminds me of the vacuous Ivy complex in Sydney. The disappointing part is that I knew what I was getting in for as I last drank at this hole two years ago. Sure, there is a good selection of beer available on tap and the bar staff seem to be efficient.

As you venture from the warm bar and past singles that are "reserving" stools and checking their Facebook, you must walk through their restaurant to get to the toilet. On both occasions, both on my entrance and departure from the place of rest, people have aggregated in the corridor making it very difficult to pass. This corridor is probably the quietest place in the complex but as I have come to learn with vacuous stupid people, they possess no social graces so even saying "excuse me" is not enough to dislodge them to gain access to the crapper so your humble writer had to use his shoulder do forge a path. Not just once, but four times over my visit to Cookie. The toilet surely doesn't match the elegance and warmth that Cookie tends to exude as it is as clean and smells like the toilet at Flinders Street Station.

After a great relaxed time drinking at The Rooftop Bar earlier, I did not want to languish at Cookie that long and was happy to go. My drinking partner commented that Cookie is like a bigger version of the bar within the Belgian Beer Cafe which did amuse me. At the time of this writing 84% of the reviewers on Urbanspoon like this place. I suppose I can not always agree with the masses here. Moving on to Gingerboy...




After escaping from Curtin House feeling like a criminal that has been released from gaol, it was time to consider dinner. We walked to Senoritas but was advised that they were full so we didn't bother waiting around. Any restaurant that gets a 12.5/20.0 rating in The Age isn't worth waiting for.

We found ourselves at Gingerboy and they were happy to accommodate our food and beverage requirements upstairs. Given my recent experience at Chin Chin, I was happy to eat at the bar given that I would have immediate access to the lovely and attractive barmaid. Starters of salmon tartare, dumplings and a cocktail were ordered. They were so amazing we ordered a second round of both the food and drink again before getting into the mains. Before when I was disappointed with myself when I did not visit The European until recently after living in Melbourne for nearly three months, I was sullen that I did not previously go to Gingerboy. I had been there a few times over the years, both for lunch and dinner and have never been disappointed.

This is the second part of a three part post. Part one is here. Part three is here.

Gingerboy
Link to review
27-29 Crossley Street  Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9662 4200
http://www.gingerboy.com.au
My Rating: 15.5/20
Service: 4/5
Ambiance: 3.5/5
Quality: 4/5
Value For Money: 4/5
Comment: Shared dishes and cocktails = win


Twitter: @epicurean3006
e-mail: epicureanofsouthbank (at) gmail (dot) com
web: www.epicureanofsouthbank.com


Gingerboy is currently one of my favourite places to eat and drink in Melbourne. At the time of this writing, 82% of the reviewers on Urbanspoon also like Gingerboy.