Loch & Key

Though more likely coincidence than trend, the recent appearance of several venues with late licences (existing licences, pre-dating the current zero-tolerance regime) choosing to water and feed their punters until the wee hours is a cheering prospect for Melbourne's night owls. In the past six months or so Boney, Le Bon Ton, Nieuw Amsterdam and Loch & Key have all opened, pushing sustenance alongside quality booze and late hours and proving once again, what a civilised place Melbourne can be when it puts its mind to it.

Loch & Key is the upstairs cocktail arm of Captain Melville, the Franklin Street diner now occupying Melbourne's oldest pub. Reached via a staircase inside Captain Melville (or one at the rear of the place when it gets late) it's a pleasantly gloomy series of small rooms that lead to the main event: a wide, sheltered verandah that is a seriously excellent place to drink cocktails from late afternoon to early morning.

There's a timber-clad clubbiness to the place, backed by some increasingly common Melbourne bar tropes, from waistcoated bartenders and wall-mounted taxidermy, through to correct glassware, mirrored bar shelves full of quality liquor and a short list of house cocktails to accompany the well-made classics.

The bar manager, Sarah Miller, plans to change the cocktail list several times a year and has done so recently with a few of the more summery concoctions being replaced with ones ready to face down autumn (the Double Dutch Puff includes vodka, 16-year-old whisky, sweetened milk, coffee soda and orange blossom water, $20).

Miller's cocktails favour the complex but she and her staff are also willing to put together simpler, more classic drinks. There's also a decent list of beer with a lean towards Australian craft brews (Angry Man Pale Ale, $9; Killer Sprocket Amber Ale, $10.50) and a short, user-friendly wine list with everything available by the glass except the Roederer ($120).

Food-wise, Loch & Key keeps it simple, playing support to the cocktails' leading role. Pickles, nuts, edamame and olives are all available but there's also a couple of pretty substantial toasties (hot chorizo and Mahon, a mini Reuben, both $8) and a cured meat platter with bread and mustard fruits ($12). It's not complicated or culinarily dazzling food but it's perfectly pitched for the place and the crowd.

With its compact dimensions, personable and skilled staff, quality drinks and late night menu, Loch & Key is exactly the kind of business that a city like Melbourne should have available late at night. It and its fellow late-night travellers are not only servicing an obvious market but are also proving you can, in fact, stay open after 11pm without the sky falling.

THE LOWDOWN

Drink this The brilliantly named Black Magic Woman, a potion that includes bourbon, vermouth, PX sherry, bitters and a couple of types of jam in the mix.

Eat this There are pickles and olives and peanuts but late at night it's hard to resist the charms of a hot chorizo and Mahon cheese toastie.

Check this The wide verandah overlooking Franklin Street. Is there a better one in town?