Magic Mountain Saloon

Is a safe pair of hands a good or bad thing when you’re talking bars? Surely the bar experience of legend – low-lit, labyrinthine rooms, loud music, strong drinks, sexy people, questionable behaviour – is anything but safe. But chuck a couple of experienced operators into the mix, people who intrinsically get that late-night, low-light, bar brat behaviour is as integral to a bar’s success as clean beer lines or an ergonomically correct bar stool, and you might come around to thinking that a certain type of safe hands is just what a good bar needs.

Magic Mountain Saloon, the latest venture from the team behind great Melbourne bar hits Cookie, the Toff in Town, Revolver Upstairs and Boney, is something of a slam-dunk for the theory. Knowing that the Ippoliti family (led by patriarch Camillo) and exec chef Karen Batson are going to be your guides for the evening is very encouraging. The drinks will be good. The food will be good.  There’s certainly plenty of room in which to have fun. 

Magic Mountain has taken over a former Irish theme pub on Little Collins Street (and its super-rare 24-hour licence) and turned it from tired old cliche to an uncluttered, atmospheric, warehouse-channelling three levels of red neon, stencilled murals, multiple seating options (booths, bar, tables, benches, balcony), clandestine nooks and crannies, DJs playing seven nights a week and generous lists of everything from cocktails and draught beer to successful but kind of bonkers Thai food that’s been seeded with American barbecue and given a good shake.

Magic Mountain runs from breakfast to nightcap and so the flexibility of the space is imperative. Clever design makes it as excellent a space to have lunch as it is to knock back cocktails and get a little raucous after dark.The cocktail list here is lengthy and interesting and includes a comprehensive collection of spritzes, ideal for hot days when more liquid and less alcohol is a good idea.

Included in this particular mix is Bitch Diesel (Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc mixed with lemonade and a slice of lime) and D-Day (apple cider and Aperol).The four-page cocktail list runs to classics and house specials, all well made and served. The Bartenders Handshake, for example, a mix of Jamesons 18, Punt e Mes, Grand Marnier, Fernet Branca and bitters, is a beautifully balanced and constructed member of the species, strong and pretty all at the same time.

One drawback at this stage is that the drinks can take a long time to arrive, even on nights when the place isn’t packed. There’s no problem with taking time to get drinks right or with staff having a good time on the job, but when you’re a thirsty customer who ordered a drink some time ago, watching the staff gather behind the bar to toast each other with shots  can cause a little tear in the balloon of bonhomie.

There’s no such delay with the food (served until midnight), with a menu that runs to big, robust flavours, embracing the Thai theme that’s been the foundation of Magic Mountain’s siblings but this time combining it with some Americana spirit. Pork scratchings come with sticky pork, chicken wings are flavoured with soy and coriander, and chicken zingy with kaffir lime shares space with Scotch eggs and onion rings.

Magic Mountain Saloon does offer a safe pair of hands, particularly those needing the security of good booze, food and music. The foundations are all here – the rest is up to you.

Drink this  ... Bartenders Handshake, an iron-fist-in-velvet-glove digestive-based cocktail
Eat this ... Pork scratchings, sticky pork and beer-battered mussels
Check this ... 15-plus beers on tap