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It’s the first proper hot day of the year in Melbourne and I’m sitting at The Walrus in St Kilda, named last week as Victoria's Bar of the Year by The Age Good Food Awards. I’m lucky to get a seat at the bar barely 10 minutes after open, and the oyster shucking station is already in the weeds. “There were people waiting outside for us to open,” says co-owner Amy McGouldrick with a nervous chuckle from behind the bar as she directs traffic and pours drinks for an endless flow of dockets.
But despite the flurry of activity behind the bar, this place is a super chill way to spend a Sunday arvo, the small room lively but relaxed as couples and groups of friends enjoy seafood towers and their signature Espresso Martini with pedro ximénez. I settle in with the No. 2 from their list of unnamed cocktails; a bittersweet mezcal number with Campari, grapefruit, and rimmed with smoked salt. It’s a perfect antidote to the dry, hot wind blowing down Inkerman Street today, and goes beautifully with my Wapengo oysters, fresh and lively and served ice cold.
Other snacks on offer include a scallop party pie, its flaky pastry encasing the ocean funk of shellfish in creamy bechamel, richness balanced by a squeeze of house made hot sauce. It’s fun and silly and delicious in a way that exemplifies the desire of today’s hospo operators — even the ones who can talk premier cru Chablis and smash out five-star food — not to take themselves too seriously.
“From the beginning, we wanted to take the idea of the traditional champagne and oyster bar and make it accessible,” Amy says. “Marty [Webster, Amy’s business partner] loved the little hole-in-the-wall oyster places he frequented during his time in Paris, but we wanted to do that in a way that felt open to everyone. So we choose great wines with similar characteristics to the European classics but that are different and affordable,” she says.
Here, it’s a fun juxtaposition to see a $44 glass of chablis on pour while longnecks of Melbourne Bitter also fly off the bar. I asked Amy if she thought Melbourne Bitter and oysters are a good pairing. “I think it is, yeah!” she laughs. “In the UK, beer and oysters is a combo that people have been doing for ages, and sometimes you just want a crisp lager, y’know?”
With The Walrus about to celebrate their second birthday, Amy says the idea was always to create a place for the neighbourhood. “We were looking to do something that was very much for the area. We’ve lived here for a long time, and we wanted to create something that’s relaxed enough that it didn’t feel like it had to be a special occasion, but where you can still get a good drink and a good snack — just a really solid local spot,” she says. “It wasn’t a rock-solid concept, but it was always going to be something to do with oysters and wine. We didn’t invent the idea, but people sure like it.”
I asked her what being named Bar of the Year means to her and her team. “I know it might sound cliched,” she says, “but we really weren’t expecting it. We showed up to the awards thinking we’d just get a bit of a nod, so it really was a surprise. For us, it puts a bit of a shine on all of the hard work that has gone into it for the whole team over the last couple of years, and offers a little validation to all that,” she says. “But it’s also been really nice for all of the regulars. The community feels quite invested, so it’s been wonderful having people come in to celebrate with us. It was never something we set as a goal, but we’re super happy in terms of our community having that little feather in our hat.”
I remember when Bar Liberty first opened a decade ago, and I described it at the time as the closest thing a wine bar could get to being punk rock. It felt deliberately disruptive to have a venue with wine and fine dining chops that had great spirits, great beer and great cocktails. The Walrus feels to me like a validation of that ethos that no longer needs to break existing mores about what a wine bar can or should be. These days, we expect good cocktails at a wine and oyster bar, and we expect friendly and casual service sans white aprons. In Melbourne in 2025, a longneck of Melbourne Bitter paired with freshly shucked Wapengo oysters feels not so much disruptive as simply correct.
“For us,” Amy says, “it’s all supposed to be fun. That’s the thing about hospitality; the pure enjoyment of it all. So we ask ourselves; what’s fun, and what’s delicious? that’s the brief — just, whatever is fun and good.”
Photos: Fred Siggins
Around the Bars
Good On You. Big ups to the other bar and beverage professionals who got the nod in this year’s Good Food Awards for Victoria, including Bar Midland in Castlemaine with the award for Drinks List of the Year, Justin Howe for the epic achievement of Sommelier of the Year at restaurant Harriot, Zarah (with cocktails by Matt Linklatter) for taking out Best New Restaurant, The North Fitzroy Arms for Pub of the Year, and a very special congrats to our siblings in arms from Sorry Not Sorry Collective for the well-deserved award for Cultural Change Champion - we all owe it to them to continue the good work. See the full list of winners.
Horsing Around. The Melbourne Cup is upon us today. Good luck to anyone working at a venue or event that might bear the brunt of Melbourne’s festival of animal cruelty, gambling and day drinking. Just remember, if they’re wearing a suit or a fascinator, RSA for days! And if they look like a member of a bikie gang, chances are they’re sober and polite (forgive me my judgement — I’ve worked too many Cup Days to be diplomatic).
Making Moves in Melbourne. There are heaps of new venue openings happening in Melbourne over the coming weeks, including a new venue in the space formerly occupied by legendary classic cocktail bar The Everleigh, Death & Co. Melbourne, Disuko and a few others, so stay tuned.
