With astroturfing being a theme among food bloggers over the past week or so, it’s time I took you to a brothel. Sorry, not brothel but Madame Brussels, a bar named after a famous brothel that operated in Melbourne in the late 1900s.
With its astroturfed, kitsch garden theme Madame Brussels (Level 3, 59-63 Bourke St, Melbourne +61 3 9662 2775) sits three floors up in a fairly dreadful office building with an entrance garnished with worn fawn carpet (and above a Japanese club that I am curious about).
Inside this oasis, I escape to what must be Melbourne’s best roof terrace for a crafty fag. Back inside, the Madame has an excellent selection of spirits. I taste three interesting pastis, although will their own subtle flavours.
Nothing fake here. Apart from the grass, of course.
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