The Laneway Lounge launch was nothing short of spectacular. Red carpet and jazz notes floating through the Perth CBD drew us into a dark alley off Murray Street into this beautiful venue.
I felt like I had left Perth just by walking through The Laneway Lounge doors, the venue was just stunning. Gorgeous booths to left, lounges in the middle, stools by the bar and then as you go further into the venue there’s a live music dining room.
This is The Laneway Lounge’s grand entrance…
The funky wooden doors featured behind the bar is just like Potato Head’s in Bali…
The vintage live music dining room was beautiful…
The Laneway Lounge owners, three long time friends, wanted a sit down bar offering fantastic food, wonderful cocktails that supported the live music industry. They wanted to create a venue, which had elements of everything they loved in a venue. So with this as their inspiration, they brought in award winning mixologist Grant Collins (best known for bar openings in Ku Te Da, Potato Head and the W Hotel) and celebrity chef Danny Russo to bring their perfect venue to life.
I couldn’t get over how creative The Laneway Lounge cocktails were. Although not at all surprised with Grant Collins behind these amazing creations!
I loved the deconstructed G&Ts and mojitos. It was such a novelty having cocktails served on a spoon…
These deconstructed mojitos served on edible sand were even yummier…
There was a New York styled popcorn vendor serving cocktails with popcorn…
These were our Laneway Mules ($18) and we enjoyed it with popcorn 🙂 The Laneway Mule is made up of vodka, homemade spiced ginger beer, lime and cucumber. If you like your ginger beer you’ll like this cocktail as the ginger is very strong.
Little did I know these innocent looking fairy floss sticks were made up of champagne and absinthe!
I absolutely loved the Elderflower & Lychee Breeze cocktail ($18) as it was light and sweet. It was made up of vodka, elderflower, fresh pressed lychee, kafir lime leaves, fresh pressed ginger and and fresh apple juice served over crushed ice.
We continued to enjoy more cocktails as the evening went on…
We thought it was only natural that we have “Speakeasy” Iced Tea with dessert 🙂 though I must say I wasn’t speaking easily after drinking this as it was really strong. The Speakeasy Iced Tea serves 2/3 people ($36) and was made up of spiced rum, spice ice tea syrup, cointreau, gin, vodka, fresh pressed citrus and coca cola. How cute are the tea pots!
Celebrity Chef Danny’s food menu was just as impressive as Grant Collins’ cocktail menu. I loved the chorizo which was served on a bed of mash…
These slow roasted pork belly w/ fennel, apple, walnuts & bacon jus gluten free canapes had the perfect balance of flavour, I could have eaten these all night…
burger boy would have loved these burgers…
I don’t normally eat sashimi but I think I might get into it after trying The Laneway Lounge’s mini Italian sashimi canapé…
A yummy popcorn chocolate dessert…
As full as I was, I couldn’t say no to a platter full of macarons…
Just as I thought the night couldn’t get any more merrier, we were surprised with a live performance by X Factor winner Samantha Jade who sang Etta James’ At Last…
The Laneway Lounge is open Tuesday - Saturdays from 4pm until midnight (yep that includes the kitchen too foodies :)). I know where I’m headed when I’m in need of a late night snack and jazz 🙂 The Laneway Lounge has bar and table service so best to book but they do accept walk-ins too. There’s no set dress standard but smart casual dress seems to be the norm.
I haven’t been since the launch but my foodie colleague who came along with me, thought the service she received on a regular night was just as good as the launch. It’s not pretentious despite being stylish and although the drink prices aren’t listed on the website, it’s actually what you would expect in a Perth bar of the same calibre.
Entry is free and you are looking at about $18 for a cocktail, wine from $9 - $13 per glass, beer from $8.50, cider from $9.50 and spirits from $9.50. As for the food, the Something Bigger menu items range from $23 - $39, Something Small from $19 - $23 and Love Bites from $9 - $14. There’s plenty on the menu to choose from but I’m not sure what the portions are like but I’ll definitely be back to have dinner over a bit of jazz to see for myself. Drinks and food menu prices listed in this blog post are as at August 2013.
The Laneway Lounge is worth a look and it’s exciting to have something so jazzy here in Perth.
