Moat

Great place for a drink and a bite to eat. Awesome staff and fun atmosphere. The espresso martinis during happy hour is a fantastic deal. Ask for a Sicilian wine to make the floor manager happy

Had my 21^st dinner here. Absolutely great food and great staff! They helped make it a smooth and enjoyable night.

The Moat is a great example of one of Melbourne’s little hidden gems. Literally hidden below the beautiful National Library that looms above, The Moat is the perfect place to slip into to escape the hustle and bustle of the city above.
The service and food is consistently good with choice of small, medium or large plates depending on your appetite and size of the dining party. Meals range across a variety of flavours with features of curries, asian dishes and southern/​Mexican flavours. Personally I can recommend the Beef and eggplant ragout and the Confit Maryland Duck.
On my most recent visit they had a function booked later in the evening which we were warned of upon entry. We were able to order quickly and received our meals in good time. We were out before the function started yet at no time did we feel pressured or rushed by the staff.

Moat is the perfect literary café and wine bar. Hidden beneath the State Library of Victoria and the Wheeler Centre (another must visit place), Moat knows what it’s customers want. There is plenty of space during the day to relax with a expertly poured coffee and read a book, have a chat with friends or a quiet business meeting. They are also lovely about writers sitting with their laptops quietly tapping away for a few hours.
The staff are friendly and passionate about what they serve. They also really love the written word too so if you are reading a book be prepared — the staff probably have read it too and will have a fun chat to you about the story or the author. For literary nerds like me you are almost guaranteed to bump into a travelling author over a glass of red wine in the evenings if they are in town for a Q&A at the upstairs centre for writing (Wheeler Centre).
The food is on the expensive side in general but the quality is exceptional. Most things are made in house and the chefs really know their stuff and love to show off — your taste buds will thank you. All in all, Moat is a lovely relaxed place to sit with small groups or on a romantic date at night and talk about books (candle lit tables anyone?).

Lovely service, moody lighting, great library themes atmosphere and delicious food. Good value too– the meals are good sizes for what you pay. I loved the quirky design touches of this place. Greatly enjoyed dinner here! Would visit during the day too.

I came here looking for a cozy café and it was exactly what I wanted. I came here for breakfast and ordered my first meat pie tart and it was delicious. I loved the dimly light library living room atmosphere. Not sure what the chef was cooking for lunch or dinner service but it was mouth watering. Too bad I didn’t come back for dinner i’m sure it would have been tasty.

I had wanted to come to Moat for a long time, and didn’t know what to expect. Thinking it was a café an noting more, when I overheard colleagues talking about boozy lunches there, I figured the place must have something going for it beyond coffee and muffins.
Oh how much more there is :)
It was Tuesday after work for a quick drink with an out of town friend, and the venue was a hit. Great location, nice fit out and feel to it, decent service and an interesting menu.
We sat outside and it was windy, which was less than ideal as it felt a bit wind tunnel-​ish, even in the sunken ‘patio’ area.
I can recommend the roast potatoes, which are amazing, even though we got served fine sugar instead of salt to garnish them with! It was actually kinda nice with the olive oil.
I’ll be back

Had a meeting at the Moat. Was attending a media function in the Wheeler Centre above the Moat. Really convenient. My client had a low fat latte and I had a hot chocolate for $ 8 all together. We sat outside and were able to order the hot drinks through a cubby hole window. There is no table service so you have to pay at the window and get your own drink when a bell rings. It was a nice day and the venue below street level. We were able to have a good discussion & come to a preliminary agreement with our client.

Your first test is to find this place, while it isn’t as hidden as many hidden gems I still managed to walk past it at least once a week for about 3 years.
The café appears to be a converted storage room from the State Library and when I’m there the clientelle is always business people having quiet business lunches.
The coffee is decent, the food is reasonably good and the waiters leave you alone when you’re deep in conversation.

Great for Friday night drinks and also cold winter day lunches. Mostly the staff a lovely although one of the waitresses can have a special attitude! Love the mulled wine served in a beautiful tea cup and the espresso martini is done well.
The snack plates are excellent — good value and tasty. We normally get the potato skins and they’re fab!

Great late night spot for a snack and a vino (so cosy and surprisingly unpretentious) — Went here late after MIFF 2014 on a Monday night and while I got the impression our waitress was hoping for an early close the barman went above and beyond to make us feel welcome — even bending the ‘kitchen closed’ rules to make us roasted rosemary sea salt potatoes with aioli.

The Moat’s food is very tasty, as is their wine list.
This review relates only to coffee and service — both of which are sadly of inconsistent quality.
It is a cosy spot to hole up in on a winter’s evening, but I’d advise lowering your service expectations and not ordering a coffee.
I did have a lovely fresh peppermint tea though, so can recommend that instead!

Hidden gem. Great coffee, menu is eclectic but food is divine. Great service and fantastic atmosphere. Love the furnishings and the attention to detail. Would definitely go back.

Finicky food presented with care; unpretentious, inviting atmosphere; warm and friendly service. My gripes: really noisy later in the night, and I specifically asked for a perfect Manhattan with a twist and it was missing the bourbon cherry. My date’s beer was served in a beaker, though, and my drink came with a darling little paper perched on the rim, made from a page ripped out a book of plays. Kind of adorbs.
We both ordered the lamb shank, which was presented in the form of a pressed brick of braised lamb. I was expecting the actual bone, so it put me off until I actually took a bite. I’ve had better; I’ve had much worse. Bottom line here is presentation and small details, though sans bourbon cherries.

I like the Moat because it rhymes with goat!!!
All right, I just said that to be silly!
In all seriousness though I really really liked this place. I went there the other day for a meeting with someone and I found the atmosphere really friendly and really cozy. It is downstairs in a basement type room and reminds me of the sort of restaurant/​pub/​beerhall type place you go for a goulasch and dumplings in the former Czechoslovakia or Hungary! I have no idea if they have goulasch, but if they did then Id give the place 6 stars out of 5!!!
I arrived early and took a seat and waited for my colleague and read a book — during this time the staff put no pressure on me to order anything or anything like that — they knew of was waiting for someone and just left me alone — it was a nice touch.
When I did have a hot chocolate it was absolutely delicious — adding some more points to my opinion of the place!
The interior is also rather classy and is extremely comfortable!
All in all a very nice place and somewhere I certainly want to go back to!

Finally got to have a meal here. I had the Sicilian eggplant stew for lunch which was very tasty. The great thing was that there are many gluten free menu options including bread on request. Pity they don’t put it on the menu.
I do enjoy the space a great deal. Will look forward to exploring the menu further.

Little piece of heaven, underground. This basement restaurant is very homey feeling. Located under the Wheeler Building, it has bookcases filled with beautiful books, funky lantern type lighting and gold leaves painted on the walls.
The 4 of us ordered the warm olives to start, Canadian scallops, asparagus, meatballs and one of the salads and were completely satisfied with all of them. The asparagus and meatball dishes had warm bread on the side and the salad was served in a large, shallow bowl and had quinoa, rocket, mint and other bits in it that was very fresh tasting. The scallops were wrapped in prosciutto and were delicious.
The vino was flowing, the atmosphere was good and I had the Bali to Bangkok martini that was so delicious, I’m going to go back one day after work just for that! It’s vodka, kaffir lime and chilli. It had a kaffir lime leaf in it and shavings of red chillis. Superb!
Will be going back when it’s a bit nicer to sit in the patio area outside.

I came here the other night with a friend before we headed out somewhere else.
The décor of the place was really cool and fitting for it’s location (the Wheeler Centre and State Library).
We got the cheese board, and it was excellent quality, quantity and variety. The bread was still warm too!

The first thing I notice is the space, and how welcoming it is.
Warm and inviting, yet subdued, it provides comfort of privacy,
yet one also feels at ease in the intimate surroundings. Interior
design is well executed– warm. Far too often we see ultra modern,
bleached, sanitised, and clinical spaces, with too much polished
concrete and drab and dull fittings with white everything.
Hospital like spaces that are stripped back to an inch of their life
ain’t good. Not the case here. No such prevalent use of reductionist
dull. It seems like a calm yet efficient environment, it’s welcoming, and
I can only imagine what its like at full tilt. The menu is streamlined
and of excellence. To label it as «simple» or «basic», would do injustice
to the food. That being said, I got lost in sea of temptation– menu wise.
There is also great offerings on the drinks side. The bar is well
selected, sticking to strongly established favourites. The menu is a
decent offering all round; the hardest thing is deciding on what to eat.
One is spoilt for indulgent food choice. Consistent quality, with a lot
of options on offer means something for everyone.
In short there are many different occasions or visits one could come
here for and they’ll all be well served. It’s a great place to do anything
for any kind of meeting.

Moat at The Wheeler Centre is a new restaurant and bar which is part of the State Library complex. The entrance is found on the south side of the State Library building on Lt Lonsdale Street.
The welcoming green astroturf gives a great garden feel and the food is also lovely. We had the veal carpaccio and quinoa salad both of which were excellent. Also its a great place to have drinks with friends on hot summer days and nights.