Robot

Robot has been a staple of Melbourne bars for decades, and it is an unpretentious postcard of love for Japanese beer, whiskey and animé. On most nights you will meet Yoshi the mercurial owner and if he’s in the mood you’ll have a great chat and if not you’ll get to meet his excellent bar staff. Drinks range from Aussie local beers to Japanese craft like Coedo, through to a Nikka 12yo single malt whiskey. I also saw evidence of a rare 25yo Ardbeg Lord of the Isles but alas it was the last empty bottle. This is an intimate and civilised little bar four days out of five. Watch out for Friday’s as it’s often packed. There is also a great little ramen place opposite once you get peckish.

One day while I was perusing Google Maps at work I came across this place. What immediately jumped out at me was the name — it was such a cool name that I had every intention to visit it as soon as possible. So, that night, after I had watched a Hong Kong movie at Melbourne Central I made my way down here to check it out. Well, simply put, it is one of this cool bars hidden away in the back alleys of Melbourne, and what makes it stand out from the multitude of other bars scattered around is that it is a Japanese bar, meaning that they sell everything Japanese. I wasn’t all that game to try the Saki, so I ended up settling for a Kirin instead. Still, it is certainly a bar that I would love to visit another time soon.

Friendly people, amazing service and good conversations. Feels like I was let in on a secret and informed of this place. Part of what makes Melbourne so special and fun.

A bit of fun for a small group, the Robot bar has a decent range of Japanese and craft beers and cocktails on offer. It’s dark and quiet, making it a good spot for a quiet together/​date with your nerdy other. I was disapointed at the lack of robot, or even cyborg, bar staff but there are just enough kitschy robots as decorations for the bar to earn it’s name.
There’s also a tabletop game upstairs if you and your date start feeling competitive/​nostalgic for your childhood.

Robot is a small little bar hidden away in a lane way. It’s a cozy venue with a modern Asian feel to it: robots hang from the ceiling, they have several Japanese food items on the menu, and they serve sake and Asian beer in addition to the typical alcohol you’d find at other bars.
The venue is split over two levels; the upper level is located over the bar and looks over the seating on the lower level. An old-​school table-​top arcade game is located on the upper level, along with seating. A small number of tables sit outside the bar in the lane way.

I was expecting much more from robot. I mean it’s nothing bad, but it really is a
back lane hide-away.I suppose it has the removed from Tokyo vibe going on. It’s a
bit pokey and quite dark, and far smaller than I was expecting it to be. So I there’s
not too many place to sit. Still, they do have a great Japanese craft beer range, and
all in all, the drinks range is quite good. it gets crowded very quickly though, but there is a cool lofty space upstairs above the bar with stair access. The staff are quite friendly and helpful however.

This is the quintessential Melbourne laneway bar, gets busy on the oddest of days (as they do), and apart from the friendly staff and (possibly) good company, the screen alone is sure to keep one entertained for a bit!

In a back alley (aren’t all Melbourne’s best bars?) we found Robot Bar and walking through the doors is almost like being transported to a ridiculously hipster cool bar in Tokyo. We were promptly seated inside and before long I was sipping on one of the easiest to drink Espresso Martinis I’ve had. Props to the mad hipster behind the bar who made it for me. They also have a pretty neat collection of Sake but we’ll leave that for another visit.
There’s an upstairs area including an old-​school table game console and although busy it wasn’t overwhelming, that is until a huge group of book lovers from an author signing event tried to squeeze themselves into the upstairs area tetris style. That was our cue to leave, but I’d be back. This rad little bar has some attitude going for it.

Located in a laneway across from Randy Dragon, Robot is a Japanese bar that serves all the usual drinks, but also lots of sake. According to the name, it might also be a sushi bar, but I’ve never seen sushi here. Quite a small venue, there is seating outside, downstairs, and upstairs — the upstairs gets really hot for some reason.
I love sake so I love any place that serves a variety of sake. Yes, you can go for the house sake ($ 15 for 300ml), but that’s boring. On their menu, they have some interesting stuff — the Robot Ninja not only has a cool name, but it is junmai ginjo, my favourite type of sake.
There are also some interesting cocktails like the Asian Alchemist ($ 17) with gin, lychee liquor, sake, apple juice, ginger beer, lime, cucumber, and coriander. Sounds fantastic! The best part is that they carry quite a few types of Hitachino beer. More and more bars are carrying this Japanese wonder beer, but Robot had a couple of styles that I haven’t found anywhere yet.

Ignore the negative nellies and get on down to Robot Bar. Or don’t actually… I love this place and it’s a little small and I don’t want you taking up space drinking all the sake!
The sake! Mmmmm… sake. Tastes like dewey drunk berries in spring sipped out of a ceramic cup. The house sake is pretty decent for $ 15 and compared to other places that like to charge up to $ 55 for their sake, I love Robot Bar for its delicious affordability.
That said, be wary of the beers. $ 14 for Codeo — an imported Japanese. It’s steep but that said, it’s a pretty good beer. The dark ale is definitely the pick of the Codeo menu. They also have the other usual suspects like Asahi and Tiger.
The venue itself is adorable. Red plush seating, a small outdoors area, upstairs area and Japanese movie posters and random art everywhere. I wish I knew what it all was!
Oh and before I sign off on this gush for Robot Bar — EDAMAME PEAS.
$ 20 for edamame peas and house sake for two. Legendary!
Take your date here and if they’re not impressed, you know it’s not going to work out.

I came here for drinks after work for a friend’s birthday just a few days ago and left with very mixed feelings about the place. The venue itself is pretty cool but quite tiny. Down a laneway, it has a small area to sit outside, a cosy downstairs seating area to hang with friends, and then a very small upstairs lounge area with lots of comfy seating.
I tried the house sake and was actually fairly impressed. For $ 15 you get 300ml and it’s pretty tasty. I asked what temperature it was served best at and they said room temperature. Weird. But it was still pretty good. They also have quite a big sake list.
I wouldn’t eat here as they only really have bar snacks. The endamame are awesome if you get peckish though.
They have a number of decent beers. It’s a good place to go for Japanese beers which are always excellent.
The overall vibe was pretty good. We were on the top level and it got so hot without they seeming to be any air con (maybe it wasn’t turned on because it was spring). But it was baking.
I’d say a very mixed bag overall but still worth checking out.

The robot’s alright, I guess. In my opinion, it’s no so much about Asian culture as it is about cross-​cultural otaku nerdiness. The name’s a hint, I suppose. But yeah, they have regular animé nights, things like that. A friend had a digital art project debut here, years and years back.
The drinks list, though, definitely has an Asian theme. The beer list’s Tsingtao, and Lion, and Bintang, and maybe three or four other Asian beers I haven’t tried. And they’ve got several brands of sweet and dry sake in stock as well. Robot’s a nice enough place, and it’s the kind of place you can take a certain type of tourist to establish a certain type of cred.
All that said, it’s pretty tiny, so don’t plan on bringing along any massive parties. And it’s popular enough that you can’t be assured of finding a seat.

To be perfectly honest, Unilocal has surprised me by telling me that Robot is a sushi restaurant as well as a bar. Having only ever been at night, when there is nothing on offer in the way of food but a few bar snacks, it doesn’t seem like the most likely of places to get one’s fill of sushi. So I’m going to ignore that side of things and talk about the drinking.
This is a Japanese themed bar. They have animé nights every Tuesday night and serve sake (warm or chilled), Japanese beer and Japanese themed cocktails. It’s decorated with robots, including an adorable hanging array of toy robots that create delightfully cartoonish shadows on the wall.
Robot is a place for a group of friends to go out at night. Once you get there, you might find this odd, as the two-​level venue is so tiny that they only have space for one unisex bathroom. However couples look out of place — it’s not a date venue, it’s for drinks. Just don’t get the house sake, it’s that cheap for a reason.

Focusing on Japanese beers and sake while providing a stock of standard wines, spirits and beers, Robot is a quaint little bar with lots of attitude. Although the interior is rather cramped, Bligh Place, an alleyway running off Flinders Lane, provides ample spillover room while an upstairs portion within provides access to bathrooms and further seating. As one would expect from a Japanese themed bar, Robot’s walls are adorned with numerous framed Manga celluloids and contemporary art. Although prices can be steep when compared to other bars within Melbourne’s CBD, Robot is both still rather affordable and certainly individual, offering a warm, bright and unique experience for those willing to venture down to the end of Bligh Place and escape Melbourne’s often dreary weather.