Budburst Small Bar

Attended here on a Unilocal meetup. Was a very welcoming place. The staff were lovely and very attentive. Came here for wine and cheese, one of my most favourite thing in the world.
Great selection of wines, beers and cider. Then the cheese platter was amazing, once ordered, they will bring out a cheese platter to you to choose of which cheese you would like and then go to bar and dress up an amazing platter. Add fruits, sweets, mustard and some crackers. This was amazing.
Tried a few of other canapé dishes, and each was delightful. Ill be back to return here for this great experience. Thanks Unilocal for creating the event here, and highlighting a great small business.

We finally got to try this treasure & were blown away by so many aspects. Décor & ambience were superb, the wine selection impressive & we had the benefit of a wine tasting with Rachel who has created this gem. Got to taste wines i normally would not have tried. Couldn’t get a table for dinner as booked out but the cheese board was a beauty. Looking forward to returning soon

First dates, girl hangs, small group catch-​ups, mid-​week drinks, weekend drinks, pre-​drinks. There isn’t much this little bar isn’t perfect for, it really has all the boxes ticked.
There’s a small bar at the front of the building with a gorgeous floral window display to look over. The rest of the interior is nice too, a rustic European vibe. There’s also some seats out the front of the bar if you want to come down with your dog or baby in a pram.
They still have the little alleyway outside area out back that it’s predecessor Wee Bar had, but they converted the back area of the building into a medium size restaurant. The owner told me they have just hosted a wedding there recently. I’ve yet to go to the restaurant, only the bar so far.
Staff were friendly, great with advice on the wine list. I’d love to see a few more options on the bar’s food menu, perhaps a salad and some more substantial dishes in case you’re keen to get into the wine list in a big way (which you will want to) and need something to soak up all the alcohol.

Hubby and I had a rare toddler free moment before dinner and took the opportunity to have a quick drink.
There’s a good selection of beer and wine to suit every taste. Hubby try a beer he never heard of before and I large glass of Tempranillo (don’t you love it when places give you actual glasses of wine and not a sample size). Both hit the spot.
Though we weren’t looking for food the menu was too tempting so we ordered the duck parfait. The parfait was oh so smooth and with the perfect ratio if brioche and crisp bread.
It is a quaint homey feel, which makes it not child friendly — woo hoo! We’ll be coming back to try it for dinner.
Street parking can be a pain.

Hard to fault, great music, service and food with so many tastes on every dish + charcuterie platter!
We will be back!

Super cute & quirky wine bar that has just enough homely feel to make you want to sit back & enjoy a brew or two!
Fantastic beer and wine selection offering choices from a global scale. The nibbles and snack menu was a bit limited — something I think they could definitely work on in order to complement their variety of drinks. Would also be nice to see a few dessert options for those of us who are chasing a late night wine and sneaky sweet treat!

LOVED it! Really loved Wee Bar but was excited as to what would come with Rachael Niall (wine star of Perth) buying the business with plans update and upgrade.
Firstly, I don’t know how she’s done it but she’s somehow taken a tiny bar with an incredibly under-​utilised open kitchen and knocked out walls making the bar feel and be bigger than it was. For a diner, its an experience because the kitchen is literally in the dining room and you can see everything before your eyes. The sneaky bar alley is still there if you want to have a quiet drink outside.
My favourite change would have to be the bar’s physical position. Previously at Wee, the bar station was literally the centre of the room, moving it to the side has created that extra space in the room and additionally at bar seating for diners who perhaps have come alone and (just like in melbourne) there’s bar tenders who actually want to and will talk to you.
The food was brilliant, new chef who is French, so everything is small share plates. And everything is good. You just can’t go wrong.

A wonderful surprise!
I finally ticked off Budburst from the bookmark list, recently enjoying a visit with a couple of my Unilocal buddies. It’s always good to go to these small share plate venues with friends, because then you can order more plates and get a better gist of the food that’s on offer.
So we ordered the Croque Monsieur (apparently it’s one of Claire’s mandatory dishes). Thus, we ordered the scallops, as it’s one of mine. And for good luck, ordered the Beef*. All that went along with a bottle of Austrian Pinot Gris. Yes folks, that’s not a typo. The Austrians can produce the goods in the Pinot department. And Budburst can produce the goods in the food department. Which is just as well.
Our only minor issue was that while the scallops and the duck (served together in the dish) were perfectly executed in preparation (pardon the pun), together, we were not convinced they are an ideal pairing. I note that they have already changed the scallop dish from what used to be listed when the place first opened, only a matter of months ago. But a changing menu is what keeps a place interesting, so that comment is not a criticism.
Afterward, we decided to tackle a couple of the cheeses. Wow. Really decent serving size and delicious cheeses, served with the ‘decorations and transport’ — crispy toasts, pickles and other accompaniments (Nathan’s favourite part!).
It’s good to have the expectation of product secondary to the excitement of catching up with your friends when you attend a venue for the first time. Because then you can only be delighted with the experience, if it’s good. Which it was.
*The Beef was the stand out dish of the night.
A couple of notes for non-​locals: there is free street parking right outside the venue, or in the open parking lot close by. Do *not* park in the undercover bays of the mixed apartment and shop building adjacent, on the corner of Scarb Beach and Oxford Streets. The gates to this are closed at 7pm and the caretaker of the building is a very irate and violent little man. The venue is situated at the Mount Hawthorn end of Oxford Street.

I never made it to the former venue location so I come to my review prejudiced free :) Budburst was a pleasant evening out; it helped we were catching up with a fellow Unilocaler, however beyond the company the staff here got everything right.
Firstly we were never rushed into ordering, nor did I ever notice waiting on people to take our order; we tried 3 or 4 of the small plate dishes some much larger than others and since they offer most of their wine by the glass or bottle we were allowed a small sample prior to choosing a wine — always appreciated.
The food was consistently tasty, and I would estimate used good quality ingredients; a couple of the dishes interesting pairings worked better than others — for instance the duck and scallop were both lovely, however they did not stand out together.

Havnt eaten here yet but the wine list is great and the service very pleasant. Had a lovley chat to the friendly owner and whilst i miss the old, smaller fit out of Wee Bar, as it used to be-​the atmosphere here is nice– open and airy without being like a warehouse.