KEY POINTS:
Enter plain office building in Bourke St. Take lift to third floor. Turn right and through the open doors. Welcome to Madame Brussels.
Inside the parlour there's Astroturf, a fake garden fence and chintzy furniture leading to an outdoor terrace with grand old buildings and lush treetops for a cityscape.
Waiters dressed in tennis whites serve the house specialities of punch and Pimms, or, in my case, a crisp white wine on a hot afternoon.
Melbourne's bars are going up and it's not just about making the most of outdoor space in the compact inner city. It's also about beating Victoria's 18-month-old smoking ban. And, of course, it's a cool new take on the bar scene.
The best thing about this latest trend, according to Melbourne's Age newspaper, is that cash and imagination are being thrown at the city's rooftops.
Take Siglo Bar on Spring St, up several flights of stairs, past the Supper Club restaurant, past display cases full of cigars and cognac, on to a wide outdoor terrace.
Here the backdrop is treetops in the grounds of the State Parliament and ornate domes on the neighbouring historic Princess Theatre.
An interesting looking wine list is cast aside to go for boutique Victorian beers, of which Chevalier wheat beer is a clear winner.
At A$26 ($31) it sounds expensive, but the heavy green glass champagne-shaped bottle holds 750ml that pours a cloudy amber and tastes of malty goodness.
How does one find these rooftop bars? There are tell-tale signs, like the flag of the Jolly Roger flying from the Rooftop Bar on the seventh floor of Curtin House in Swanston St. Failing that, it takes a bit of homework or asking around.
If you find yourself at Curtin House and you like cheapish eats, Cookie, on the second floor, is a large beer hall and Thai-inspired dining room. Because we were in a group and had to dine and dash, we left it to the young and efficient wait staff to bring out a range of dishes, washed down with as many different local beers.
Drunken prawns with garlic, coriander and Mekong whiskey, green and yellow curries and barramundi two ways - half stir fried with garlic chilli and basil; the other half with peanut, coconut and betel leaf salad.
I'm not normally a fan of Middle Eastern cuisine, but Maha Bar and Grill dramatically changed that. It opened in February in a basement location, just off Flinders Lane on Bond St. Chef Shane Delia has taken a background in French gastronomy and combined it with rustic, aromatic spices to inspire some brilliant food.
The best way to enjoy the food is to go for "soufra", a kind of sharing menu that started for us with a glass of astringent hibiscus tea, followed by small balls of green pea pastizzi. The highlights were marinated quail wrapped in vine leaves and melt-in-the-mouth slow-roasted lamb shoulder infused with sweet spices. Even the desserts were irresistible; chocolate and hazelnut bastilla with honey ice-cream, my favourite, was creamy and faultless.
Food like this is memorable and was right up there with previous gastronomic delights in Melbourne.
The legendary Peking duck, delicately wrapped in pancakes with a smearing of plum-hoisin sauce at the Flower Drum in Chinatown; a plum brulee at the Melbourne Wine Room in St Kilda.
It's worth exploring the highs and lows of this city.
Bernard Orsman travelled to Melbourne as a guest of Tourism Victoria.
ROOFTOP RESTAURANTS:
Madame Brussels: Level 3, 59-63 Bourke St, City.
Siglo: 161 Spring St, City.
Rooftop Bar: Level 7, Curtin House, 252 Swanston St, City.
Cookie: 252 Swanston St, City, www.cookie.net.au.
GOING UNDERGROUND:
Maha Bar and Grill: 21 Bond St, City, www.mahabg.com.au.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
You can find out about Melbourne at www.visitvictoria.com/nz.
