Mana Bar - Fitzroy, Melbourne - Review

(CLOSED)
336 Brunswick Street
Melbourne VIC 3065
(03) 9417 3432

I am up while A is doing his early morning weekend chores so it is my duty to write this blog review. 

You may be used to his regular incoherent ramblings but I like taking you, the reader on a journey, so expect a great review! We set for the suburb of Fitzroy, with its trendy bars, hip streets, "oh-so bohemian" corners and where you can sit and enjoy the urban lifestyle of the verile population of Melbournian youth. After work, which is sombre and boring, a hump day taste of what Fitzroy has to offer can provide some much needed cultural sanctuary and relief. Better, it has games! 

That's right. Mounted to the walls of this bar are large screen LCD TVs, with analogue games and consoles ready to go. Kind of like the 90s when you would go down to the fish and chip shop and waste time for a buck fifty, this had the convenience of an arcade but the decor of a cocktail bar. The lighting was dim, and the screen providing interactive entertainment for old and small. Well maybe just the geeky, as I did a head count, I realised I was surrounded by early-mid twenties geeks, who were also trendy. Smart is really the new cool. 

The games were fun, I played one where Mario was fighting Princess Peach, Donkey Kong and a generic Japanese character I didn't recognise, it was a human not a robotic cat or a small-compactable pet that knows only one word, though happens to also be its name. This meant the club had no reservations for cheap copies from the 70s and 80s, which I decided I liked about it. The other games were Halo and Portal 2. Which probably got taken up with more enthusiasm. 

It was a fun night and eventually I receded to the front bay window where my red wine and house beers were happily sculling down with the company of Alex's friend's girlfriend. We chatted through various girly subjects and even subjects on movies we both liked, I found out she had read all three of the Lord of the Rings in novel form, raising much admiration on my part.

So there you have it. A good bar with fun things to do and I would say great atmosphere, good decor and the funniest thing is that it didn't mind taking the piss a little bit when it came to bringing back the charm of the old days. I am ready to hit the spacies once again!

Presentation & Atmosphere: 7.5/10 stars
Quality of Service: 8/10 stars
Value for Money: 6.5/10 stars
Quality of Drinks: 7/10 stars

Overall rating:  7.3/10 stars