I keep medicine, spices, plates, cups,  pots, pans, and dry goods in my cabinets. Cabinet Bar on Rainbow Ally is where the happy people with cocktails in their hands are kept. If you don’t look up while passing by the corner of Swanston Street and Little Collins, you will miss one of the cosiest nooks I have yet found in Melbourne. Its balcony overhangs Swanston Street, and its entrance is tucked away at the rear via Rainbow Ally.

The drinks flow steady and true (particularly on Tuesdays—all-day Happy Hour), and Cabinet has an impressive wine list to choose from. The bar menu is an exciting selection of atypical tapas, ranging from $5.50 (marinated olives) to $21.50 (European picnic-style antipasto for two). Their $16.50 pizzas are popular, with fancy toppings that come together in the perfect union of aesthetic and taste atop the flatbread base.The bar is usually manned by Al or Kath, co-owners of the establishment, who supply patrons with a fastidious knowledge of wine while giving the cocktail mixer a mean shake-shake.

Cabinet is bustling with after-work punters, quieter in the later evening hours during the week, and busy on weekends. However, one of the best things about Cabinet is that it’s never uncomfortably packed and the music is never too loud. If you want to eat, go before 10pm, and for happy hour rates, go between 5:30-6:30 Wednesday-Saturday or anytime on Tuesday. But never go on Monday, because Cabinet will be closed.