Gerald's Bar

10/10. every dish astonishingly good. mushrooms like I’ve never had it. unreal curls of 🐙. the most succulent and soft lamb. oysters w watermelon granita all washed down w a cold chardonnay. a perfect summers alfresco dinner in Carlton.

i went with a friend for dinner and drinks. the wine selection was great, and the food was white good (although the barramundi wasn’t properly scaled). the one relatively minor complaint we both had was that the food came out too fast! we had four different dishes on the table, plus bread, at one stage. not only was the table overcrowded (making it difficult to actually pick up and transfer the food to our plates), but it meant some of our warmer dishes sat on our table and cooked down while we were finish the dishes before them, and our dinner went by more quickly than we would have liked. if the pacing of the dishes was adjusted, the experience would have been borderline perfect.

This is a hidden gem! Very busy tho with a lot of walk-in customers. Absolutely loved their home made dishes and chill vibe. From a simple house pickled vegetables to roasted pumpkin, it’s just perfect. We had red wine, it’s was nice and smooth, recommended by the friendly staff. Food’s a little bit pricy but with very classy set up and good taste, worth the value. Will come back to visit again.

This is our first time here and we loved it! Food is well executed, service is impeccable (Jess is the best!) and the ambience is so cozy. We will definitely come back to get the seafood for main and more snacks. So glad we decided to try this place!

Great Food, Great atmosphere. Only complaint is they say you can’t book, but when you walk in you can still be given a table at the back and walk past all the good tables that are empty. Doesn’t make sense. How do people get the good tables if they arnt booking?

Went for dins last night.. honestly 10/10 ambience, food and service. Two guys were great, especially the curly head bloke. Would seriously recommend.

Ambience was amazing! We sat at the bar, and it’s a romantic setup. The appetiser we ordered was really yummy (don’t rmb the name of it but it’s in the first photo). We also ordered steak, it was a little too chewy to my liking; but the potato was great. Duck was yummy too. Serving size looked small but I was surprisingly full.

a unique, daily changing seasonal menu is what enticed us here! we enjoyed the warm, homely feel of gerald's, feeling so welcome as soon as we walked in! we loved the concept of their set menu, without even ordering or being shown a menu we were just brought dishes, it was so exciting!! we especially love their anchovies, thinly sliced vitello tonnato, and they absolutely perfected the snapper. you won't be bored at gerald's! perfect place for a tasty bite, a wine and great conversations.

- awesome bar - trendy music - can't wait to try the food it looked goo - you might meet gerald - trendy music serves all genres

Okay, while this place may not necessarily be a beer bar, they do certainly have some awesome beers available here. In fact this place really feels as if it is more like one of those European bars which serve some rather exotic European beers. Well, Delerium Tremins for one, which honestly is pretty expensive, but that is basically because it is imported from Belgium, and it isn't one of thise more common Belgium beers that you come across. The other thing is that this place is table service, which is another aspect of this place that reminds me of Europe. Yeah, this bar is awesome.

Could this be the best wine bar in Melbourne? I'm going to say yes. I absolutely love it here. I had been here years ago when I used to live in the area and frankly I don't know why I hadn't returned earlier. Sitting at the bar would have to be the best spot in the house. The staff are friendly and attentive noticing all the oddities on the bar and walls definitely makes for some interesting talk. We ordered the mixed cured meats plate as well as the broccoli, burrata and almonds to go with our wines. I could not fault anything. The meats were absolutely divine (this coming from someone that rarely eats meats!) and the broccoli was the perfect compliment. The vibe in here is like you are at someone's house. Everyone seems to be jovial in here and it just makes you want to be friends with all of them. I'm definitely going to not wait years again before I return!

This is a great neighborhood spot with friendly staff. They have a few tables on the sidewalk to catch the last rays of sun. They have several bottles of wine available by the glass which rotate often. I especially enjoyed the rose on a sunny afternoon. The food menu is hand written on butcher paper and they will move it closer so you can see it if need be. The cheese plate for $18 seemed far too small. Yes, the cheeses were nice but this was a tiny portion for the price. The spiced nuts were generous by comparison (and tasty). The staff and other patrons were all friendly and make you feel welcome. We will be back!

I had the pleasure of experiencing Bastille Day at Gerald's Bar with some of the rowdiest French people on the planet. As you can imagine they were in high spirits and wanted to party the night away. The staff at Gerald's (3 or 4 guys who collectively must have worked in the hospitality industry for 100s of years) were so much fun and did everything in their powers to ensure the Frenchies - and other peeps who got involved - had the night they wanted. By the end of the night a rather well oiled crowd was mesmerized by one of the staff singing La Marseillaise in perfect pitch to rapturous applause. Great hospitality. I wish I lived closer!

AVOID Nice bar, nice drinks but erratically loud music. Refuse polite request to turn down. "That's what we do" from arrogant management. They don't care that the music makes it hard to converse especially for people with mild hearing loss. Such a dumb counter productive attitude. Check out the Google reviews for comments on rude management.

Terrific wine bar. Gerald's is famous for it's rustic atmosphere, eclectic vinyl collection and friendly-yet-brusque service (I miss Bruce, who departed a couple of years ago). Any by famous, I mean it. Gerald's is one of those institutions that feels part of the fabric of Melbourne. A bit like Pellegrini. To give you an idea of the feel of Gerald's- this was Gourmet Traveller's Bar of the Year in 2010. I recall the customers and staff being pleased, but mildly miffed about it - why miffed? Because they are a local bar, they are a hospo bar and quite proud of it. Gerald's has a constant rotation of Reds and Whites open. I always go for these - they're not the high-margin plonk that you get in some wine bars. They are genuinely interesting and varied. The food is Trattoria style - the menu hangs from butcher's paper that is draped over a ladder. Want to see the menu? The ladder slides your way. Order the charcuterie or some other sliced meat and you'll get to see the hand-cranked meat slicer in action. May sound odd, but it's a beautiful machine to watch. Unpretentious, quirky and interesting. Can see what Gourmet Traveller were on about. Can see why locals were grimacing about them shouting about it.

If I opened a bar in my house, I'd want it to be just like Gerald's. It feels a bit like an intimate, cozy speakeasy in someone's house. There's classic cinema paraphernalia spattered around the bar and touches of kitsch here and there. The food is simple and tasty, the wine list is outstanding and the noise levels are just right. Most nights you'll find Gerald himself behind the bar. He mixes a perfect G&T and will help you pick a wine if you're stuck. The crowd is a nicely balanced mix of people aged from their twenties through to sixties, which I think is one of the best indicators of a relaxed venue that people are drawn to because of its quality rather than popularity. Take your mum or take a date - just don't miss the cheese platter.

Pretty darn Ace! A huge wine list; long and varied, with some great labels- some of Australia and the rest of the world's best labels. Some really good varieties, not just the usual stock standard favourites. They will have a few wines open at any one time, which makes practical sense, so be sure to ask, what's on the current rotation, you're sure to find something that works for you. Elsewise, sit at the bar, and enjoy some antipasto. Of course all your favorite usual beverages, and cocktails will be avaiable here. Highly recommend for a post dinner tipple and thier respective selection for such.

I think I'm a little slow to find this place.....what a spot great simple food with super straight forward service with none of the usual melbourne bullshit .....refreshing