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Time travel to ‘80s Tokyo at this new disco bar in Melbourne   

Eleanor EdströmBy Eleanor Edström
Your new late-night obsession has arrived on Melbourne’s Bourke Street.  

Vinyl listening bars are having a moment. With their retro-cool appeal and low-lit ambience, it’s easy to see why a cache of the Japanese-inspired haunts are sprouting up across the country. Never one to ignore a trend, MAMAS Dining Group has debuted Disuko – restaurant, rooftop and record bar – on Melbourne’s Bourke Street. 

Translated from the Japanese word for ‘disco’, Disuko delivers a dose of 1980s Tokyo disco culture with izakaya dining and vinyl tunes. It’s a sensation-swirling space that deals in cosy nooks, amber-lit lounges and hanging glow balls, making it an enviable hangout for specialty sakes and late-night bites.

disuko bar
Disuko is a multifaceted dining, drinks and disco venue.

The multifaceted venue opened last week, taking over the former Bourke Street institution Madame Brussels. It marks Melbourne-founded MAMAS Dining Group’s seventh restaurant, with their other venues including Hochi Mama 3000, Kiss & Tell and Suzie Q. 

Disuko offers several dining and drink concepts: the Izakaya Lounge (main dining room), a vinyl cocktail bar, an eight-seat omakase counter and rooftop terrace, along with a private dining room. 

Inside the 76-seat Izakaya Lounge, guests can savour bites from the hibachi grill and delicate nigiri in forest green booths. Interiors are a sultry mash-up of cherry ruched leather, back-lit glass and eclectic wall decor that give the space a warm retro feel. 

disuko melbourne food
Enjoy izakaya-inspired dishes in the main dining area.

Food is treated as more than the supporting act. Leading the dining concepts are MAMAS Dining Group’s creative culinary director, Michael Stolley, and Hung Hoa, an esteemed ex-Nobu name who’s now whipping up a smattering of Japanese flavours as Disuko’s head chef. The two have spearheaded a menu of izakaya-inspired dishes available a la carte or via the ‘Disuko Setto’, where guests choose five share items for $65 per person. Try the wagyu tataki topped with crispy potato, kingfish dressed in citrus-yuzu soy, jalapeño and coriander oil, or the shoyu-yaki chicken – which is brined in sake for 24 hours, then flamed over the hibachi and brushed with chicken fat. 

Those keen on a more intimate setting can slink into the Omakase Bar. With just eight seats, the counter offers a 12-course sushi and sashimi experience where guests watch their meals being prepared right in front of them. Seasonality and Japanese craftsmanship are at the forefront.  

The heartbeat of Disuko is found at the Vinyl Bar. Here, mixologists shake craft cocktails and artists spin funky tunes, recalling the tempo of Tokyo’s nightlife. From smooth disco to hip hop and Japanese soul, bespoke boomboxes panelled with a traditional Japanese woodwork technique set the vibe. 

disuko rooftop terrace
Linger on the Terracotta Rooftop for breezy cocktails and weekend vibes.

There’s more fun to be had on the Terracotta Rooftop. Lean into the rhythm of the weekend on warm nights while sipping spritzes and snacking on spicy edame, all backdropped by a skyline glow. This relaxed space is walk-in only.  

Above, Disuko’s 30-seat private dining room, ‘The Tokyo Sky Mezzanine,’ is ideal for functions of all kinds, from milestone birthdays to family gatherings. 

Disuko isn’t the quietest bar in Melbourne. But if you want to feel glamourous, uninhibited and fully plugged into the city’s current, this lively venue – lights humming, cocktails flowing – is waiting with open doors.  

The details

disuko melbourne dining room
Slink into moody booths reminiscent of Tokyo’s low-lit lounges.

Location: Level 3/59-63 Bourke St, Melbourne 3000 

Opening hours: from 12pm to late, seven days a week 

Prices: Share plates $14-$42 or ‘Disuko Setto’ $65 per person, cocktails $21-$24 

Capacity: 76 in the main dining room, 44 on the rooftop terrace, 30 in the private dining room and eight in the omakase bar

Website: Disuko

Eleanor Edström
Eleanor Edström is Australian Traveller’s Associate Editor. Previously a staff writer at Signature Luxury Travel & Style and Vacations & Travel magazines, she's a curious wordsmith with a penchant for conservation, adventure, the arts and design. She discovered her knack for storytelling much earlier, however – penning mermaid sagas in glitter ink at age seven. Proof that her spelling has since improved, she holds an honours degree in English and philosophy, and a French diploma from the University of Sydney. Off duty, you’ll find her pirouetting between Pilates and ballet classes, or testing her friends’ patience with increasingly obscure vocabulary.
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How a $1 deal saved Bendigo’s historic tramways

    Megan ArkinstallBy Megan Arkinstall
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    The passionate community that saved Bendigo Tramways has kept the story of this city alive for generations.

    It was an absolute steal: a fleet of 23 trams for just $1. But such a fortunate purchase didn’t happen easily. It was 1972 when the Bendigo Trust handed over a single buck for the city’s historic collection of battery, steam and electric trams, which had transported locals since 1890.

    inside the historic Bendigo Tram
    Bendigo Tramways is a historic transport line turned tourist service. (Image: Bendigo Heritage)

    The city’s tram network had been declared defunct since 1970 due to post-war shortages in materials to upkeep the trams and declining passenger numbers as motor vehicles were increasing. However, determined locals would not hear of their beloved trams being sold off around the world.

    The Bendigo Trust was enlisted to preserve this heritage, by converting the trams into a tourist service. The Victorian government approved a trial, however news spread that the Australian Electric Tramways Museum in Adelaide had acquired one of the streetcars for its collection.

    a tram heading to Quarry Hill in 1957
    A tram on its way to Quarry Hill in 1957. (Image: Bendigo Heritage)

    An impassioned group rallied together to make this physically impossible. Breaking into the tram sheds, they welded iron pipes to the rails, removed carbon brushes from the motors, and formed a blockade at the depot. The community response was extraordinary, and a $1 deal was sealed.

    A new chapter for the city’s fleet

    the old Tramways Depot and Workshop
    The old Tramways Depot and Workshop is one of the stops on the hop-on, hop-off service. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    Today, Bendigo Tramways welcomes some 40,000 passengers annually, operating as a hop-on, hop-off touring service aboard the restored trams. Fifteen of the now 45-strong fleet are dubbed ‘Talking Trams’ because of the taped commentary that is played along the route. The trams loop between Central Deborah Gold Mine and the Bendigo Joss House Temple, which has been a place of Chinese worship since 1871, via other sites including the old Tramways Depot and Workshop.

    a Gold Mine Bendigo Tram
    The fleet comprises 45 trams that have been restored. (Image: Visit Victoria/Robert Blackburn)

    Keeping things interesting, throughout the year visitors can step aboard different themed trams. Tram No. 302 becomes the Yarn Bomb Tram, decorated both inside and out with colourful crochet by an anonymous group of locals.

    During the festive season, Tram No. 15 operates as a tinsel-festooned Santa Tram, and the big man himself hides out somewhere along the route for excited children to find. And on selected dates, the adults-only Groove Tram runs nighttime tours of the city, accompanied by local musicians playing live tunes and a pop-up bar.

    the historic post office turned visitor centre in Bendigo
    Visitors can hop on and off to see the city’s sites such as the historic post office turned visitor centre. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    As well as preserving the city’s history, however, the continuation of the tram service has kept the skills of tram building and craftsmanship alive in a practical sense. Bendigo’s Heritage Rail Workshop is world-renowned for restoring heritage trams and repurposing vehicles in creative ways.

    Locally, for example, Tram No. 918 was transformed into the Dja Dja Wurrung Tram with original Aboriginal artworks by emerging artist Natasha Carter, with special commentary and music that shares the stories and traditions of Bendigo’s first people. You can’t put a price on preserving history. Nonetheless, it was a dollar very well spent.