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 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.
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.
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.
Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.
AI Prompt
The details
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
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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There’s something unmistakably Australian about a road trip: car packed, playlist on, landscapes shifting. Travelling down the highway toward Healesville, in Victoria’s Yarra Valley , the mountains rise, flanking me on both sides. I feel its embrace, a silent invitation to explore what lies beyond.
Moss-covered embankments rise on either side, and towering mountain ash trees form a green tunnel overhead. Road signs warn of wombats and cyclists but with giant ferns lining the roadside, the landscape feels prehistoric, as if a dinosaur might suddenly emerge. This, the Black Spur , is one of my favourite road trips.
The Black Spur
Through the forested canopy of The Black Spur drive that winds from Healesville to Narbethong. (Image: Neisha Breen)
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The Silo Art Trail in the Wimmera Mallee region. (Image: Visit Victoria/Anne Morely)
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The 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road. (Image: Tourism Australia/Two Palms/Harry Pope)
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Pink Cliffs Reserve in Heathcote can be seen on the O’Keefe Rail Trail. (Image: Visit Victoria/Emily Godfrey)
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