Mont Plonk Opening Party. Your Après-Ski Fix, South Wharf, Melbourne in Winter!

What an amazing night. Cheese fondue, crème brûlées, mulled wine and more, with fun people in winter gear, surrounded by burning fires in protected cases.

This is a fantastic place to organise a party or other event, if you’re looking for a cool winter theme. It’s a pop-up area (winter period only) so get your ski-clothes on and head down to the Melbourne Public bar to book your next party before the 26th August! Find out more here: Mont Plonk

Opening Party

My partner and I got there a bit early, so that gave us a chance to explore the Melbourne Public bar. They had some cocktail specials on, and my partner chose an Espresso Martini, which had a nice hint of Kahlua and fresh coffee beans, for the happy hour price of $10. (Not sure how long the deal will last) Usually, these can be found in the CBD for between $18 and $25, so a very good deal.

With rain, and temperatures outside dropping to seven degrees, the warmth of the inside of the Melbourne Public Bar was quite welcome.

We’d registered for the Mont Plonk event online, so hung out inside until it started, then joined the queue to get our special Mont Plonk Passes before being ushered into the inviting party area. Our friend joined us a few minutes later.

Designed like a ski lodge lounge, the party area was decked out with woolen throws, wooden chairs, tables, cushions, fires, decorations and other things that gave the feeling of being up the side of a mountain in Switzerland somewhere. We were even surrounded by small pine trees…

…and the bar had an ice sculpture.

As one of the first in, we chose a central seat. If there was going to be any announcements through the night, it would be a great place to take pictures from!

A chef near the doorway was firing up crème brûlées, and burning them with a blow torch, so we grabbed one each. Very tasty, and a great start to the evening.

The Bar

There was quite a crowd, and the small bar at the end with 3-4 staff were friendly and welcoming, serving as quickly as they could, as the queues lengthened.

As many patrons were choosing mulled wine, (ingredients included cinnamon sticks and other secret extras) it did take a bit of time to prepare for people collecting drinks for groups. If you’re planning to book a large party involving mulled wine or cocktails, it’s probably best to ask the staff to prepare some of them in advance.

The mulled wine was fantastic. I ended up having a couple of those, along with a couple of glasses of red wine, while my partner and friend enjoyed Asahi beer and lager.

The Food

We were quite surprised by the amount of food dishes that came out, and quickly lost track of the things we tried. Everything was delicious so top marks go to the hardworking kitchen staff.

There were also cheese fondue pans and bread against one of the walls for us to grab, if we were extra hungry.

You’ll probably be able to order these for any party you plan to have there.

Here’s a quick 13 second video for you!

Thanks goes to all the hard-working people there that made everyone feel welcome, and especially the waitresses carrying the heavy plates of food around to everyone.

All in all, a great night.

More pictures of the event can be found at the official Facebook page for the bar here: Melbourne Public Bar

and possibly an unofficial site here: Mont Plonk