‘I’ve never seen Fitzroy like this’: Sweet view, sweeter cocktails at a new rooftop bar

“I’ve never seen Fitzroy like this,” says my mate, who lives just streets away from the rooftop bar we’ve shot up onto, on the seventh storey of Rose Street’s StandardX hotel.

Admittedly, this isn’t a ’hood lacking in rooftops: Naked for Satan and Marquis of Lorne are go-tos for rowdy sunset sessions. But any new vantage point is a novelty in our rooftop-bar-obsessed city, especially as rooftop-bar season arrives.

But to say it’s “new” isn’t entirely true. The rooftop arrived alongside the luxury chain hotel it crowns in August 2024, but it was accessible only to guests. Now it’s opened to the public, with a very literal name – On Top – and a very impressive 180-degree view.

At knock-off o’clock on a balmy spring Thursday, there’s nary a spare seat in the 60-person bar. But the best in the house are free: tasselled stools on its right ledge, with an uninterrupted outlook over the CBD and the big, bulbous treetops of Carlton Gardens.

The bar itself is a looker, too. You walk out onto chunky striped paving, surrounded by clusters of greenery and copper-coloured finishes, and there are designer lounges to sink into. Plus, importantly, it’s well weather-guarded, from the angular fireplace, to the retractable roof, to the blankets offered to bar-goers the second it gets a bit blustery. An east-facing aspect means there’s no direct sun from around 5pm, and, sorry, no sunset.

But drinks flow until 10pm. Orders are taken at a small stainless-steel bar where you’ll find a lager and three cocktails on tap, including a crowd-appeasing Aperol spritz and a syrupy, zing-less yuzu margarita for $23, the same price as some shaken-to-order cocktails.

The house-made drinks – churned out of a galley kitchen behind the bar – are easier drinking, particularly if your preference is for something sweet and fruity. The neon-orange Last Dance is like a Passionfruit Fanta all grown up, laced with vodka and Aperol, garnished with a lime wedge, and sipped by every second person in the place.

Most cocktail complexity can be found in the frothy-topped Nude & Rude, a mix of smoky mezcal, bittersweet amaro and a splash of bitters. But for canned consistency, hit the self-serve drinks vending machine just as you exit the lift; it’s stocked with a variety of local batched-cocktail brands, and prosecco flavoured with lime leaf and lemongrass.

On Top has Big Pre-Dinner-Drink Energy. It’s mostly one and done, with the transient crowd – many seeming to be guests, one who is an avid knitter – filtering in and out during my visit, perhaps to dine elsewhere. If only they knew what else it had to offer.

Expectedly dainty bar snacks range from oysters to cheese and charcuterie. But go the whole hog – or chook, as is the case – and be rewarded. Fist-sized hunks of fried chicken could be straight out of a KFC bucket, but they surpass the Colonel with a craggy coating that while not adhering overly well to the chicken thigh, tastes finger-lickin’ good, and even better swiped through the pool of spicy-sweet house-made hot sauce.

Melbourne isn’t devoid of decent hotel bars. But they tend to attract more travelling suits than the kind of shacket-wearing creatives I see checking into the StandardX.

Given the international brand’s reputation as a trendy spot to stay and play, and On Top’s sought-after setting, there’s potential for it to become a bar you want to hang out in even if you’re not staying the night. But it’s early days. For that to happen, word needs to spread beyond the guests to the good people of Fitzroy. And they need to be willing to settle in for long enough so it doesn’t feel like everyone has somewhere better to be.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.