Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment

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Level 1, Abbotsford Convent, Heliers St
ABBOTSFORD, VIC, 3067
local (03) 9419 5... local (03) 9419 5255
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Reviews of Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment

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Editorial Reviews

Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment

Michael Harden, Reviewer

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Handsome Steve's isn't a bar gunning for lifestyle press and a fashion-conscious crowd.

Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment is not going to be everybody's cup of tea. Taking its cues from the rapidly disappearing "wog bars" - the slightly intimidating cafes where mostly older male New Australians gathered to drink espresso and beer, smoke and play cards by the flickering light of an inevitable TV - Handsome Steve's isn't a bar gunning for lifestyle press and a fashion-conscious crowd. It's a place with a particular attitude - the sign at the entrance that reads "Hippies Use Side Door" offers a hint saying, in the nicest possible way; if you don't like it you can leave. There is no doubt the House of Refreshment has an enviable - and enviably obscure - position, at the end of a gloomy corridor on a first floor at the Abbotsford Convent.
Source: The Age

Full review on The Age
Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment

Clem Bastow, Reviewer

Friday, December 28, 2007

Melbourne's most charmingly off-beat licensed cafe is lying in wait for those who find it.

There are many bars around Melbourne that pride themselves on being hard to find, as though their very locations act as filters to less-desirable punters. Well, Joe Bloggs' Bar up Behind the Bins in the CBD, Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment sees your off-the-main-street venue and raises it - by about 200%. Just finding Handsome Steve's is an experience in itself. The instructions we were given - to go in the main door of the convent, up the stairs and turn right - seemed open to more than a little interpretation when we were greeted by about four potential main doors, and just as many staircases at the Abbotsford Convent, which is where Melbourne's most charmingly off-beat licensed cafe is lying in wait for those who find it. Easier is following Steve's own instructions ("look for the yellow umbrellas") - but wandering around the bluestone, and keeping an eye out for the ghost of an unwed teenage mother from the old laundry, is also part of the fun.
Source: The Age

Full review on The Age
Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment

Kirsten Law

Friday, August 22, 2008

You will enjoy a charmingly off-kilter evening, complete with kitsch decor, in possibly the smallest space in Melbourne.

Hidden away in the Abbotsford Convent, the search for Handsome Steve's House of Refreshment will undoubtedly lead you around the grounds a few times, down countless corridors and to numerous dead ends. But persevere and you will be treated to a charmingly off-kilter evening, complete with kitsch decor, in possibly the smallest space in Melbourne. A mix of wood panelling, Geelong memorabilia and Laminex decorate the place, and the tables and chairs are squashed in tight. What it allows for is a friendly, communal atmosphere in which conversations you share with your friends will often spill out into the rest of the bar, resulting in offers of unique local perspectives on your worries. Steve himself is indeed a handsome man and keeps the menu simple: beer and coffee.
Source: The Age

Full review on The Age