The Showroom Bar at The Royce Puts on a Show
Once upon a time, Melbourne’s most enviable address for high-gloss indulgence was the Rolls-Royce showroom on St Kilda Road. The kind of place where chrome gleamed, deals were sealed with a handshake, and the scent of leather was more V12 than valet. Nearly a century later, The Royce still deals in luxury, but these days the horsepower has been swapped for happy hour.
The Showroom Bar is where the building’s DNA is most visible. Step past the plush Lobby Lounge, with velvets, marble and chandeliers that could moonlight as crown jewels, and the nine-metre marble bar comes into view. It is lined with leather stools that beg you to take a seat, order something cold and sparkling, and pretend you have a driver waiting outside.
On 6 August 2025, we joined the media dinner to see what Executive Chef Pawan Dutta and his team have been quietly perfecting. The night began as every good story should: with Champagne in hand. Taittinger Prestige Rosé set the tone for canapés that had just enough decadence to make you feel like you should have worn cufflinks. Chicken liver pâté piped into éclairs with raspberry and apricot chutney, beef short rib croquettes with bacon, jalapeño and black garlic, and sloe gin cured Ōra King salmon with smoked yoghurt and mandarin.
Dinner unfolded like chapters in a glossy travelogue. Hiramasa kingfish ceviche arrived under a gentle drift of Oscietra Prestige caviar. Rock lobster risotto came golden with saffron and brightened with lime. Hibachi-grilled duck breast followed, accompanied by a confit leg croquette and a silky slab of liver parfait, with port wine-poached figs adding a quiet sweetness.
Dessert was a warm apple tart with Granny Smith sorbet, the tartness cutting through the butter and spice, and petit fours appeared like a well-timed epilogue. All of it was paired with wines that did not just match the food, they matched the room, elegant, confident and a little bit showy.
The Showroom Bar does not shout for attention. It does not have to. It has the sort of presence that makes you slow down, the lighting that flatters everyone, and a history that you can almost hear in the walls. This is the place for Champagne-soaked conversations, slow sips of whisky, and the quiet hum of a city that knows how to dress up when it wants to.
Book your own long evening at roycehotel.com.au.
Once upon a time, Melbourne’s most enviable address for high-gloss indulgence was the Rolls-Royce showroom on St Kilda Road. The kind of place where chrome gleamed, deals were sealed with a handshake, and the scent of leather was more V12 than valet. Nearly a century later, The Royce still deals in luxury, but these days the horsepower has been swapped for happy hour.
