The Paris Cat Jazz Club Review

Review By Cassie McKay

The year: 1930The location: Goldie Place alleyway, off Little Bourke street.

Imagine sipping on your Tom Collins, whilst listening to the smooth sounds of a live jazz band. If you are looking to travel back to the 1930s, then Paris Cat Jazz Club is the place for you!

I myself was surprised to find this unique little jazz club in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD. Once you pass the simple door out front, you can already feel the transformation take place; the jazz beats creeping up the staircase & seducing you.

With multiple rooms, you have the Paris Cat bar where candle lit tables sit and long red velvet curtains cover the walls. The only light comes from the bar stocked with shelves of scotch, gin & wine. The framed pictures & signatures of previous performers fill the walls and a beautiful large art deco inspired mirror is just above the bar, making it almost impossible not to daydream that behind you could stand Humphrey Bogart. This room serves food and drinks with a featured stage and a permanent piano.

The next room is the Paris Cat Basement, where seats are arranged in rows and a small bar serves only beverages. Finally is the Paris Gallery is full of many hanging artworks (some for sale), a small stage is also arranged for entertainment.

In terms of the menu, Paris Cat Jazz Club only serves a limited range of food: mainly being antipastos & sweet alcoholic desserts. But all of this is made up with their impressive range of cocktails, wines, martinis & champagnes. Price wise they are not overly cheap but again not overly expensive either, though with certain drinks like whiskeys & cocktails you may be paying more.

The age of people, who you will find at Paris Jazz Club range from early 20’s to late 50’s & with weekly entertainers; many come to see certain performers or meet up for drinks.

At Paris Cat Jazz Club you can purchase merchandise like cups & t-shirts. Artwork on show is also available to buy; or you become a member paying a yearly fee, that entitles you to other goodies.

I personally would say the Paris Cat Jazz Club is a mixture of ‘Betty Boop meets gin martinis’. If you enjoy jazz music or themed bars, then this is the place to go.




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A Second Review of The Paris Cat Jazz Club

Review By James McCafferty

Finding a bar with a little personality is an essential when I go out hunting for a place to drink. Melbourne, like most cities, has plenty of regular lowest common denominator clubs littering the streets, but it’s rare to find a diamond amongst the rocks. It’s probably because the good places are hidden.

Paris Cats Jazz Club is located down Goldie Place, a tiny alleyway off Little Bourke Street. It’s a chameleon of roads that initially looks like another gray, lifeless side street. However, anyone who spends a little time watching the alley would begin to see small groups of well-dressed people, many wearing fedoras, disappearing where Goldie meets Little Bourke. If a cat-like curiosity possessed such an observer, they might find themselves following one of the groups into the lonely alley and delving into the basement of a not-so-ordinary building.

This is the way into the Paris Cats Jazz Club, a tiny room with a stage just large enough to fit a guitar, cello, drums, keyboard and sax. The floor is littered with small tables and chairs, with a few couches at the entrances and stools at the bar. There is just enough space for everyone to have a comfortable seat, socialise and breathe.

With a name like Paris Cats Jazz Club, you can imagine what kind of music plays there; it’s everything from lone saxophonists to full on fusion groups, as long as jazz fits into the genre. Almost every night a live act takes the stage. The shows are only $15, which is less than getting into Revolver after hours.

For those new to jazz, the bar is a learning experience. For the music lover, it’s a broadening of horizons. For the jazz cat, it’s a forum of musical expertise. This is a bar that has a lot of regulars and during intermissions everyone stands to meow a little bit of jazz. The age ranges from 20 to 80, because you’re never too old (or too young) to be a jazz cat.

Well, actually, you might be too young. Beers are $8, and cocktails are $18. Like I said before, shows are normally $15, so you can expect your piggy bank to be hollow $40 if you want to have a good night out. I shared a bottle of wine with Andreanne, and that cost $40.

If you get bored easily when stereotypical jazz cat guitarists go on 10 minute improve tangents, this bar isn’t for you. However, if you like the sound of switching up a drunken night on the town with a night of class and culture, you’ve got to check out the Paris Cats Jazz Club. Every once in a while we’ve all got to unleash our inner hipster, and there is no better place to do it.

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