If you've ever thought the world looked better in Super 8, Long Play is the bar for you. Set in a converted shopfront in North Fitzroy, it boasts hip mid-20th century styling, potent classic cocktails and a bona-fide miniature cinema in back. Gently curved blond wood booths and a well-worn linoleum floor lend it the look of a 60s café-bar – to the rear is a more private room suitable for small parties. The tiny cinema boasts raked seats for a quality movie experience: screenings, which normally take place on weekends, are announced via mailing list around a week in advance and focus on pre-1980s arthouse and classic titles.
Back in the light of the bar, there is an array of light meals and tapas-style dishes available, starting at a reasonable $5 for a plate of olives and bread. Wines, beers, ciders and perrys are all present and correct, but the classic cocktails are where it’s really at. Each sits around the $15 mark, and will have you wondering how those Mad Men types got through a three-martini lunch.
One of the more unusual entries on the cocktail menu is the Italian-style spritzer. Those who are only familiar with spritzers as the white-wine-and-fizzy-drink abomination served in some pubs could do worse than trying the real deal as it’s done here, with Aperol, cava, soda water, olives and citrus fruit. The jalapeno margarita is just as eye-popping as it sounds – if you like them strong and spicy it’s a cocktail worth going out of your way for.
Relaxed and cool, if Long Play were a person it would be Jean-Paul Belmondo – and if that means something to you, then this is definitely your kind of bar.