The Shaw Davey Slum is many things but low-key isn’t one of them. The Elgin Street bar in Carlton has gold-plated cricket stumps for beer taps, for crying out loud. The entire fitout feels a little bit like an airport souvenir shop got turned into a disco, but in the best way possible.
The Australiana extends to the menu, where native ingredients and old-school flavours are championed. Take the Slum’s beef and honey burger for example, where the Black Angus beef patty is topped with bacon, cheese, salad and (drumroll) Vegemite mayo. Naturally, as an Aussie-ish themed joint, it has a meat pie on the menu: the Shaw Davey Slum upgrade theirs with bush pepper. Plus, all the meat is hormone free and sourced locally from Victoria and Australia.
Those gold-plated cricket stump beer taps aren’t just ornamental: the Shaw Davey pours Bowler Beer and Monteith’s Crushed Apple Cider on tap as well as rotating through a number of other brews seasonally. For something just as beautifully lurid as the bar, though, get one of the Shaw Davey cocktails like the Fruit Tingle, a vodka-based creation inspired by the vintage milk bar sweet.
Perhaps a bit gaudy for Carlton’s coffee crowd, the Shaw Davey Slum has found a strong following in Melbourne’s student population – no doubt for the generous happy hours and daily food specials.
