7 Melbourne Chinese-Themed Venues For Up To 100 Guests

Whether you're keen to see the Chinese New Year fireworks or you're launching an Asian product and are seeking an appropriately themed venue, here's seven Melbourne restaurants and bars to check out if you have up to 100 guests.

Heroes Karaoke Bar - 188 Bourke St, Melbourne

The world is divided into two camps - those who LOVE karaoke and the others who'll have to be pulled screaming against their will to perform.

While you may not even want to sing along to an 80s tune, Heroes, run by the team from Fancy Hanks, is a flamboyantly designed venue with permanently suspended illuminated Chinese lanterns and red dragons creating instant theatrical atmosphere setting the scene as soon as your guests arrive, making it very easy - and shall we say, tempting? - for your guests to have a good time belting out cheesy hits. 

Sadly for us decor suppliers, all the outlandish Chinese decor has already been done for you: you just need to book it for your function.

 

Red Spice Road - 141 Queen St, Melbourne
You may have already been to Red Spice Road restaurant for a night out with family and friends but have you ever considered booking it for a corporate event?

It's sure to offer dishes to suit everyone, with hawker food from Thailand to Malaysia, China to Vietnam, it really is Asian Central for dining.

Red Spice Road has four spaces depending on your needs.

If you've got up to 36 guests seated, 50 cocktail style book the McKillop Room, accommodate 30 for a sit-down event in the Hanoi Room, up to 60 for dinner in the Bangkok Room and up to 96 for a function in the Lantern Room (pictured).

 

 

Double Happiness Bar - 21 Liverpool St, Melbourne
Decorated with Communist propaganda, Chinese trinkets and rustic seating, Double Happiness, on the edge of Chinatown, is popular as a hidden, hole-in-the-wall Chinese bar.

However, because it IS small, it may be best as the after-after-party venue for the privileged few you wish to entertain as it's open til 1am every night with 3am closing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Serving bar food and tempting cocktails, you can make the space as intimate or rowdy as you wish for your special event.

And take note, the rare-as-hens-teeth-in-a-Chinese-themed-bar open fire is a huge drawcard for events held during chilly Melbourne winters - and summers.

Tokosan - 142 Greville St, Prahran
Don't discount the idea of nearby Prahran for your venue choice as it's only a 10-minute train trip from Flinders Station.

You could hold several events at Tokosan, all of them completely differently themed, appealing to different demographics, depending on which spaces you hired.

The entire venue holds 330 guests, but you could hire the peaceful Japanese-inspired garden courtyard for up to 75, or the private karaoke bar for up to 30, or take over the urban-style, neon-signaged, graffiti mural-decorated, 10-metre long bar area for at least a couple of hundred people.

Tokosan is seemingly open around the clock, from 7am-3am Thursday-Saturday, 7am-1am Monday-Wednesday and on Sunday from 11am-midnight.

 

David's Restaurant - 4 Cecil Place, Prahran

Completely different in feel and decor from nearby Tokosan, is David's Restaurantwhich has a light-filled, whitewashed Hamptons-esqe style in appearance.

This might be the least overtly Chinese-themed venue you've ever visited - there's no red dragons roaring here although you will see some classic, understated white Chinese lanterns - but it is famous for its Shanghainese cuisine.

This split-level airy venue offers capacity for 30 people on the lower level, or 64 people on the upper level, or just under 100 overall, making it ideal for an exclusive Chinese-related foodstuffs product launch.

David's is open for dinner 6pm-10pm Sunday-Thursday, 6pm-11pm Friday-Saturday, and for lunch 12pm-3pm Wednesday-Friday, and 11.30am-3pm Saturday-Sunday.

 

Akaiito - 349-351 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Yet another way to celebrate Chinese New Year with clients is at a speakeasy.

Akaiito, with its capacity for up to 144 guests, is probably the most sophisticated, James Bond movie set style speakeasy in Melbourne.

Let's be honest, it's not really "Chinese" themed but I'm sure you could imagine this underground restaurant as an invitation-only Hong Kong VIP nightclub or perhaps a Japanese Yakuza gangster hideout.

There's so much to look at with its sensuously curling red ribbon ceiling installation, moodily atmospheric lighting and a huge array of beers, sakes, Japanese whiskies, and cocktails.

Akaitto is open nightly until midnight, from 3pm Monday-Friday, from 6pm Saturday and Sunday.

BangPop - 35 South Wharf Promenade, South Wharf

BangPop is sited right on South Bank, making this a drawcard for watching the Chinese New Year fireworks as well as for pleasant, leisurely corporate lunches watching the world go by.

Your guests - up to 60 seated or 80 cocktail-style on the Terrace, with a further 120 seated inside, or up to 250 guests for cocktails - enjoy hawker foods in this converted shipping shed. 

BangPop is open 12pm-10pm Sunday-Thursday and 12pm-11pm Friday-Saturday.

Bicycles are a recurring theme, lining the outdoor terrace perimeter and placed on a deep shelf above the diners in the restaurant, making it a possible product launch option for those in the cycling industry.

If you enjoyed this you'll want to check out 9 destination theme Melbourne venues for your product launch.