Baranows Cigar Bar

So I ventured through the Deep South and finding myself in the heart of Sydney’s rebel sister Melbourne (one of my previous hometowns), I revisited an old hangout of mine.


(Source: http://bentabacco.com/)

The place is named Baranows, after the owner, and in short it is a cigar bar, which in fact is one of the only places in Melbourne where smoking is permitted inside. But I’ll get back to that.

Walking in the back door you find yourself in an antechamber displaying a huge variety of cigars from around the world. Ranging from about $5 to beyond the couple thousands one can find the perfect cigar.

(source: http://jamesridenour.com/2012/baranows-cigar-and-whiskey-lounge/)

You enter the next room, a dingey (but large) lounge area clouded in smoke, with that nostalgic chemical odour that would follow your grandfather around when you were young. Framed pictures, vintage lamps and ferny pot plants which adorn the warmly-lit room, the library of drinks lit up in the corner, the formal but not-too-serious atmosphere all add up to an interesting feel of class not often found in Inner-city Melbourne. Sitting down on a scruffy old sofa, the waitress presents you a large, bound drinks list, an encyclopedia of whiskies, ales and rums, and much more. Anything not mentionned in here will inevitably be cockily revealed by the waiters. Ordering a whiskey sour, you observe the patrons: elderly couples on a double date, Indian men doing business, grey suited Mediterranean men reading foreign newspapers, possible connections to the Mafia.

(Source: http://bentabacco.com/)

You are presented with a form. It is a requirement for buying customers to join the Baranows club as a member. Luckily, a one-time membership is free, and for an out of town guy like me this seems the best option! The mandatory membership must be some way to get around the indoor smoking ban, no cigarettes though. Good thing they have it, without the smoky aura you wouldn’t feel as if you were in a Cuban dictator’s lounge room.

I’ve always enjoyed the exclusivity of this place. It’s an escape from the all too common simplicity of other bars nearby, and it is a gem which I hope isn’t discovered too quickly. Having said that, you can find Baranows on the corner of Burwood and Glenferrie Rd, hidden in plain sight as an old bank.

Jonathan