Aqua e Vino

Been here a few times, great spot for catching up with friends and having some nice drinks. Nice décor, great live music on Fri & Sat nights. As said by others, price is on the high side, and the food is hit and miss. Hence 3 stars.

This is the ‘Go To’ place for Western suburbs people, after dinner, the movies, or for a night out. Secretly tucked upstairs, many people would not know it was there. It originally started many years ago as a cigar and wine bar, but the non-​smoking rules came in to challenge their popularity, but this quality has survived the change and prospered.
They have a seriously good wine list, all carefully selected, a small but tasty food menu including tapas and pizza and live music on Saturday nights. The cocktails are top quality and all bar staff, as expected, really know their stuff.
The ambiance is warm and inviting with a fireplace and Chesterfield lounges mixed in with some eclectic tables, chairs and stools.
This place is simultaneously great for groups, small parties or even a date night.
Go before 9pm on a Saturday night if you wish to secure a table as it gets really busy, or just prop yourself up at the bar and mozy on down to the dance floor and bust a few moves.

Now this is the culturally Melbourne site I’ve been waiting to see! Acqua is a perfect mix of hipster, classy, and casual.
My cousin who lives in Melbourne, who was hosting me at the time, took me to this place as he said it was one of his favorite places just to listen to music and hang out. The lounge/​bar has a very intimate feel to it, as it’s quite dark inside. At the time we went, there was live music, and I am always open to hearing new genres. The place is a large lounge with ample seating for dining, hanging out, and of course just having some good drinks.
Maybe this was just me but the drinks did seem to be on the steep side for a place not even in the CBD but more on the edge of it. I’m not sure if it’s because I was still adjusting to the price shift or if this place was really pricey.

Very cool décor, but the inept wait staff who don’t know what they are selling are tragic. Scotch with a drop of water has half a bottle of evian thrown in, and rosé wine is actually Shiraz. Maybe focus more on product than finding reproduction chesterfields.

Acqua e Vino occupies the 1^st floor above the Yarraville post office on the corner of Anderson and Ballarat Streets. A staircase off of Ballarat St brings you to a roomy space, adorned with classy, old wooden furniture and leather couches. Basically a tapas bar with an EXTENSIVE (and it seemed, award winning) drinks menu. We settled on some sparkling wine to start ($ 8.5) followed by a few serves of tapas. We decided on the scallops with wasabi sauce (delicious, fresh), chilli-​lime tiger prawns (not fresh, tasted a bit off, clearly frozen, not good) and the Serrano flatbread (good, though not enough serrano and an abundance of rocket). Tapas was pricey — about $ 16 per item. We also tried their Margaritas — very good, but at $ 19 each the most expensive Marg I’ve had. Live music after 10pm on a Friday and Saturday night. Concluded that this is a good place to splurge on a cocktail and some tapas while enjoying live music vs. as a standalone dinner location, especially with the much more reasonably priced Yarra Bar within a stone’s throw. 5 stars — 1 star for the prawns and –1 star for the price.