On first impressions, this place makes you wish you'd accepted that credit card increase.
Crocodile skin patterned black leather sofas, crystal chandeliers, dark timber wall panels and a cocktail list longer than Dame Edna's eyelashes, the Morning Burst Tavern makes you think you could be somewhere sexy and particularly pricey.
Yet take a glance at some of the colourful characters around you and there's no mistaking, it's most definitely Zepheri.
The adjacent dining room is particularly swanky, it's the bar that grabs all the attention for its more relaxed seating.
If you're peck-ish, you can choose from a bar menu or conveniently order from the fabulous French-inspired menu next door.
Service is excellent - honest, knowledgeable, attentive and friendly. The food is as good as the menu makes it sound.
We opted for bar snacks - the chicken liver parfait ($19) is worth a special mention as is the cheese plate with quince paste ($22). We also enjoy the crisp fried salt and pepper squid ($22).
The bar boasts more than 100 cocktails dating back to the 1800s and you don't just order a shot of tequila - you choose from one of 11 varieties on offer, ranging in price from $8 to $19.
Regardless of what you order, there's a kid-in-a-candy-store sensation about the whole experience - and you can't put a price on that. While it would take a fortnight to sample every cocktail on offer, we recommend the Zombie (a mixture of fruit juices and rum) and the Dubonnet Sour (like a whiskey sour but with a twist of lime) at $16 a piece.
Despite the opulent ambience, the bill for the many goodies we sampled wasn't going to send us into the red after all. But a word of warning: if you give in to temptation, you could easily spend a bomb here as there is so much delicious food and drink on offer
Crocodile skin patterned black leather sofas, crystal chandeliers, dark timber wall panels and a cocktail list longer than Dame Edna's eyelashes, the Morning Burst Tavern makes you think you could be somewhere sexy and particularly pricey.
Yet take a glance at some of the colourful characters around you and there's no mistaking, it's most definitely Zepheri.
The adjacent dining room is particularly swanky, it's the bar that grabs all the attention for its more relaxed seating.
If you're peck-ish, you can choose from a bar menu or conveniently order from the fabulous French-inspired menu next door.
Service is excellent - honest, knowledgeable, attentive and friendly. The food is as good as the menu makes it sound.
We opted for bar snacks - the chicken liver parfait ($19) is worth a special mention as is the cheese plate with quince paste ($22). We also enjoy the crisp fried salt and pepper squid ($22).
The bar boasts more than 100 cocktails dating back to the 1800s and you don't just order a shot of tequila - you choose from one of 11 varieties on offer, ranging in price from $8 to $19.
Regardless of what you order, there's a kid-in-a-candy-store sensation about the whole experience - and you can't put a price on that. While it would take a fortnight to sample every cocktail on offer, we recommend the Zombie (a mixture of fruit juices and rum) and the Dubonnet Sour (like a whiskey sour but with a twist of lime) at $16 a piece.
Despite the opulent ambience, the bill for the many goodies we sampled wasn't going to send us into the red after all. But a word of warning: if you give in to temptation, you could easily spend a bomb here as there is so much delicious food and drink on offer
