White Oaks Saloon Bar & Dining

You gotta hand it to Melbourne’s Southern food joints: their attention to detail is superb. The dim, neon-lit White Oaks Saloon is no different. From the twanging soundtrack, to the saloon doors and the vinegary Louisiana hot sauce on the tables, this is a carefully constructed labour of love by brothers Tom and Nicholas Welch.

Which is not to say it’s highly authentic, but just good fun. There’s 12 cocktails on the menu, ranging from the American Pie (vanilla liqueur, apple juice, cinnamon) to the floral Juniper Flower (gin, jasmine liqueur, lemon) and the interesting Beer and a Smoke (beer, mezcal, bitters, lime). They look pretty, too, served up with shiny metal straws and coasters. There's a plainer list of beer and wine on the back of the menu.

Right next to the swinging wooden doors, the kitchen pumps out sweet-potato corn bread, pork sliders, tacos, fried chicken, and all the other things you've come to expect from self-respecting Southern joints.