LuWOW

We weren’t sure whether Josh Collins’ tiki-tastic party bar would last the distance. With its palm fronds, Hawaiian prints, skulls and tropical drinks, it’s a lucid acid trip in The Temple of Doom, and how long can novelty like that last? Ages, it seems. Turns out all Melbourne wants to do on a Saturday night is dance with go-go dancers, drink Mai Tais and get lei-ed. LuWOW in Fitzroy is the place to be for anyone with a well developed sense of good times. Occupy one of the thatched village huts in the front room with your pals and share a tiki bowl of Scorpion punch – Cognac, rum, orgeat (a sweet almond, orange blossom and rose water syrup) and pineapple juice with a plastic spider floating in the top. If your senses haven’t been overloaded by the impressive collection of tatt, head to the Forbidden Temple out back where a DJ spins, live-bands play and lusty burlesque dancers shimmy, flanked on either side by a couple of go-go dancers dressed like Wilma Flintstone. You’re a bit stuck if you don’t like sweet and fruity drinks, but then again, there’s always beer. Look in the corners and you’ll see those who have had too-much-sugar-too-quickly nursing a calming Asahi. This is not the classiest bar that Melbourne has ever produced, but they’ll bring the fun till you beg them to stop, and we hazard a guess you won’t.