Bourke’s Doubles Down on Its Australian Roots with a Menu That Balances Nostalgia and Nuance

HONG KONG

Tucked along Soho’s ever-animated Peel Street, Bourke's has never been shy about its antipodean identity. But with the launch of its new menu this March, the bar leans in with renewed confidence — dialling up both nostalgia and nuance in what it calls an “Australian Bar Experience”. It’s less a rebrand than a refinement: a clearer, more self-assured expression of what Bourke’s has always hinted at since opening in October 2024.

At its core, the update reads like a love letter to Melbourne — specifically Bourke Street — where the city’s café-bar culture thrives on equal parts casual ease and considered craft. That duality runs through the new offering. You might arrive for a quick drink, but you’ll likely stay for dinner; what begins as a neighbourhood stop morphs, quite seamlessly, into a full evening.

The most compelling evolution comes via the drinks list, where Bar Manager Aled Burt introduces a thoughtful exploration of native Australian ingredients.

The Macadamia cocktail at Bourke's. Image Credit: Bourke's

Take the Macadamia (HK$120), a whisky sour variation that foregrounds the nut’s natural richness through a house-made orgeat and citrus-laced Johnnie Walker Black Label.

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The Wattleseed cocktail at Bourke's. Image Credit: Bourke's

The Wattleseed (HK$120), by contrast, leans indulgent: roasted, aromatic, and built on a base of Torres 10 Brandy, it lands somewhere between a dessert and a digestif, its coffee-vanilla notes deepened by sherry and muscovado. Then there’s the Pepperberry (HK$120), perhaps the most transportive of the trio, where the distinctly Australian spice lends a subtle, almost Sichuan-like prickle to a bright, citrus-driven sour.

The Adult's Cream Soda cocktail at Bourke's. Image Credit: Bourke's

If the native cocktails root the menu in place, the “Nostalgia” section plays with time. Here, childhood soft drinks — ubiquitous across Australia — are reimagined with a wink and a well-stocked back bar. The Adult’s Cream Soda is a standout: a milk-punched highball that layers Martell VSOP and Chivas Regal 12 Year Old beneath a cloud of coffee and tawny port foam. It arrives with a glacé cherry, yet drinks with surprising balance. Similarly, Lemon, Lime, and Better reframes the classic Lemon, Lime and Bitters into a rum-forward highball, equal parts refreshing and quietly complex.

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Left to right: sea bass; Caesar salad; lamington. Image Credits: Bourke's

Importantly, the food has kept pace. Under Head Chef Tara Margarita, Bourke’s continues its steady departure from the predictable confines of “bar food”. The new sea bass (HK$250) is a case in point — delicately poised between Paris and the Pacific, it pairs beurre noisette with finger limes over a deeply roasted cauliflower purée. It’s a dish that could easily hold its own in a more formal dining room, yet here it feels entirely at ease.

Even the Caesar salad (HK$75), often an afterthought, is given quiet attention: a vegetarian rendition built on baby gem lettuce, confit garlic dressing, and generous shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Dessert, meanwhile, offers a nod to Australiana in the form of a lamington (HK$75) — arguably the country’s most recognisable cake. Here, it’s elevated without losing its charm: chocolate-dipped sponge layered with jam and coconut, finished with a rum glaze and crème diplomat.

What Bourke’s understands is that identity in hospitality isn’t about leaning on clichés, but about distilling a feeling. In this case, it’s the easy conviviality of an Australian pub, refracted through a more polished, globally aware lens. The result is a menu that feels both transportive and grounded: a reminder that good bars, much like good cities, are defined as much by their atmosphere as by what’s on the plate — or in the glass.

Location: Ground Floor, 46 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong | Instagram: @bourkes.hk | Website: bourkeshk.com