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Being one of those annoying Northsiders who detests stepping foot in any part of Melbourne that’s south of the river, I’ve finally found a place that is the happy medium…literally.

Those rad lads responsible for St Jerome’s, Sista Bella and 1000£ Bend are at it again: you know that thing they do when they open a bar that is so freakin’ awesome you want to live there for the rest of your life? Their new pop-up venture, Ponyfish Island, in the middle of the Yarra, is one such bar and like their predecessors, I believe it may be my new favourite summer place to get smashed. In fact I have…for three out of the last four nights…what?

Having obtained their liquor license two weeks ago, the place now kicks until 1am. I’ve frequented the bar from early afternoon til late-ish and even though it’s usually pretty packed (especially during the afternoon), I always manage to pull up a bench or crate. Finding it isn’t too difficult, but that doesn’t mean it’s not cool, OK? That whole so-cool-it-doesn’t-have-signage-so-you-can’t-even-find-it concept of the hipster bar is soooo meh-early-to-mid-2000s anyway.

If you walk along Southbank everyday, you’ve probably seen it – it’s not that hidden away, but you’d probably wonder how you would get down there. ‘Down where?’ you may ask. Down to that little platform under the Southgate footbridge (and yep, it’s the closest you can get to the middle of the Yarra river without drunkenly falling off a booze cruise boat). Anyway, so there’s a stairwell on the footbridge that leads down to the blissfulness that is the ‘weeeeeeeeee-I’m-on-a-boat-but-not’, Ponyfish Island.

Sitting on a stool fashioned from wooden crates, at a ‘table’ (ie a dubiously wobbly piece of plywood suspended from the underside of the bridge above us), you kind of get the feeling you’re a stowaway on an illegal boat. With it’s semi-nautical theme (no, there are no lifesaver rings or vests) pulled together by Moth Designs (Semi-Permanent@GPO, L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Week), there’s no stranger place to stray than an island in the middle of the delightfully brown and funky-smelling Yarra.

Grab a $5 toastie to line the stomach or go for something a bit more substantial like the tofu & sobu noodle salad. OK, I said ‘substantial’…try the gnocchi…or do what we do and spend the balmy evenings chatting with your lovelies over a frosty cider, beer, or gin & tonic (served in old jam jars) for….quite a few hours.

So dive on down there and get a delightful fix of summery beats, snacks, light meals, coffee, booze, sunshine and river views (oh…and they also sell menthol cigarettes if you’re that way inclined). And if you ever have to meet friends and have that ‘Fuck the Southside,’ ‘No, fuck the Northside’ argument…well, now you can meet smack-bang in the middle of it.

Ponyfish Island
Southgate Footbridge, CBD
Open daily 8am-1am