The Catfish — Restaurant in Melbourne

A bar of genius - one of inner Melbourne's finest places for a drink. One of my two local pubs.

Friendly, helpful staff. Quick with a smile, a good tip on this week's new beers on tap, and local knowledge. Good on you!

Always something interesting to drink. Full marks for supporting craft ale, in a city where we should always aim to do better but often have to settle for Furphy or Carlton.

Also, great to see someone giving new / small bands a venue. Sunday afternoons generally have some free live music, almost always worth stopping by. Some incredible talent here.

The venue's fit for purpose. Nothing flashy. Beer garden out back, Philly Cheese steaks (co-located kitchen) are popular, and Muddy Waters the catfish adds to the vibe.

Highly recommended. I don't think it's possible to have a bad time out at the Catty. Doesn't look like much from the street, but trust me on this one.

p.s. you'll hear the occasional bellow and shriek from the kitchen. It may be your food order . . . it may be someone committing a murder . . . but I haven't seen the police...

Been here a few times and always felt mixed, sometimes ok, sometimes not. At the weekend one guy at the bar was particularly rude. We weren't bothered by it til he came out the back where we'd taken our chips and asked us condescendingly if at our last place they had menus and if we could in fact read... Then proceeded to school us on where we were sitting cos no food allowed out the back. It was just unnecessary attitude for something that could have been quick and polite. We were happy to move. So if you're frustrated by people not following your rules, perhaps have a look at how you're communicating this. Your ample signage is not clear, just looks like big no smoking signs so no wonder people don't get them. Also, regardless of your signs, what sort of venue limits where you can eat some chips like this. Just weird vibes and strange behaviours towards our group after that (half of who were sober btw and were picking up on...

NOTE: This bar is NOT the same establishment as ‘Sparrow’s Philly Cheesesteaks’. Friends and I went to get the Cheesesteaks as the building is shared with this bar. Bartender was extremely rude and degrading. He was constantly commenting on how we looked lost (the establishment does not make it obvious how the shared building works) and mentioning how we HAD to buy drinks from his bar instead of from the cheesesteak place where we were actually ordering from. Friend ordered a drink from the cheesesteak place as it was an online menu and we didn’t know better. Bartender then proceeded to have a go at my friend for buying his drink from the cheesesteak place rather than his bar, citing he had bills and rent to pay and requested that before he opened his drink, that he moved away from the establishment. The cheesesteak was good, but not worth dealing with the bar staff. Would never return to this...