One of my favourite haunts. Exceptional service from the staff, the food is to die for and then there is the world class range of whisk(e)y. Some tasty cocktails that suit all tastes and the classics along with hard to find bourbons that you can’t pass on. Thanks again Varnish. An easy 5-stars.

DISAPPEARING ACT // Avoid the set menu (aud65pp) at Varnish on King if you are after a decent meal. Music played was excessively loud and we had to shout across the table to be heard even when the table was less than 1 metre apart. The group of us ordered the set menu for six (total aud390) and still left super hungry. We had wanted to add extras and relayed this to our server as there were seven of us but after our server confidently assured us in saying that the food would be more than enough to feed the seven of us, we trusted them and let them do their thing. Therein laid our misstep for the night. Rule #1: always trust yourself instead. Note that one of our friends has peanut allergy and we informed this prior to the dishes being served. Breakdown of what was served: 2 x Grilled Peppers, Pears & Proscuitto (aud12 each) = aud24 1 x Maple Bourbon Chicken Wings aud18 After 35 minutes, mains finally arrived. It was 9:45pm at this point. 2 x Brussel Sprouts aud18 = aud36 1 x Pumpkin = aud28 : contains peanut, friend told to avoid this 2 x Mac & Cheese $26 = aud52 1 x Beef Rump Cap aud50: Dish of the night 1 x Steak & Frites - Price N/A: estimated aud60 Dessert: 6 x Black Sin Cake $12 x 6 = $72 Estimated Total Bill $340 Essentially there were only two protein dishes for six. As our server cleared off our dishes, we asked if there were more food coming. When informed that desserts were next, we expressed our disappointment and requested our server to inform the chef that we were still hungry. Desserts came out right after. Six serves of black sin cake with white chocolate and orange curd (aud12 each). It was bland and tasteless. They tried to make up for our disappointment by offering an additional serve of cake but we sent it back since the majority of us didn’t like the cake upon the first bite. We then asked for the bill and were stunned to see that the additional serve of cake was charged eventhough it had been sent back. This took a further 15 minutes to rectify. Rule #2: Always check the bill. I rarely write an actual negative post but our experience last night definitely warrants it. This might be a place known for their whiskey and bacon but maybe consider elsewhere if you are after a proper dinner feed.

Great atmosphere and service. The guy served us was very nice :) and the girl. food nice as you can see in the pic, way too much for two of us for 79 bucks deal. Never leave hungry nor drunk! Thanks guys.

Excellent service Awesome vibe Ok food We decided to visit and take advantage of the $79 drink & dine deal. First this is excellent value and would highly recommend doing this on a Friday night, there are multiple drinks on offer and a steady stream. The dine started well with a sweet and spicy corn bread, followed by delicious crispy potatoes and wings. The wings while well seasoned were a bit wet and could have been cooked a little longer to bake on the flavour. We were pretty satisfied and this point then four more dishes appeared! Charred carrots, lamb with broad beans, wood fired chicken and fried rice. This is the part where the meal kind of fell down, everything tasted charred and lacked flavour. Generous servings but it seemed a little off at this point. Final meal - I know, another! A sweet little dessert packed with flavour and really rounded out the meal. We were stuffed!

So been here 5 times now. Time to be honest… Average dive bar mostly due to staff. Good drinks list, good food great for the Punter…. However for the hospo type.. very averag. Staff focused on basic rsa…. Not experienced with serious punters. Anyway good luck with hens nights etc. looks serious .. but forget it if you are industry……..

Excellent little bar with so much atmosphere and first class staff who know their stuff. The doorman was lovely too - keep up the good work

Way over priced! Very cool place but super expensive. If you are just going for a snack and a drink ok but for dinner and drinks I would think twice. I love the vibe as the bar is placed in a basement sort of space so it’s all dark and mysterious. The menu is very refined and prepared nicely but it’s not really a dinner place (to me). It’s not a family place for sure so only go as a couple (no kids menu or options). The drinks were all really good and the whiskey & bacon flight was really interesting. I think it’s a good place for a quiet nights get after work and if I had my expectations accurate then we would have rated it higher I think. This restaurant is apart of a bigger collective so I guess they are trying to tick the box on all types of themes. To me they are trying to hard and missing the mark…it would be better to simplify to make the few places better. I wouldn’t go back but just because of the hefty price tag at the end of the night.

A great bar, down some stairs on King St. Whisky (or Rye and Bourbon) galore. I had a very good old fashioned whilst ogling the whisky and bacon flights I saw going out. We will definitely be back.

Friday night, found a seat for four.The guys brought us drinks.The aromas of bacon & my imagination took me back to another era of Whisky Heritage. A great treat to check out small bars in Perth Western Australia. Discovered a trail of Small Bars via #twofeetperth tours. Awesome experience

Great ambience, very friendly and fast service staff. Good crowd always too. If you are here you must try the bacon shots platter. That's a big highlight. Ohhhh and top notch whiskey sour.

Excellent food, service & experience. The Chef’s menu for A$59 is a great value. Remember to do the bacon & whiskey flight, it’s a good experience

Very nice place, super cozy and the service is impeccable, I have been twice and these two guys always in a good mood and giving the best service. I think is the only place open till late in town 😅 beers are amazing and for whiskey livers there are many options, totally recommend!

This place rocks! Music matches the style of bar, staff are friendly and clearly take pride in their trade. Although you have to wait a while for service at peak time, it's because the staff ensure they get the mixes just right. Thoroughly recommended if you enjoy whiskey, bourbon, or mixes.

Had dinner and drinks at Varnish last night. The bar itself and the drinks are great, the food however was terrible. We did the $65pp chef menu and it was so disappointing. Starters were tiny, the mains didn’t really go together, heavy on the mac n cheese and minimal meat to accompany. Desert was banana bread which again, just didn’t “go”. The time between each course to come out was ages as well. Great bar for drinking but terrible for dinner

This place was amazing, only reason i cant give a 5star is how few seating options are available. The food was nice and the bartender walked us through a few different cocktail options! Will go back again for sure!!!

I'd come back just for the Bacon and Whiskey flight - a happy, smoky and delicious platter of flavours. The whole place has the great vibes of an old school dive bar with all the fun amenities of a slick modern bar and restaurant. If you're a whiskey and bacon lover, this place is a must-try! Book a reservation, though, it gets full quick.

Sneaky underground whiskey bar, bar, restaurant. Tapas style or the odd special or main, well presented and served by the friendly staff and chef. Average prices, some expensive but good quality options.

The bacon and whisky pairings were fantastic, but there was plenty for the members of our party who didn't like whisky to try. We got the chefs menu, and it was fantastic. All around great experience, amazing

Great atmosphere, the whiskey bacon flight was really fun and the pair indeed goes pretty well!

Nice, cozy bar that is open till late serving good cocktails ! Pricing of the drinks can be reduced by 15-20%, only reason why it is 4/5 for me.

Perfect underground bar with an awesome range of whiskey (& whisky!) served by passionate and knowledgeable staff. Cool vibe with a smoking lounge feel and Duke tasty food. What more do you need?

Went here for dinner on a saturday night. The service was great. I had the whisky tasting board and was very disappointed with what whisky's were on this board, two being standard whisky which I'm sure everyone has already had - Jim beam and JD. The other two whiskey's were like rocket fuel. I ended up not getting any other drink as it took me a couple of hours to sip on these. These were only half shots as well. I was expecting going to a whisky bar to try some 'different' whisky's. We got the special main that was on the menu. We were disappointed to say the least. The meat was so chewy and no flavor to it. The sides were poor - corn bread and popcorn and slices of cucumber. For $85 it was shocking. We left the restaurant really disappointed and annoyed that we had spent $220. If you're looking for some good food and reasonably priced whiskey's don't go here. I would only recommend going for a drink at the bar.

A small whiskey bar that has amazing cocktails. Watching the talented staff make them is half the fun. There are lots of whiskey based drinks but the classics are covered as well as a new spin on those traditional recipes. Tommy's margarita always goes down well and the gin based Turkish delight Martini is indeed delightful. The whiskey tasting flights with matching bacon make the venue smell amazing. The food is refined, with some unexpected flavour combinations as well as nailing familiar dishes like macaroni cheese. The atmosphere is intimate and the downstairs venue brings to mind an exclusive speak-easy. Perfect for a date or a drink with a few colleagues after work.

The quality in food and drinks was amazing along with the warm atmosphere provided inside this venue. Staff were friendly and polite but for a Saturday night in the city and a very busy period, we were experiencing quite lengthy delays in being served and or receiving our drink orders. cannot fault the staff for this as you could see they were constantly on the go. My only recommendation to the business for that is more staff (pending it wasnt a shortage due to Covid etc). Will definitely be back for more next time we visit Perth.

Amazing night! The staff were amazing! Best service I've seen in years! Can't say enough how good the staff were!!

Staff member Tamara was amazing. Made our group's night even better than expected.

Stopped by and turned out to be a great start to a wonderful night. Our host Benji taught us all we needed about the house wiskeys and the bacon combo which was a must! Absolutely delicious shared with a friend for the perfect top off to an evening. Hard recommend.

Knowledgeable bar staff and a soundtrack that has our entire table singing along at various points throughout the night

Try the bacon whisky pairing. Wow. So many to try - I went through a few half shots from buffalo trace distillery. Bourbons A+ selection. Rye to try. Also really friendly staff who can talk you through what they like and why.

We ate and drunk at Varnish on Friday night and boy did we drink and eat, we had the Chefs feed me menu for 6 people it was so much food and really nice ( not things I would normally order) staffs knowledge of the products the were serving was OUTSTANDING and we worked our way through a fraction of the many drink options on offer. Will be defiantly going back to try more of the different styles I didn't get to. Cheers for a great night !

Awesome inner city bar! Knowledgeable staff. Go the whiskey bacon flight pineapple molasses bacon was the standout! Highly recommend!

I went to Varnish on a Wednesday evening as part of street art and bar tour with Oh Hey WA. I am not a whiskey drinker but if I had more of that whiskey sour, I might be converted. Lovely downstairs bar. Decor was tasteful and vibe was excellent. Will definitely be visiting again.

Great if you like meat and whiskey smell and taste. Waitstaff very accommodating. Music very much to my liking. Comfortable couch area for larger groups.

One of the best, if not the best bar’s and food go-to’s in Perth, and one of the best in Australia! Amazing bacon-whiskey and bacon-rose pairing, best chicken wings and great chips. The lamb is put of this world. TJ and Liam just make the place comforting and their service makes you want to come back every time!

When a place offers the perfect breakfast piece, with the perfect night cap you can't go wrong. Varnish really makes you feel comfortable, from it's warm homey feeling, amazing staff, and delicious food. That said if you visit you really have to try the Bacon Whiskey flight and if you have a few spare coins try earn yourself a free shot if you can score it in the tin. Shoutout to KD, Charles, Ben and the Vine Guy who keep the energy high and make the experience of Varnish a perfect night out.

A classic themed bar w/ a distinctively unique ambience is sure to captivate you to take a breather and enjoy what it has to offer. Varnish on King is just on their own level. Excellent - one of a kind establishment. Bartender genuinely wants the best service for you and they tend to everyone promptly.