Heroes Expands to Include Dumpling Bar & Bao Bar
Heroes, the energetic Karaoke and Rooftop bar, that sits over three levels and a basement on Bourke Street in the CBD, is expanding. New owners have made the whole building their own, taking on the ground floor and - with dynamic dumpling brand, Drumplings as their food supplier – have created a vertical laneway of dumplings, bao, cocktails and song. (We've sampled the Cheeseburger Drumplings offering as a great example of their fusion flavours).
In December 2021 Robert Whiting and Lucas De Siqueira – who are business partners in the Primary Care and Cosmetics industries – bought Heroes at 188 Bourke Street.
Heroes, that was previously owned by the team at Fancy Hanks, consisted of floors 1-3 and the basement, but Rob and Lucas also bought the ground floor, the former ice cream shop, Nitro Lab, to create a dumpling and bao bar to augment the other floors.
This plan led to an introduction to Drumplings Founder, Deon St.Mor, and they discovered Drumplings was the perfect fit for Rob and Lucas’s vision.
“We were looking for a creative outlet, a fun business and we want to focus on happier moments. We met with Deon and the Drumplings brand made sense for Heroes,” says Rob.
Drumplings – an already established and much-loved product - was developed by St.Mor and Jeremy Raven. Deon St.Mor, who is behind beauty brand MOR Cosmetics and Glamping Hotel St.Jerome’s, created Drumplings to take his customers on another sensory journey built on flavour and quality.
Drumplings embraces fusion flavours in dumplings using local ingredients and the Heroes menu embraces this. Think, Cardi B (a coco-pine Margarita) or a Black Widow (a feisty Blood Orange Negroni).
The Heroes anchor that the 30-seat ground floor and Drumplings offer is a quick bite, a meal with a group of friends or some bao before breaking into song in the Open Mic Bar on Level 2. The menu will also be available on the rooftop to enjoy with cocktails while listening to a changing roster of regular DJs.
Cheeseburger, Mac & Cheese, Braised Duck with Pinot and Pepperoni Pizza dumplings, as well as Bao with fillings such as pork, chicken, or tofu.
The drinks list includes classic cocktails – served on the rooftop – such as Margaritas and Daquiris as well as the venue’s own creations.
From the basement to the rooftop bar, each floor of Heroes caters to diverse Melbourne audiences. While the overarching interior feel is cyber-punk with neon lighting, a modernist feisty aesthetic and broad Asian-inspired textures and colours, the foundation of Heroes is joy, generosity, and a little eccentricity.
The basement and level one consist of four private karaoke rooms across the two levels. Level three, the Rooftop Bar is an ‘urban jungle’ feel of lush greens and contemporary murals by artist Justine Millsom (aka @juzpop). It’s licensed for up to 102 people and the Drumplings menu will be available on the rooftop and throughout the building. Brazilian barbecues, DJs and live music are pegged for levels two and three in the coming months.