Bouzy Rouge hosts corporate functions, weddings, birthdays and private dinners for up to 120 seated or 200 standing guests when the whole venue is booked. Smaller groups take the first-floor private room, for 42 seated or 100 standing, or the courtyard, for 42 seated or 60 standing. The restaurant serves Spanish and Mediterranean food, tapas, wine and cocktails at 470 Bridge Road in Richmond, an inner suburb of Melbourne.
Seminars and company events
For companies, the venue suits end-of-year parties, team dinners, client cocktails and larger corporate events. The private room on the first floor has its own bar and private bathrooms, which lets a group run a cocktail party without crossing the main dining room, and an adjoining sitting room gives guests a quieter corner. The room works for an intimate dinner of 15 as well as a standing event of 100. The function menu is designed with the organizer, from shared tapas to a seated meal. No meeting equipment is listed, so the venue fits the dinner or celebration rather than the working day.
Weddings and receptions
Full venue hire, combining the restaurant and the courtyard, is the format the venue recommends for weddings and large receptions: 120 guests seated for a dinner or 200 standing for a cocktail reception. The courtyard, with its water feature and carved doors, gives guests room for drinks between courses or during speeches, whatever the weather, since it is built for all seasons.
Rooms and capacities
The Private Room sits on the first floor. It has a bar, private toilets and an adjoining sitting room furnished with two Scottish Knoll sofas, for 42 seated or 100 standing. The Courtyard opens from the restaurant through French doors and is all-weather, decorated with a Venetian mirror, carved Moroccan doors, Grecian statues and a French water feature, for 42 seated or 60 standing. Full Venue Hire brings together the restaurant and the courtyard for 120 seated or 200 standing.
Catering
All food comes from the restaurant kitchen. The everyday menu draws on Spain and the Mediterranean, with oysters, paella, flame-grilled peri peri chicken and duck among its regular weekly offers, and sangria, wine and cocktails at the bar. For functions, a dedicated menu is designed around the group's needs, whether shared plates for a standing event or a seated meal.
History and setting
The restaurant is run by Jose and Sandra De Oliveira, who describe themselves as pioneers of glamorous dining in old pubs and whose five hotels are multi-award-winning. Bouzy Rouge has traded on Bridge Road for more than ten years. It opens for lunch from Friday to Sunday and for dinner every day.
Getting there
Bridge Road runs east from the edge of the city center through Richmond, about 3 km from the Melbourne CBD. Trams run along the road, and taxis and rideshare drop guests at the door. Melbourne Airport is about 25 km away by car.
