No Set Menu.
No Hire Fee. No Nonsense.
Docklands is wall-to-wall offices and we're the only standalone bar in NewQuay — so your team can walk here instead of booking a tram into town. Proper pints, a Highland whisky shelf, no tellies and nothing shouting over the conversation.
Up to 30 people book online in a minute. Bigger groups have no minimum spend either. You only pay a minimum if you want the whole pub to yourselves.
The Christmas Party
Your Team Won't Dread
Nobody remembers the set menu. They remember whether they could hear each other, whether the bar took forever, and whether they got stuck next to someone from Accounts for three hours with nowhere to move.
You choose the food
We've no kitchen, and BYO catering is welcome. So you order in exactly what your crowd wants at your price — pizza, dumplings, a proper spread — instead of paying $75 a head for chicken or beef. We keep snacks behind the bar too: crisps, nuts, pork scratchings, pork pies, scotch eggs.
People can hear each other
No TVs anywhere, by design, and no music loud enough to shout over. It's the reason work groups settle in for four hours instead of drifting off after one — and the reason your quieter people actually stay.
Everyone can get here
Trams 70, 86 and 35 stop at the door, inside the free tram zone, five to seven minutes' walk from Marvel Stadium. Nobody has to plan a route, find parking, or expense a taxi to get there.
Pick the Size That Fits
Most teams don't need the whole pub — just a corner of it held for them, with the bar trading as normal around you. If you do want the place to yourselves, that's available too.
Book Online
2–30 guests
No minimum spendNothing to pay — a $10pp card hold, released on arrival
Small team, or a department having its own do. Straight through the booking form — no enquiry, no waiting on a reply, no conversation needed.
- Confirmed in about a minute
- Any day of the week
- BYO catering welcome
- Mention it's a Christmas do in the notes
Group Booking
31+ guests
No minimum spendNo hire fee, no exclusivity charge, no set menu
The one most teams want. We reserve an area for your group and the pub trades as normal around you — you're booking space and a bar tab, that's it.
- Reserved area held for your group
- A staff member looking after you
- Bar tab with a set limit, or pay-as-you-go
- Invoicing available for corporate bookings
- Stay while space is available; demand and later bookings may affect your finish time
Exclusive Venue Hire
Up to 97 guests
From $3,500 in December1–24 Dec. $2,500 midweek outside that window.
The whole pub, closed to the public for the length of your booking. Tartan, timber, the taps and the whisky shelf — all yours, and nobody else's office party in the corner.
- 53 inside + 44 outside
- No public access during your function
- Still no hire fee — the minimum spend is the price
- Finish time agreed with you, within licensed hours
- Written quote before you commit
- Not available Mondays (trivia night)
Not sure which you need? Send the form below with your numbers and we'll tell you which one fits — or ring
0485 000 079.
Planning team drinks outside the Christmas period? See our corporate functions and work drinks guide.
What It Costs
Booking a group here is free. No minimum spend, no venue hire fee, no per-head package, whatever the size. You reserve the space, the pub keeps trading, and your team buys what they buy.
The only thing that carries a minimum spend is exclusive hire — where we close the doors and turn everyone else away. There's still no separate hire fee: spend the minimum across the bar and there's nothing more to pay. Come in under and we invoice the difference.
Or $75 per head in December ($60 the rest of the year) where your numbers push it higher than the figure opposite.
| When | Standard | 1–24 Dec |
|---|---|---|
| Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu | $2,500 | $3,500 |
| Friday | $4,500 | $6,000 |
| Saturday | $6,000 | $7,500 |
| Monday | — | — |
December rates apply 1–24 December — it's the busiest fortnight of our year and closing the doors costs us a full room. Mondays aren't available for exclusive hire at all: that's trivia night and it belongs to the regulars.
Deposit & cancellation. 25% of the minimum spend confirms the date and comes straight off your tab on the night. Cancel inside 14 days midweek (28 days Friday or Saturday) and the deposit is retained. Final numbers 7 days out.
Security. Rarely needed for a work do, but some bookings require crowd controllers — anything with a DJ or amplified music, ticketed or publicly promoted events, and bookings over 60. Where it's needed we arrange it and charge it at cost: $132 per hour plus GST for two, four-hour minimum, on your quote before you commit.
The Good Dates Go First
Enquiries start landing in August. December Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays are the ones that disappear — that's when Docklands offices do their party. A date costs nothing to hold and everything to lose.
- Wed 2 DecFirst week — quieter, easier to get the whole team out
- Thu 3 DecPopular. Thursdays go early in Docklands
- Fri 4 DecThe first proper party Friday
- Wed 9 DecPrime midweek — our busiest December slot
- Thu 10 DecPrime midweek
- Fri 11 DecPeak Friday. Ask early
- Wed 16 DecLast full week before the wind-down
- Thu 17 DecLast full week
- Fri 18 DecThe big one. Usually first to go
- Mon–TueQuietest, most flexible — and the room's all yours in practice
Tartan, Timber and
Eight Taps
53 inside across three connected areas, plus 44 outside on the terrace — where people sit right through winter, so a December evening is no bother at all.
Gift Vouchers for
the Whole Team
Sorting the party and still stuck for staff gifts? Bulk gift vouchers, invoiced and delivered to your office in Docklands or the CBD. Any amount, redeemable on everything behind the bar, valid at least three years.
It beats another branded water bottle, and it brings your team back through the door in January — which, frankly, is the whole idea.
Handy for organisers
- No set menu to sell to your team
- Invoicing available for corporate bookings
- Bar tab with a set limit — no surprises on the night
- BYO catering, or we'll point you at nearby options
- Dog-friendly, so nobody's left out
- Every enquiry answered within 24 hours
Tell us your budget per head in the form and we'll work back from it.
Rated 4.9 on Google
A family-run pub that made the news on two continents for refusing to put a telly in. We're told regularly it pours the best Guinness in Melbourne — and often the best outside Dublin.
Hold Your December Date
Five fields is all we need to get started. We answer every enquiry — usually same day, and always within 24 hours.
Everything Else
What does a Christmas party here actually cost?
Do we have to take a set menu?
Can you invoice our company?
How far ahead should we book?
Can we have a bar tab?
Is there a deposit?
Can we book a Monday?
Do you show live sport or play Christmas music?
How many people fit?
What are your licensed hours?
Give Us the Date
Tell us the day and the numbers and we'll do the rest. Every enquiry gets an answer within 24 hours — and holding a date costs you nothing.
