The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-10-10 · by Tomas Telegramma
The Rocket Society, a Lebanese-leaning wine bar located in Brunswick East, Melbourne, offers affordable wraps for $10 and half-price drinks during their "happy habibi hour" from 5pm to 6pm daily. The bar, part of the Rumi restaurant group founded by chef Joseph Abboud, features a diverse drink menu including local arak collaborations and international wines. Alongside the beverages, the bar serves small plates and skewers from the adjacent Rumi kitchen, known for high-quality Middle Eastern cuisine.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-10,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
The sky is evidently not the limit for Melbourne venue operators searching for a name out of this world.
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sky → search → world
One flying under the radar is Lebanese-leaning Brunswick East bar The Rocket Society.
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One → fly → radar
It’s coming up to three years since it opened as a sibling for Middle Eastern restaurant Rumi, which chef-owner Joseph Abboud had just relocated from Lygon Street to East Brunswick Village.
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Abboud → come → Village
The slick development on Nicholson Street has gone on to become as much of a hub for housing as hospitality, now home to a Hagen’s butcher (which doubles as a hot chook shop), a To Be Frank bakery, the Korean Dodam, and more.
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which → go → shop
Anchor hospo tenant Rumi marks a milestone in 2026, celebrating 20 years of expanding Melbourne’s Middle Eastern dining horizons (and impressing Anthony Bourdain along the way).
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Rumi → mark → way
But next door in The Rocket Society, Abboud has spawned a spin-off that’s also worth raising a glass to.
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that → spawn → glass
If word of mouth is anything to go by, you might think this particular rocket had failed to launch as astronomically as Abboud might have hoped.
uncertain
Abboud → go → mouth
It feels like there’s been little chatter about it until recently.
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It → feel → it
But you could say The Rocket Society’s fans are less talk, more action.
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fans → say → ?
Sauntering through East Brunswick Village, I’m overtaken by a couple on a mission, beelining straight from their apartment building to The Rocket Society.
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I → saunter → Society
They order just in the nick of time for “happy habibi hour”; between 5pm and 6pm every day, a handful of sips and barbecue sticks are half-price.
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handful → order → sips
Around them, alfresco tables of (more-punctual) locals lounge with their wallet-friendly wines in the late-afternoon light.
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tables → lounge → light
Meanwhile, I’m having apple pie.
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I → have → pie
Lady Cedar, the headline cocktail, makes dessert drinkable (and night-starting instead of night-ending).
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dessert → make → ?
It’s warmly spiced and supercharged by Melbourne Moonshine’s Apple Pie Shine, while Abboud’s own Big Jack’s Arak, a new small-batch collaboration with local distillery Bandesh, invites anise to the party.
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Arak → spice → party
(As does a dedicated section of the drinks list, spanning arak, Turkish raki and Greek ouzo.
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section → do → arak
The wine program covers even more ground, so why not venture somewhere you’ve never ventured before?
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you → cover → ground
We find Croatian and Slovenian expressions by the glass.
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We → find → glass
But to get to Lebanon, we have to go by the bottle.
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we → get → bottle
Our coy, casually dressed server kicks into gear, their intimate knowledge of the list leading us to an earthy, amphora-aged white from women-led lo-fi wine label Heya, based in Dimane, a village in Lebanon’s north.
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knowledge → dress → north
Expect the drinks to pique your interest, but this isn’t a place to skip the snacks.
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this → expect → snacks
Small plates and charcoal-fired skewers come fresh and fast from the Rumi kitchen, upholding the same finger-licking standard.
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plates → fire → standard
The hummus game is strengthened by the utter unctuousness of barramundi awarma (cooked down in its own belly fat).
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game → strengthen → fat
you must add on to scoop it all up.
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you → add → it
Falafels resemble mini meteorites, fried until intensely brown but gloriously herby-green once cracked open.
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Falafels → resemble → meteorites
Rumi’s famous chicken wings are on the menu too, with the acronym “IYKYK”; if you know, you know, and if you don’t, you should definitely find out.
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you → know → acronym
Things you could also get threaded on sticks: sumac-spiced chicken hearts (“entry-level offal”, my dining partner quips), and Meredith Dairy goat kofta.
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partner → thread → sticks
By day, many of the menu stars are wrapped into Lebanese flatbread sandwiches (or “sondwishes”) and sold for $10 a pop – or $19.90 with fries, tahini mayo and a drink.
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many → wrap → fries
It’s increasingly rare for a neighbourhood bar to trade every night of the week, let alone every day – from 11am.
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bar → ’ → am
It’s not rocket science, but The Rocket Society should get more credit for its dependable hours, on top of the lunch-to-dinner deliciousness, and drinks that break the mould.
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that → ’ → mould
More of us ought to add it to our regular wine-bar rotation.
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More → add → rotation
Three bars with Lebanese energy
No.100
Beiruit Not To is the name of the anise-y arak-spiked spritz at Flinders Lane’s slice of Lebanon.
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Beiruit → spike → Lebanon
The owners of this Southbank bar are “born and bred Lebo-terranean”
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owners → bear → bar
the offering reflects that cultural mash-up.
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offering → reflect → up
At $59.90, the set menu is great value, including a medley of meze, something from the rotisserie and a drink.
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menu → include → rotisserie
Later this month, Sama – the family-fuelled Lebanese restaurant hidden in Fairfield’s Grandview Hotel – will add a more casual meze bar to the mix, transforming the pub’s old pokies room into a 30-seat space for Lebanese-influenced drinking and snacking.
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Sama → hide → drinking
429 Heidelberg Road, Fairfield, grandviewhotelfairfield.com/sama
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently.
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reviews → book → ?
A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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restaurant → pay → Guide
The Aporia
