New Japanese-fusion dive bar moves into Moseley Street
A new bar with a Japanese-American fusion menu, live music and plenty of nostalgic decor opens in Glenelg this Friday.
Brandon Blight and Matthew Blyth met while working at Cry Baby in 2019. After a knockoff or two, they had a conversation people have been having in bars for as long as there have been bars: “we should open a bar”.
“Everyone does that with their friends, everyone says they’re gonna start a bar, but we stuck with it and we’re glad we did,” Matthew tells CityMag.
Once they found the Moseley Street location – the old Glenelg Book Exchange – plans moved quickly.
Their Bullet Club co-owners, Doug Gordon and Sam Mcgradey run businesses Edge Projects Co and Eastside Appliances, and their team turned around the fit-out in just two months.
The old facade of the Glenelg Book Exchange, established in 1980, has been preserved inside the venue.
Bullet Club is a grunge dive bar with clear nostalgia for the 90s and early 2000s popular culture in its aesthetic, equipped with a Street Fighter arcade machine and Nintendo 64.
“It’s a lot of our own personal Knick knacks and memorabilia from a younger age. So we just wanted to give back some of our own childhood that we got to enjoy, and hopefully other people can reminisce on theirs,” Brandon says.
Fancy a game?
As CityMag walks through the venue, Pokemon Stadium’s loading screen on the 64, an Adelaide Crows ’97 Premiers VHS, and a Spice Girls poster are some of the key nostalgic pieces that jump out.
You might like
“We’re really hoping that every time you come in here, there’s always another bit of knickknacks, there’s a bit more memorabilia, something awakens a core memory from your own childhood that you can sort of relate with us,” Brandon says.
Spot the Rock
Leaning into the grunge aspect, the venue intends to have a gig calendar filled out with local bands with a unique sound and boasts a Funktion-One Sound system by Inside Out Audio.
“In a perfect world, I think we would like to become sort of the live music venue down the bay,” Matthew says.
“Lean into that sort of Nirvana MTV Unplugged sort of vibe rather than hearing your very basic, everyday acoustic, there’s nothing wrong with that, but we’d get sort of that more 90s, millennial or even early 90s spec, which doesn’t happen a lot elsewhere.”
The view from the mezzanine, which could double as a stage in future.
The combo of an American dive bar aesthetic and Japanese Izakaya was inspired by Brandon’s travels in Sendai, a city north of Tokyo.
“I started just going out most nights into izakaya’s and I sort of fell in love with a bar called Seize The Day up there, just like a small, little 12-seater.
“Since it was a very American dive-esque version of just a 12-seater, it was CDs, it was CRT TVs, arcades, skateboards, tattoos, a lot of DIY carpentry to build the place and it really inspired me to come back to Adelaide and get into hospo.”
Bullet Club seats about 78 and the menu spans diner and bar food classics with a fun Japanese twist.
Japanese cooking is a personal favourite of chef Ryan Curtis, who says the fusion of American diner style and Japanese street food works well together. Expect menu items like Kaarage popcorn chicken, pickled mustard leaf onigiri and furikake fries.
So far, Ryan’s favourite thing on the menu is the crispy chilli Udon.
Subscribe for updates
As for the drinks menu, Matthew and Brandon say “good whiskey” was the starting point and they’ll have as many cocktails on tap as they will beer and they’ve teamed up with local small-batch liquor brand Threefold Distilling for the drop.
“They’ll all be created and curated in-house, so just our traditional Japanese Highball, because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Brandon says.
“It’s one of the most popular cocktails in history so we thought, what better than to have that on tap at all times?”
Bullet Club’s sip of the summer
With fusion in mind, Bullet Club’s name is a nod to the all-white wrestling group that became a crowd favourite in New Japan Pro-Wrestling in the early 2010s.
“It’s us, sort of paying homage to a lot of the Japanese and Western culture, sort of clashing,” Brandon says.
“Half of them couldn’t even speak Japanese, so cutting their promos and having fun, it was really just getting around that excitement, that point of difference and at the same time still being a fun clash of both cultures.
“Other than a lot of the wrestling, Japanese and 90s influences with America, Matty B and I just wanted to be that outsider and that point of difference out here in Glenelg, where it’s a lot of beach-themed bars, a lot of aprons, white collars, real classy.
“We wanted to be that point of difference, the people that stand out maybe from a different cultural beachside standpoint and we wanted to bring that sort of Americana dive Izakaya restaurant to Glenelg, with a bit of an in-your-face attitude, and see how it shakes up the atmosphere down here.”
The bar’s benchtops are made from refurbished bowling lanes from a decommissioned AMF bowling alley.
The duo, whose experience includes Shotgun Willies, District and Bar Lune, say while their aesthetic sets them apart, anyone is welcome.
“Gritty and dank, look bad, feel good, and there’s no judgment from us behind the bar, you can judge us if you like,” Matthew says.
“Anyone’s welcome, from young and old, any demographic, your money is as good as mine, that’s something I’ve always believed in.”
It’s not a phase, mum!
Bullet Club is located at 1/4 Moseley Street, Glenelg, and opens from Friday, January 17 from 12pm ‘til late.
They’re open 12pm ’til late all weekend and from 4:30pm ‘til late Tuesday–Thursday. Connect with them on Instagram.