The Sherlock Holmes Inn does the English basement pub better than most rooms that try, because it is actually below street level on Collins Street, all exposed beams and period prints and corners built for a long pint. Add nineteen taps and a screen schedule that runs from the Premier League to the AFL, and it earns its place on the CBD sports list.
The address is 415 to 417 Collins Street, in the financial end of the city grid. The setup is two rooms: the basement Sherlock Holmes Inn, described by Hidden City Secrets as a pub of exposed ceiling beams, period wall prints and nooks for sipping a pint, and the street-level Dr Watson's Bar above it. That split keeps the basement quiet for a pint and the upstairs livelier on a match night, which is why it lands among the Melbourne sports bars as the city's British-pub option.
The room is the appeal. The basement leans into the old-world theme with timber, brass and the Conan Doyle iconography, while the beer program does the serious work, carrying nineteen beers on tap including Aussie and English bitters, ales, ciders and lagers, plus up to four rotating guest taps. It is a drinker's pub first and a theme pub second.
What to order: start with one of the English bitters or a guest tap, because the rotating four are the reason regulars keep checking back. The kitchen runs the British pub canon, so the roast of the day, the bangers and mash and the beer-battered fish and chips are the orders to beat. A pint and a roast in the basement is the full experience.
The sport is part of the pitch. The pub screens English Premier League matches live and on replay, alongside AFL, rugby and boxing, which makes it a reliable early-morning room for European football and an afternoon one for the footy. Trivia runs every Tuesday at 6:30pm for the slower midweek nights.
Who it is for: the after-work CBD crowd, the football fan chasing a Premier League kickoff, and anyone who wants a proper English pub rather than a sports barn. It fits a city crawl alongside Young and Jackson opposite Flinders Street or P.J. O'Brien's on the Southbank riverside. For the wider field, our guide to the best sports bars in Melbourne sets the scene.
Best time to go is a Premier League weekend morning when the basement opens for the early kickoffs, or a Friday after work when the Collins Street trade fills both rooms. Note the closure: the pub runs Monday to Saturday and is closed on Sunday, so plan a weekend visit around the Saturday.
Context rounds out the picture. Collins Street is better known for cocktail rooms and hotel bars than honest pubs, which is exactly why the Sherlock Holmes Inn stands out, holding a basement corner of the financial district as a British local. Yelp and Tripadvisor reviewers return to the tap range and the roast, and the trivia night keeps a midweek regular crowd. Marcus Webb rates it as the CBD pour for a Premier League morning, the rare Melbourne basement where the football, the beer list and the room all pull in the same direction.
Sources: The Sherlock Holmes Inn official site (thesherlockholmes.com.au); Hidden City Secrets; Yelp (415-417 Collins St); Tripadvisor Melbourne.
