Mooloolaba Is Getting A Hidden 20-Seat Bar Where Every Cocktail Comes With A Show

Hid Den

Blowtorched meringue, liquid nitrogen sorbet and a colour-changing Tom Collins, the Sunshine Coast's new speakeasy is pure theatre.

Is it just us, or is it that the harder a bar is to find, the better it turns out to be? Mooloolaba is about to prove the theory. Hid Den, a 20-seat speakeasy from the team behind the Coast's most awarded bar WAT Den, opens its very discrete door in early September, and trust us when we say this one is worth hunting down.

Here's how it goes: track down the entrance (that's half the fun), slide onto one of just twenty seats, almost all of them front row at the bar, and wait for a little bowl of spiced popcorn to land in front of you, along with three words: “enjoy the show.” Because at Hid Den, every drink is a performance.

Feast your eyes on a pornstar martini poured around prosecco sorbet churned before you with liquid nitrogen, a ruby-red sour crowned with meringue then hit with a blowtorch, and an old fashioned that arrives as a tiny frozen bottle filled with applewood smoke, poured right at your seat. Even the zero-proof list gets in on the theatrics, order Chasing Waterfalls and watch it shift from blue to violet as butterfly pea tea hits the glass. Your Instagram will thank you.

The space itself is Japanese minimalism meets salty Mooloolaba air. Co-owner Dean Mariani spent years falling for Japan's tiny bars and omakase counters, and Hid Den is his love letter to both. Peep the name while you're at it: find it, and you're in the Hid Den.

But don't expect hushed reverence or a password at the door (read: this is a speakeasy that actually wants you to have fun). “It's lively and fun, not pretentious,” says Dean. “We're discrete, not secret.” The logo reads Cocktails & Dreams, a nod to the Tom Cruise flick that planted the seed all those years ago.

A word to the wise: it's walk-ins only, Wednesday to Sunday from 5pm until midnight (and like its big sibling, it never closes early). If all twenty seats are taken, WAT Den doubles as the waiting room and given it just landed three finalist nods at the 2026 Australian Bar Awards and ranked number 11 on Boothby's Best Bars QLD list, it’s a pretty good spot to wait and sip.

The details:

• What: Hid Den — 20-seat theatrical speakeasy

• Where: Mantra building Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast 

• When: September 10th 2026; Wed–Sun, 5pm until midnight

• Bookings: none, walk-ins only, waiting room at WAT Den

Hid Den is a 20-seat modern speakeasy in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast, from the team behind the award-winning WAT Den. Blending Japanese minimalism with coastal warmth, Hid Den serves experimental, theatrical cocktails with fire, smoke, liquid nitrogen and molecular technique in an intimate, unpretentious setting. Walk-ins only, Wednesday to Sunday, 5pm until midnight.

Lizzie Henebery  [email protected] 

0402 809 650 

Dean and Bri are both available for interview.