The omakase of cocktails: WAT Den team opens 20-seat hidden concept bar
Hid Den
Sunshine Coast's most awarded regional bar team launches a technique-driven second venue, with rapid infusion, spherification, liquid nitrogen and a strictly walk-in model.
The team behind WAT Den, finalist in three categories at the 2026 Australian Bar Awards and number 11 in Boothby's Best Bars QLD opens its second Mooloolaba venue this September: Hid Den, a 20-seat concept bar built around technique, theatre and an omakase-style guest experience.
Co-owner Dean Mariani drew the format directly from travel in Japan.
“Their tiny bars, the omakase chef's tables, I fell in love with that obsessive attention to detail and presentation,” he said.
“Hid Den takes that Japanese minimalism and blends it with the beach. Almost every seat faces the bar, because the bar is the stage.”
The drinks program, led by venue manager Bri Reilly, Drinks World Top 100 Bartenders Australia 2025 and 2026, and winner of the 2025 Archie Rose White Cane competition is a showcase of live technique.
Its anchor is Message In A Bottle #7, the famous fat-washed signature on every WAT Den menu since 2023, and the only drink the two venues share: bacon-and-butter-washed Michter's bourbon and rye, served in a frozen little bottle filled with applewood smoke and poured at the seat.
Around it, the list runs the full spectrum of live technique, a Black Manhattan finished with Jerry Thomas's flaming Blue Blazer pour, a clarified sour crowned with blowtorched meringue, Prosecco sorbet churned to order with liquid nitrogen, rapid infusion via whipping siphon, spherified mandarin pearls and carbonated grapefruit under a Tajín air.
Every technique is performed at the bar, in front of the guest, with almost all twenty seats facing the action. Nothing happens out the back, there is no out the back.
“All my drinks stem from my family, their cooking, our special moments, tangible memories,” Bri said.
“I pride myself on drinks with a story that can appeal to a multitude of palates. Drinks should be relatable, fun and yum.”
Operationally, Hid Den runs a strict walk-in model with no bookings and uses WAT Den as its waiting room, keeping guests in the group's ecosystem rather than on the street. Trading is Wednesday to Sunday, 5pm to midnight.
“It's a modern speakeasy, but lively and fun, not pretentious,” Dean said.
“We're discrete, not secret.”
DETAILS
VENUE Hid Den
LOCATION Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast QLD
OPENS September 10th 2026
HOURS Wednesday to Sunday, 5pm until midnight
CAPACITY 20 seats, majority at the bar
BOOKINGS Walk-ins only
About us:
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.
Contact details:
Lizzie Henebery [email protected]
0402 809 650
Dean and Bri are both available for interview.
