We’ve loved watching Rosebank evolve – the pedestrianised walkways, the easy urban rhythm, the mix of galleries, offices, cafés and late-night ambience. And now, high above the streets, at Hyde Johannesburg Rosebank hotel, there’s a new reason to linger after dark.
Nine Lives Supper Club has taken over the hotel’s former engine room and turned it into something deliciously clandestine. Take the lift from the ground floor, and you'll catch sight of a lipstick-scrawled message across the mirror that starts with "We slip through the streets while everyone sleeps..." (convincing enough that one guest thought it was real and tried to clean it off). You arrive in darkness, and then the velvet curtain is pulled aside. It closes behind you. You’re in.
Inside it's all speakeasy low lighting, an acoustic softness that wraps around the music, intimate curved banquette seating, velvet, and a striking backlit bar that draws the eye. Nine Lives is plush without being try-hard. Sexy without being obvious. There’s a feline spirit to the interiors – playful, sleek, prowling – as if the room itself has decided the night belongs to it.
We visited for the official launch (Feb 2026) and the mood was set early: caviar doing the rounds, a Vesper Martini in hand (don’t skip it), and that sense of being somewhere far away, in a place that is sure of itself. Luxurious, but also fun, Nine Lives is unstuffy. The kind of place where you settle in and suddenly it’s much later than you thought.
The menu at Nine Lives Supper Club
The food is by Chef Marc Robert – the culinary force behind Proud Mary downstairs – and if you’ve eaten there, you’ll know he has a knack for dishes you can’t stop talking about. Think elevated snacks and small plates designed for sharing: truffle fries, coal-fired cauliflower, popcorn squid, wagyu tataki; plates that travel globally but feel completely at home in Joburg.If you are more a main course kind of cat you won't be disappointed. The "provisions" menu has something for you – from mushroom and wakame risotto to oxtail pho or steak frites to share.
The drinks at Nine Lives Supper Club
Behind the bar is the mind of Martin Strobos whose wizardry is evident across the Colada restaurants (Mamasamba and Fugazzi in Rosebank originated here). The energy matches the kitchen with a range of sophisticated cocktails that truly, madly and deeply celebrate cocktail culture – the Vesper Martini shares centre-stage with drinks named Clockwork Orange, Cloak n Dagger and Filthy AF.A serious whisky selection anchors a cocktail list that is a contemporary take on 1970s spirit. That spirit translates into a space that feels intimate, confident, and slightly dangerous (in a good way).
What to wear, and what to expect at Nine Lives Supper Club
Nine Lives is the kind of venue you'll enjoy dressing up for. It's indulgent without feeling intimidating.This is low-lit glamour in a room designed for eye contact rather than spectacle. The finishes here are tactile, the olive in your Martini is deeply smoky, and you are transported back to a time when ordering a drink was an act of intention. On the night we visited, a sultry chanteuse in head-to-toe sequins, accompanied by a saxophonist and a drummer, held the room.
The bar glowed. The room hummed. Another round was irresistible.
Hyde was born from nightlife, not traditional hotel culture. The original Hyde Lounge on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles built its reputation on music and mood. Hotels came later, in London, Miami, Ibiza and Dubai, and brought with them that DNA that was always about after-dark culture.
Nine Lives feels like Rosebank’s after-hours alter ego — an invitation to taste, linger, and purr.
Open: Monday – Saturday from 16:00
Bookings: Via Dineplan, or walk in
Where: Hyde Johannesburg Rosebank hotel
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