Ball Court Hotel — Restaurant in Melbourne

It is with great dismay that I find myself writing yet another review for this establishment. Unfortunately, this time I do so on behalf of my grandparents, who were appalled by the service they received during a recent visit to The Ball Court.

Along with several of their friends, my grandparents chose to have lunch at The Ball Court after hearing positive things about the generous senior meals you offer. Unfortunately, they were soon let down by both the quality of the service and the food.

The group ordered together as a table, all selecting the Senior Fish and Chips. While the first two meals arrived promptly, the remaining dishes did not appear until 20 to 30 minutes later. This left most of the group awkwardly waiting while two people ate alone, or let their food go cold out of courtesy.

I understand that there are many tables to be served; however, this kind of delay seems to be a recurring issue. Among family and friends, we've noticed this pattern more than once, which leads me to believe that the establishment’s primary focus is its beer garden, rather than providing a consistent dining experience to all patrons.

Unfortunately, the slow service wasn’t the only letdown. When the food finally arrived, it was burnt and unappetizing. My grandparents described the colour of the batter as dark, and in areas as dark as walnut wood. I do not claim to be a chef, or even a cook, but anyone who has ever fried food would recognize that this could be a telltale sign of old or overused oil in the kitchen. It's a basic standard of food preparation, and frankly, it raises concerns about the overall cleanliness and care being taken behind the scenes.

To add to the disappointment, they also noted that the price of alcohol was surprisingly high—especially for an establishment still considered to be a pub. It felt disproportionate to both the setting and the quality of service provided.

This experience left a poor impression, and I felt it was important to share it. I hope management will consider this feedback seriously and take the necessary steps to improve both the service and kitchen standards moving forward. As it stands, the current level of care and consistency is simply unacceptable. My grandparents left feeling disappointed and embarrassed, and I can’t imagine they, or I, will be returning...

Earlier this month I had the displeasure of dining at this establishment. My treatment from the moment I walked in the door was appalling and not at all welcoming to its patrons. I attended the evening with a large group of friends, on arrival we were told that we would be seated at two separate tables. When we asked the floor staff if there was a possibility of sitting all together we were treated disgracefully. We were told that it was a busy time of year and our needs could not be met. The staffs main excuse was that they had other dinners expected at this table later in the evening, I find this hard to believe as we were there until 9:15 and the restaurant closed at 9:30. What happened to the days when the customers came first? I could accept this if we had not booked in advance but we had. A booking had been made several weeks before that evening, therefore the staff had ample time to organise a dining arrangement suited to our group. I fear this restaurant only values money, which might be a problem if their kitchen staff don’t improve quickly. Myself and most others from my group found it hard to finish our meals that night. Many of the dishes we ate that night, or attempted to eat, were overcooked, over salted and over all down right disgusting.

I found it almost laughable when your kitchen staff failed to make one of the easiest dishes on the menu, a chicken burger! The chicken piece was dry and tough to chew, the bread was not toasted but rather burnt and the coleslaw had so much mayonnaise at times it was the only thing you were eating.

My chicken Caesar salad was again overcooked but somehow my egg was undercooked.

We ordered a medium rare steak that came out well done and impossible to chew.

And for the many that ordered the beef burger it was dry and under seasoned.

After dining at this establishment it became clear to me that the only thing they care about is money and how well their bar does. It is disappointing that yet again a small town business has been ruined by a...

Mixed thoughts on this place. Attended 3 functions in 4 weeks here. The first & second function in private rooms. The first one was dismal. No food was served until after people started to leave. Then all of a sudden it all came. Nothing to rave about but the staff in the function room seemed unhappy, no personality. Almost inconvenienced. The second function the food again took a while but was much better than the first function, but again no food for ages then all of a sudden plate after plate and left at the same table each time. We had guests going out to the main dining area to order meals. The bar guy was the standout on the second function! I asked his name but its slipped my mind. For some reason 'Joey' comes to mind? He was so great with all guests, couldn't help enough! He interacted, stayed professional but nothing was a problem. He is definitely an asset to your business. We had guests attending with gifts, one family brought a bottle of wine with a ribbon & gift tag and before entering the function room it was taken from them to leave with staff as it was against rules to byo alcohol. A little tacky to assume it was to be drunk in a function room where the alcohol was supplied on the tab. Nice outdoor area...