Boundary Hotel — Restaurant in Melbourne

Anyone who likes playing the pokies I would not recommend going here especially if you're a person that reserves your machine while you go out for a cigarette, get a drink or go to the bathroom, I was playing the same machine for about 25 minutes, a dragon cash machine right between the entry and the bar and cashier. everyone knows that the poker machines payout randomly and you could be pressing your first spin or pressing your hundredth spin, and you could get the free spins or the feature, but one thing is almost for certain if you play for long enough you will get the free spins or the feature.... Anyway I have put a few hundred dollars in this machine and being betting just an average bet, between $0.50 and $1 a spin, I kept winning small amounts so it was taking a lot of spins before I would need to put another $50 note in there, I realised I was playing with my last $50 and because Id been playing this machine for so long and not got the free games or the dragon cash feature I thought I would get some more money out and play some more at $2 a spin, when you put up the reserve sign on the machine you are supposed to be allowed 10 minutes before anyone else can play the machine, in the 5 minutes or less that I was getting money out of the ATM two guys walking and just took my sign off and started playing my machine, I went straight to the cashier and told him I noticed the manager was standing behind him, but he didn't say anything, I told him what had happened, he said did I ask the people playing the machine if they're in with the sign I said yes but they told me that the sign had been taken down before they started playing he said he would have to check the camera footage and I should sit down and wait, I wasn't very happy as while I was waiting I could see the men playing on the machine and they got the free spins about 3 times and also the dragon cash feature! as they were only betting 10 cents a spin they only won about $60, I thought to myself, if I'd been playing it would of been $2 a spin and so technically would of won 20 times more ($1200) if my maths is right. The men took their money out of the machine and went to another one, I just stayed were I was and waited for the staff member, about 5 minutes later he came up to me and said that he had reviewed the camera footage and that the two men had taken the sign off themselves and that he had removed them from the venue and that I could now play the machine, I said to him is that all you can do, he replied yes, he said there was nothing else he could do. I asked to speak to the manager, the manager came over and I explained the situation and he said that there was nothing he could do either. I was really upset as most people would be, not just about the fact that I probably would have won close to a thousand dollars but the fact that they didn't really seem to care, they said unless they had one the Grand Prize (of $12,000) it didn't matter what they one, if they had just said look where really really sorry unfortunately because of the pokie rules we can't reimburse you or anything like that but here is a voucher for two for dinner in the bistro or free drinks when you come in the next few times I would of appreciated that. As I know a friend that had a machine freeze during the free spins and that's what they did for him. I wrote to the Victorian Gambling Commission and told them, even though I knew there wouldn't be anything they could do but they did mention that the manager has the last say in any type of apology through the venue by means of a non cash compensation ( like a voucher or something similar). I go to the McKinnon Hotel now in McKinnon Rd and there much nicer and a lot...

I made a dinner reservation at the Boundry Hotel in Bentleigh in the bistro call the grill house for a Tuesday boys night. Our table was waiting for us but surprised to see there were only maybe five tables in total being used in the Restaurant.

My group were met by the Restaurant manager named Jordan in a friendly way and we proceeded to the counter to order dinner. My mates ordered their meals with Benjamin who was very obliging but when I had to order food I struck major problems with my diet requirements, especially the fact that I cannot eat garlic, onion, including garlic or onion powder in my meals, resulting in a very restricted choice at this hotel. I must admit Jordan went multiple times to the kitchen to check with the chef about the ingredients for me and totally understood my FODMAP allergies BUT it appears pretty much everything I wanted to try included garlic and onion powder such as all the schnitzels Pasta ( even Mac n cheese), lamb shanks and the list goes on and on. I personally was not in the mood to have an expensive steak and did not want to eat fish. On a suggestion I ended up getting the children’s cheeseburger and fries. Jordan bought out the food to our Table and advised me that my Junior cheeseburger or kids meal actually also had ingredients I could not eat so they were making me a normal burger patty. I must admit I never order burgers for dinner and my meal was underwhelming.

Disappointing dinner on so many levels and while the service From Jordan and Benjamin were excellent the choices on the menu and the restrictions for people who have a FODMAP issue or anything similar is not really great.

I can see why the local RSL is full every night with a kitchen who has a specific gluten-free kitchen and menu offering FODMAP meals but also includes seniors meals.

One of my friends had the barramundi with vegetables, and his comment was the fish had no flavour. My other friend ordered a lamb dish that came with three pieces of Halumi and feta cheese. He also said it was average and actually asked for some more cheese.

We agreed and must shout out the impeccable service from Jordan, the restaurant, manager, and Benjamin but must sadly say that unless the chef and menu has a wider choice to accommodate people with allergies, offers a few more specials or even senior meals, my recommendation would be to stay away from this hotel and bistro.

Better value options are available...

Have been going to the Boundary Hotel for a couple of years now. The newly renovated restaurant and concept, Signor Fox, is quite good but there’s definitely some teething issues they need to sort out being noticeable with my two visits to Signor Fox this week for different celebrations. Happy to see they’ve retained the kids playground! There’s not many pubs around with these and it’s a godsend for parents of young ones to be able to go out for a meal that everyone enjoys.

Service - friendly but a bit haphazard. Some tables were brought menus and others were not. I had to go get our menus myself. Same for water. When we asked for it, they didn’t think to also bring cups.

Food - generally very nice. A bit slow on a Wednesday night to get the food out. Margherita was missing basil, and was worse for it. Pepperoni pizza very flavoursome and the wood fired oven is a great addition to the venue but perhaps offer a couple more pizza options. Calamari, amazing! Steak was nice. Pork Ragú pasta was very nice and substantial. Tiramisu was not well executed (very runny) when I had it and the manager deducted it from the bill without me having to ask (good service!). The kids meal concept is new, a tray with the main choice plus cheese, biscuits, lettuce, cucumber, dried apricots and a token for collecting your gelato later on. I’m not sold on it. I’d rather go back to the old concept, more of the main food, a drink and an Icecream. To buy a kids meal and juice you’re paying close to $20, a bit too expensive. My kid is a bit picky so the apricots, lettuce and cucumber were not winners however someone has tried to ensure a healthy variety of foods for kids and it might just need a bit of tweaking.

Family area - the tables are much more packed in now with walls separating the room from the entrance and the restaurant, it feels a bit squishy especially if you are manoeuvring prams or elderly people with walkers. I recall large family groups would gather at the Boundary in the past and now I’m not sure how such groups will be accommodated in the family area, it may put people off booking for large family gatherings now.

Pub+ app - not very easy to use compared to the Pass. I also noticed incorrect pricing. I wanted to order the Red Claw Pinot Noir which was $11.50 on the menu but $15 on the app. The larger size was showing as $17 on the menu but...