Commercial Hotel — Restaurant in Melbourne

Ruined our night and never going back again!

Booked 3 weeks in advance only to find out the kitchen closes at 8:30 PM for an 8 'o clock appointment! Food was very average for the price with a mediocre vibe! Self service and that too at two separate locations for drinks and food.

Atmosphere was deserted by the time we finished dinner which we couldn't complete due to the lack of time. If you are closing in half an hour after the appointment, don't accept any bookings atleast for an hour before or as a courtesy inform your customers!

Yep you guessed it, the kitchen and the bar closes at 8:30PM on a Friday night!

Update #1 25/03/19 - in response to the owners reply

Hi Rohan,

There seems to be some misunderstanding based on the reply you have provided. I am referring to the booking on the 1st of March at 8PM, which was definitely 'a show' precisely in the venue your are currently managing.

Not only do I have the receipt of purchase on my card but also the booking confirmation for 2 guests on 'the fork' made on the 10th of Feb (3 weeks in advance).

You may want to verify this in your booking system once again if not, happy to provide further assistance?

Honestly, its was embarrassing that night when cleaners were around (no other patrons) and we had to gobble our food down after a certain wait. As much as, I would have loved to have had an enjoyable evening; only to shatter into disappointment on multiple levels! As a basic courtesy, l expected to know at the time of booking the kitchen closes early even if it didn't offer a wide range of menu options! (which is another topic to ponder in itself).

Besides, l've taken the trouble to write this review in a hope you would strive to provide better services moving forward to other customers.

And last but not the least, I'm sure you would agree if someone's paid for a service they'd expect nothing less than a happy experience when they step out of your bistro and not wonder what the hell just happened!

Expect you to get the gravity of my feedback and it is definitely not personal!

Kind...

Absolutely phenomenal experience at the Commercial Hotel South Morang for a double 30th birthday celebration last night 21st June 2025 with exceptional service from Loren, Michael and Donna, along with other incredible workers who all contributed to this incredible night filled with amazing food and wonderful hospitality. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for turning our event into something really special .. plenty of dancing room, lovely seating arrangements, great Dj stage .. a very accommodating area .. perfect for 80 guests .. we were blessed that the venue was available for our function. Loren, you went above and beyond for our family and we cannot thank you enough. Thank you to the venue for really looking after us and also to Michael for his outstanding bar service and wonderful people’s skills. Organising an event can be very stressful at times, but it wasn’t with the Commercial Hotel. Loren, you picked up our broken hearts after the Manningham Hotel let us down by not following through with their party plans for us we were devastated to hear that a venue can cancel a booking at any time ~ which they did, leaving us with less than three weeks to go elsewhere .. they left us begging other venues for a party room. Thank goodness we found the Commercial Hotel in South Morang 🙏 10/10 staff 10/10 venue and facilities 10/10 parking 10/10 for comfort 20/10 for the amazing food and great staff servicing the event Seriously, it was one of the best nights we have all had in such a long time. Stress free, just laughter and lots of dancing Thank you xxx...

First time visiting the Commercial (Thursday 25 July) as we've recently moved to the area and it's around the corner.

Went there for a family dinner with 8 of us. The food was not great unfortunately. Ordered honey soy chicken wings (6 for $14) and they were bone dry. I sent them back. Waitress looked at me, looked at the wings and didn't say a word... Just walked away with the wings. Manager then came back and said "they are oven baked and then fried and if I replace them, they'll be exactly the same". Bit of an odd answer, but ok. I said they are not edible. She said "sorry, that's the way we make them". Again...super odd but I decided to order the prawns and they were better.

Wife and I ordered two Caesar Salads with chicken. The dressing was bland and didn't taste like Caesar Salad dressing, one hard boiled egg cut in half, lettuce was chopped up tiny and some of the chicken was ok but mostly dry and overcooked - no parmesan or croutons to be seen anywhere. My dad had the Seniors steak and veggies and the steak was as tough as an old boot. It was cooked medium rare as requested but perhaps not a great cut of meat.

Prices were pretty standard pub prices but the food that came out wasn't what I expected. Great chips though... I'll give them that 👍

Can only judge on what we were served. Hopefully just an off night in...