Hawker Hall — Restaurant in Melbourne

My partner and I had just had a beer at Yellowbird. Hunger was peaking around the edges and we decided...."HAWKER HALL!"

We had noticed the Yum Cha Lunch Special on when we had strolled by and decided to give it a shot—being St. Kilda locals we had been there numerous times. The atmosphere at Hawker Hall is bright and fun and lively and the food is great. Things were about to change.

Our server came over and explained the menu, asked about dietary requirements, we ordered 2 Bright Lagers and away we went. Our server came back in a couple of minutes to check on the dietary stuff once again and asked if we wanted any substitutions. We worked that out and away we went.

At least another 5 minutes went by and we were still waiting for our drinks. Usually, I would say nothing, but the place was virtually empty, and it was a hot day out and I was bemused that the drinks would take that long. So, we had to get up and go over to our server and see if they could expedite. That worked as there was no one even behind the bar. I have never had a Bright Lager (and will never again) but this was the fruitiest lager I had ever had and we were both certain it was closer to a pale ale or IPA. We asked James, who had brought the beers, if this was the lager. He said it was and went on his way. He made no conversation about why we asked or to simply say, “Would you like to try the other beer?”

A different server was nearby, and my partner decided to have a Pink Hibiscus Spritz. She was talking to the server and saying. “This really does not taste like a lager”. James was walking by and, without stopping just said, “It’s a lager.” Really?

That interaction truly got my back up. James may have other duties like checking dust on the tables, but his interaction with us was immature, curt, and rude. Isn’t the supervisor/manager on the floor there to make sure guests attending have a relaxed environment and experience? I was not getting that vibe. Were we an intrusion into his day? There was another bizarre intreraction where the server wanted to take the beers I decided to drink while waiting for our Spritz. Don't have enough characters for that in this review...

This server was not quite sure but eventually he went off to put in our order. I turned to my partner and said, “Maybe we are only allowed to order one drink and that is our drink for the 90 minutes?” Nothing was explained to us, and as I saw on the menu just now online where it says ONE DRINK PER PERSON AT A TIME.

OK. That is cool. Unfortunately, no one explained that situation to us and even so, this was not our plan. Simply, as it took well over 5 minutes to get the beer, I was pretty sure by the time they got back with my Spritz I would have had enough of the so-called lager. I felt like as two mature adults we were being treated like kids trying to pre-load.

But we did not wait that long. Time to leave!

We were like, what has gone here at Hawker Hall, a place we have spent many a lengthy time, eating delightful food and drinks? We were not happy with the way we were treated. We stood up and told them we were going and I said the attitude floating here today is not conducive to a relaxed long-holiday weekend.

James said, “I did say I would replace the drinks with what you wanted”. There was no attempt to recover the situation so you could keep our business and our goodwill. I told him he needed to look at how he did his job, which seemed to get his attention.

And without an expletive, I said, “It’s not about the drinks. It is your general attitude towards us as customers. You may not see it, but your attitude is bad, today.”

We left and then had a marvellous, uncomplicated, boozy delightful lunch at Bounty Of The Sun. On this day, I wish we had made that choice first. Hawker Hall, you let us down. This is the second review I have written in my life....you...

I recently returned to HH for a hens party lunch and was seriously impressed with the amount of food that came our way. I was particularly fond of the delicious beef and black bean dish and the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce and ginger which was extremely flavoursome.

The coconut beef rendang also impressed. They stuffed up one of the dietaries and were supposed to correct it by bringing out another dish but the menu was so extensive that it didn’t matter that it never arrived.

Dessert was also yummy with some lovely chai ice cream accompanying the fried apple pie and some delectable almost mousse like in texture milo ice cream in the milo and coconut ice cream sundae. After today’s experience I wouldn’t hesitate to have a large group here

Original review What a time to be alive! Had a failed attempt visiting here when it first opened you know just the usual phrase you can expect to hear when attempting to enter a restaurant for dinner in Melbourne 'it's a two hour wait' but when I came back I was prepared arriving at precisely 6pm and Lo and behold there was space for the three of us immediately (like you would bloody hope so the place is huge).

Not so lucky for those who arrived two hours later as I was working my way though a jug of moscato sangria. I laughed from my table (suckers) but we've all been there. Honestly Melbourne had been waiting for this place for so long. There are saaa many options on the menu and it's one of those spots I literally went to order everything. We started with prawn and ginger dumplings (DELICIOUS black vinegar caramel), roti canai (obligatory) and satay chicken skewers. We moved on to baked salmon curry and stir fried BBQ chicken but there are also feed me and banquet options available if you can't quite decide. Most dishes are cheap but if you are ordering right your bill won't be. Interior wise there are brightly coloured neon signs to create that hawker style atmosphere (ironic given there has clearly been no expense spared on the fitout). The Lucas Group has...

4.5.

Twosheds has been anticipating a visit to Hawker Hall, as it came highly recommended by close friends. Expectations were high as we had dined at sister restaurant, Chin Chin, on a number of previous occasions. The high expectations were warranted. The vibe here is fantastic. Seriously expensive industrial chic fitout and great low key, old school house and pop music pumps out to a 25-32 something crowd. Make no mistake, this placed is packed every night for dinner (if you want no queue, come for lunch). The food arrives quickly. And service is fast, attentive, friendly and efficient.

We dined on dumplings to start, which are fusion Asian, as is the case across menu. All the Malaysian, Chinese and pan Asian classics are brought to the fore here. The pork and chive wonton with chilli and black bean were a serious highlight, with the astringent black bean setting off the delicate fat in the pork meat. Spring rolls are delicately filled and fried with the best ingredients. The throughput of the kitchen, and quality emanating from it, is astounding given the size of the place. Small details are apparent though such as green chilli in the lovely soy. The char Kway Teow is faithful to its Malaysian roots, but has a special freshness through use of more sprouts which was quite enticing.

As the food arrived, the music from the DJ spinning discs got better and better (more 80s). Next to arrive were the Malaysian-style chicken skewers. The peanut sauce is more peanut than sauce here: super stuff. I’ll refrain from later dishes but suffice to say, they were as good as the earlier ones.

The Twosheds gang ordered from the “wine off the tap” menu here for drinks, which is great value. We drank a Riesling/Grigio blend and a Pinot, which arrived in carafes. The wines on the drinks list proper are a bit pricey. You must give this...