Hotel Railway Brunswick — Restaurant in Melbourne

I went for dinner tonight with a group of friends and the overall experience was disappointing.

The renovations are really impressive and you can tell a lot of effort went into the redesign and fit out of the venue.

There were 7 of us in total and we had a mix of food from the menu. Hands down, the lamb shoulder was INCREDIBLE, and everyone had major food envy. At $38 (not including the 10% surcharge), it’s not cheap, but it was delicious.

The rest of the food left much to be desired. The person who had the burger said it was dry and tasteless - great chips though!

The person who had the rotisserie chicken said it was bland, and lacked flavour.

The rest of us had the roast dinner special. I have to say that this was a really sad roast on all accounts. Tonight was brisket with roast veg, gravy and bread. Typically you’d associate brisket being a thick piece of meat that falls apart, but we were served two very thin, extremely dry pieces of meat.

The roast veg was bland as well, and the potatoes were undercooked. The dryness of the meat might have been saved if there was enough gravy, however the incredibly small amount given meant that everything was dry and bland.

We were served by two different staff members, both were very lovely generally, however when it came to paying the bill, the staff member advised us of the surcharge - a lot of people who’ve previously left reviews mentioned the ‘sneaky’ 10% surcharge, which as you mention in your replies, is visible on the front door. The issue for us wasn’t the surcharge itself, it was that the staff member not only said they didn’t know how the surcharge worked for splitting the bill, and that they were all still trying to figure it out, but recommended one of us just pay to make it easier.

Sadly, on this occasion, we all left scratching our heads, and for the price, it absolutely was not worth it.

My recommendation would be to really look into the quality of food that you’re charging a premium price for, which also comes down to the skill of the kitchen staff. The general consensus (not including the lamb shoulder) was that majority of the food was bland, under seasoned and dry.

The drinks were great, a really solid drinks menu and excellent cocktails.

I’d love to give it one more shot but I won’t be returning anytime in the immediate future. I saw on other reviews that the staff were asking for feedback however we weren’t given that opportunity, and spent our efforts trying to sort out the bill splitting/surcharge issue before leaving.

I really hope this feedback helps and that it was just a really off night. I really hope you put more effort into the food and training of staff so that your business can thrive and wish you...

This review is based on two occasions. 2 stars because of the nice renovation and several really lovely staff members. Otherwise it'd be one star.

TLDR Steak and pizza - basic and not worth the cash. Manager is on another planet. Avoid! Reno looks good

First occasion was for the steak night. Honestly, for a $25 dollar steak night it was terrible. The porterhouse was tiny and overcooked and cold, with a very small portion of low quality shoestring chips.

The second occasion was a group event with about 20 friends. All from the local area.

The pizza was overpriced and very oily. Go around the corner to Green Acre if you want an actual pizza for less money. Also, we ordered Poutine and it never came. We asked the manager and he said that it wasn't available anymore. I had to inform him that I paid for it and to be fair he offered a refund. It'd have been nice to know that before waiting ages for the food before asking what was happening.

The worst was the ?manager coming to the outside area where we were all sitting. A few people had vaped there without realising it wasn't allowed (it was an outside area). Understandably he came to remind people, which was totally fine. However, he made the entire group stop talking and proceeded to give us a 5 minute lecture about the law and how he was now putting a security staff member on us for the rest of the night to make sure we didn't vape. He literally said 'I know it's heavy handed but you've given me no choice'. We've never felt so unwelcome in an establishment. We're a group of 30-40+ year olds and all very reasonable people. Not misbehaving youths. A simple kind reminder about the vaping rules would have been more than enough, without scolding us all like children. I've never experienced anything like that before. The barman came out with our cocktails just afterwards and said 'well, on a lighter note, here's your cocktails', which was really sweet and defused the total downer.

About 20 locals have all been alienated from this establishment from this interaction. So many better places to go than this gentrified elitist...

It was ok… second time coming and they have obviously gotten rid of the Mediterranean “dining room” where they offered a seperate non pub menu and finer dining…. So silly me booked the main bar instead this time which is all high top seating apart from one table that’s classed as “standard” however it was so bloody uncomfortable as it’s the metal outdoor furniture that they put in one corner…. I didn’t book dining room this time as I thought it was still seperate like it was when first opened…

The chips were soooooooooooooo salty…. My lips are still stinging… and they had some odd seasoning on them too…. Just way way too salty… don’t order them if you have heart problems… the slaw was odd and had a funny taste…

The cocktail bar I wanted to love… but huge disappointment… The DJ was sooooooo loud which isn’t cool when you’re wanting a different atmosphere to the main bar… warm and cosy should be a little more intimate…. I was also expecting a different drinks menu as it’s a nice space however the drinks menu was exactly the same as the restaurant ???? I hope this has changed as there’s so much top shelf spirits on the wall but you have no idea what to order when they pass you the same drinks menu as the main bar ? The bar staffer we had also had no idea what drinks to offer or anything about the top shelf that was on offer… again, don’t offer the service if you have no idea… there’s 100 way better cocktail bars around the area that pride themselves on knowing the drinks and cocktails and spirits and ambiance….

Not quite sure how they are hitting the mark with his hotel which is such a shame….

Unfortunately it won’t become my local which I was...