Mail Exchange Hotel — Restaurant in Melbourne

Food was serviceable, the burger was definitely better than my previous experience with the parma. Great proximity to public transport but atmosphere is lacking as the dining area is pretty dead (though the gaming area is buzzing)

Update We were back at Mail Exchange tonight for dinner pre attending The Lume and I was seriously disappointed. I ordered what turned out to be probably the worst parma I’ve ever had, definitely processed style chicken you get from the Coles deli with some terrible out a jar sauce on top. I didn’t even eat half of it.

The chips fared better and were nicely seasoned but some were chunkier than other others and the fatter ones weren’t as well cooked. The only positive I’ll highlight is the security guard was the most vigilant I have ever seen any venue be in checking covid vax and even asked for my ID to confirm it matched my certificate

Original review Having worked practically opposite this place for years I've eaten here on many an occasion. While the menu is pub food the interior is not too bad inside with the pokie machines kind of segregated to one spot and the dining room relatively uninterrupted by their neon gleam and electronic dinging. There's also an escalator inside (random).

I generally order the salt and pepper calamari which interestingly comes with a spicy pineapple dipping sauce. The portions aren't the largest but I'm pretty sure I eat way more than a normal person should so they are probably the correct nutrition sizes. The reviews on here are fairly scathing but remember the type of establishment this is. I think it's perfectly fine for pre football drinks or dinner and given its proximity to Etihad stadium I do believe that's exactly how...

In-Depth Review:

Start of Service 5/5 *Greeted by the security guard at entrance. Surprisingly he is very friendly, first point of contact with a friendly approach gives you a welcoming vibe. Very good service.

Food 5/5 *Wagyu Burger: Surprisingly for a hotel/gaming pub restaurant, this burger was really good! Bread was not too soft, not too hard or dry, cheese was a nice choice for the soft, yet tasty seasoned wagyu patties which were great in flavour. *Pides also were generous in portion and were excellent in taste and filling. Value 2/5 *The cost of the wagyu burger was almost $30, came with chips, was on the steep end of the price range, however you do end up full after the chips and the burger! *Pides were $17.5, also on the very high end of the spectrum in terms of pricing.

Atmosphere 5/5 *A darker themed bar which includes pokies, seated table restaurant, lounges, friendly security. I'd bring colleagues or friends or even dates here. Very versatile venue.

End of Service 5/5 *The first and last point of contact is the friendly security guard, along with the excellent food service, I'd definitely be back here. I was here for about 1 hour waiting for colleagues and you can kill time here and be in your own zone or be with friends.

Overall 5/5 *Based on the above criteria, this venue is 5/5 for its versatility, able to go alone, or in a group or a date with great food, fun pokies and great...

This very well could have been a 5 star review.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers Thursday night. Great way to start the evening with a beer and some food. We rocked up around 5pm and was greeted by a lovely security team member. Then to the bar, where the barmaid was friendly and accommodating. Turning the cricket on for us and informing us that if we wanted food it may pay to order early as the kitchen was very busy. We had a play on the pokies and the glassies were lovely too. Ordered our tea and enjoyed it very much. Went to the concert and then decided since we had had such a good start to the night there why not finish the night there.

We hadn't even made it into the line when the security guard stopped us and said you've been drinking, well of course we had been drinking we were there earlier. Everyone else that they were letting in had been drinking too. Look I get the intoxication law, but we were far from intoxicated. Yes my partner got his back up, but that is simply because we both are from hospitality backgrounds, him working security and me being a bar manager myself.

We ended up talking to the manager who tried to tell us that they were at capacity and that's why we were turned away. Completely different story from the original.

I'm very disappointed in the way we're treated, and after talking to some police officers after the fact I can assure you they did not deem us as...