Sporting Club Hotel — Restaurant in Melbourne

What a place! Went and tried the fresh newly revamped sporting club for dinner on Friday night. Being from England one thing I miss about home is a good boozer with great food and a bit of character. This place smashes that out of the park.

First of all the door had barely closed behind me upon entry and the friendly folk behind the bar had greeted me and offered me a drink. Rare to see staff be so warm and aware of their guests in what was a full pub.

We arrived desperate to try some food without a booking and a full pub. However the awesome girl at the bistro side shuffled some things and made it work for us.

They have somehow made a pub that is incredibly cosy in winter with several fires around the place and a beautiful fit out but also a fantastic big outdoor courtyard for when summer comes. The atmosphere was great, packed with a wide mix of people from adorable dogs and families to young and old locals and blow ins like us but everyone friendly and enjoying themselves.

As for the food. As one of my friends rightly said, “Who wrote this menu? It’s off its head” she meant that in the best possible way. The food and menu is creative and whoever wrote it knows how to get your taste buds firing just with words but they also absolutely delivered. We had the Lamb with Polenta and the classic sausage and mash finished off nicely with some profiteroles.

Honestly it’s hard to pick a fault with the experience but I have to find one because nobody can be perfect. Not even you Sporting Club with your charm. So if I had to find one it would be that the red wine we ordered was slightly colder than we would have liked on a cold night but we quickly forgot that when the epic food and service warmed our cold hearts.

Thanks for a great...

So this is a tough review for me as this is my local and things are not great. First up, I like that the reno has been done and the front bar is definitely looking better. Overall a big step up from the CW. Service when I came was pretty good. Still ironing out the kinks of a new place but headed in the right direction. So now the food...It tasted ok. Sizing is what I would call on the small side, especially for the price. Chicken Schnitzel is $28 and that doesn't come with any chips. You have to order a $12 side of chips to get any. That means your schnitty here costs you FORTY DOLLARS!! That is outrageous. There are a bunch of similar venues with pricey food but no where near this. It's not a special version of it either. Looks and tastes very much what you get elsewhere for a lot less. Who doesn't have chips with their schnitty?? Where is a $5 side to go with that? Want to get a pint with that and you are looking at close to $60 per person. There are no kids options so you are paying that for kids. I say that makes the place NOT kid friendly. It's ok that you want to mix things up but I feel this place is lost in what it thinks it can be. It's Brunswick. It's across the road from bins at Barkly Square, which when the wind blows from the south makes being outside a not pleasant experience. Know your neighborhood, not what you want your neighborhood to be. I live less than 300m from the place but I no longer consider it my local. That's sad for me. I'm very lucky to have lots of options relatively close to home (some of those options are up market) so I choose to spend my $$ elsewhere for the time being. Time will tell if they have it right but I at least hope they are listening to their customers and adjust...

Went in on a Saturday night for a nice meal, there was no seating available to we were asked to take a seat outside or at the bar, there was only space outside so we sat there. Was given menus but no table number. There was no service outside- had to go to the bar to order which is insane at their inflated prices.

Saw a couple that walked in without a reservation like myself be given a table inside, not out in the 5° winter. Should have been me and my friend as we were seated by the same waitress (not guided to a table, just told to find a seat).

Went inside to order, waited for every citizen of Brunswick to get served- and get told that I needed a physical table number. The last few people to be served to given table numbers at the bar!

I didn’t spend any money here. Worst service of my life. Went down to the Cornish arms and honestly the venue is much quieter, the food is great- and the service is impressive.

You couldn’t pay me to go back to the...