Squires Loft Docklands — Restaurant in Melbourne

This is one of my favourite restaurants in Melbourne over last 15 years- it holds special memories as we got engaged here 7 years ago and the food quality has not altered. I was so happy to see it survived the worst 2 years in hospitality. When we arrived, we were greeted by some very angry, drunk and rude PATRONS taking up the entrance.l lobby… It took about 2 minutes to see the stress the concierge was under and I commend him from how well he held it together. He attended to a very large group who all thought it was their god given right to have single bills ( I reckon 15-20 people) - demanding and rude!!! There was one other couple (other than us) who were waiting to be seated (around 8.30pm) for our anniversary dinner. You could tell they were swamped whilst patrons were jumping queue and insisting on them being priority. Hello! What makes it appropriate for you to be sooo rude and selfish? !

Whilst it took about 20 minutes to be seated, the waiting staff were fabulous - the right amount of time between orders and drinks. They did not close the kitchen until we were all done with ordering ( a huge thanks from us as we could see you were all under pressure). And whilst we had to remind our lovely waitress a couple of times about parts of our order, I was just thankful that the restaurant had staff and we got to enjoy a FABULOUS meal and amaaaaazzzzing cocktails ( try the tolberone!!!!) our waiter changed halfway and he was very funny and made our night really special (particularly the cheese platter, yum!)

Now this part won’t be popular for some of the patrons but I am going to have a rant! I am getting frustrated at the anti-Vaxers taking out their anger on hospitality staff (and btw, some of the waiting staff are teenagers- shame on you!). Do you think that squires loft invented COVID? Do they have passage to the government who has set the rules about vax certificates? You know the rules and if you want a restaurant to open and not follow the government directions, why don’t you all pool your money and open your own restaurants. Let’s see how far you get with $5000-$10,000 fines DAILY for allowing the unvaccinated in YOUR restaurant. Put you families savings on the line and really stand behind your beliefs! I don’t think you know how financially crippling the last 2 years has been on restaurant owners- many have lost their homes/retirement fund etc… just to continue to serve us. Stop being selfish and entitles… I am the FIRST to give a bad review for rude and bad quality food but find it abhorrent to give negative reviews on restaurants like this that are doing their best in a really tough market.

So, rant over!

For those out there want a great steak, fabulous ambience - this is the place to go.

Keep it up squires loft and I hope the patrons will stop treating you like a...

I dined with Billie M who left a review below and I have just read your response and am beyond appalled. We were a party of 7, 3 of us arrived at 6.30pm, another 3 at 6.35pm and our final friend arrived later at 6.54pm. You told the first 3 to arrive that we needed to be put by 8.15pm… which was not indicated when we booked and is not a 2 hour sitting as your have said below. By 8pm the restaurant was near empty as people were dining pre soccer at Marvel and there was no moving around of tables to accommodate others as you have suggested, this is completely false. Over the time we were in the restaurant we had 3 courses and drinks. Without any conversation at all the bill was placed on our table and as mentioned we intended to order another round of drinks but it was made abundantly clear that it was time for us to leave. You mentioned we left at 10.07pm but upon checking my bank account I can confirm we paid the bill at 9.08pm and left shortly after. We also witnessed the only other table in the restaurant of 2 people being asked to finish their drinks and leave despite just starting their glasses of wine. Aside from the fact that 6 out of the 7 of us were unwell later that evening and the next day it was a completely unenjoyable experience. I can assure you that we have all dined many times at your restaurant and gave never experienced anything like this and find your suggestion of the basting being too rich laughable. As is your completely unacceptable response, further highlighting your unprofessionalism. Your suggestion of storytelling when in fact you are the one who has made up most of the story and filled in the blanks yourself is offensive and I’m not sure who is qualified to assert that we were unwell? Perhaps the medical professional who was part of our group? I can assure you it certainly isn’t you. Have a think about your response to paying customers as you are showing your ignorance as a service provider and complete lack of care for anyone spending money in your establishment. Pitiful. Happy to pop down to see if you would be quite so brazen to speak to customers face to face in such a condescending manner or if this is a case of the old tougher behind the...

ORDERED (AUG 2025) 🥩 Lunch special: Rump 200g with chips and mushroom sauce ($37.00) 🥗 large garden salad ($13.00)

REVIEW: This is our manager's favourite work lunch spot in the docklands area. Since they've introduced the lunch menu (ask for it!) it's become THE lunch spot. I also appreciated the bread and butter at the start!

If you have 12 people, be prepared to wait ~45 minutes for all the steak to be properly cooked. 🧑‍🍳 ORDERED: 🥩  Porterhouse 300g: All mains are served with your choice of chips/ baked potato/ salad and is cooked with Squires Loft's special basting sauce ($45.00) 🍄 Mushroom sauce ($5.00) 🧅   Fried Onions ($10.00)

I spent $60.00 here.

REVIEW: For one of the more affordable steakhouses around Melbourne CBD, Squires Loft does you good. The porterhouse is cooked perfectly medium rare, while the mushroom sauce is creamy and generous in portion. 😍 The garden salad I had on the side was also a great way to break up the steak, and a good break from being overloaded with potatoes. 👍 Fried onions were different from what I was expecting. I lowkey assumed it would come out in the form of onion rings, but the sliced onion pieces are battered and thrown in the fryer. Interesting texture, but definitely big enough to share between 4. If you want a break from the traditional fries, onions are definitely worth your consideration. 😳

Service is really friendly, and the iced water provided and continuously topped up was fantastic. The girls are so attentive. Atmosphere is a little outdated though. Instead of bringing back retro vibes, it is a little awkward with its mismatch of dark brown tones, casino-patterned flooring and stiff back leather chairs. Comfy, but not a place that emulates sophistication. 🙊 The ground floors views spilling on to the Yarra river is...