The Nixon Hotel — Restaurant in Melbourne

We came here on a Tuesday night just to have a quick feed after travelling down from Sydney for work. Two of my colleagues and I ordered drinks as soon as we sat down and they came relatively quick. From here it was a ghost town. There were two girls working the table serviced area and they looked bored and tired and kept their heads down in quick walk pasts to avoid being called on and ignored when they were. We had well and truely finished our drinks and looking at the menues. We had stuck them at the end of the table hoping that would also prompt service. Nope. We had arrived around 7:30 and did not order until 8:15-830 We ordered starters and she went to leave and we said no we will order it all now out of fear we would never see them again. Ordered our meals and larger drinks to avoid the gap in time. Food came relatively quick and was very tasty. There is a little mouse who lives in your dining room. His name is Ted and he likes chips. We don’t mind him as I know the kitchen has traps and safety for pest control but other patrons might think differently. Once we had finished our meal it took ages to finally get one of the bored sad girls to talk to us. I asked for the bill and a container as I had not finished my meal and she said yep and jumped to it. Well so we thought. We waited a further 30 mins and by this time it was 9:30 and most of our time here had been spent waiting for service. I was tired after a long day of work and travel and I took the plate I was wanting a container for and we went to the bar and asked the bar staff for a container and the bill. He looked mortified as he should that we had to go to that level to get service. He was friendly and helpful and called the server to take care of us and she giggled and said she forgot. We were the only patrons at this time so I am not impressed you forgot one request from your only table who wanted to leave. I cannot fault your gentleman behind the bar. He was helpful apologetic and made a really good amaretto sour. Food was good atmosphere was nice. Just get some happier wait staff. I shouldn’t feel like We are ignored and one dining experience shouldn’t take two hours on a Tuesday for three people at a pub. You missed out on more drink sales as we couldn’t get staff to order them. If by the end of our meal it hadn’t taken so long and we hadn’t been ignored we would have also ordered desserts but we did not want to wait or have to push to be...

After hearing a lot about them, my brother and I each ordered the steak sandwich with a pint of the tank Carlton Draught. The steak sandwich had good ingredients and was filling, but it was poorly prepared. The steak was well cooked and high quality – not rubbery or sinewy, which made it easy to eat. The bread didn't fall apart and wasn't tough.

However, the egg was unsalted and undercooked, with the whites still runny (arguably, the yolk shouldn't be runny either, as it makes for a messy affair. Or perhaps ask the customer their preference). The steak was also unsalted, which meant there was little flavour able to come through the sandwich. The mustard aioli didn't help – it was thinly spread and too weak for this kind of sandwich. It needed a stronger combination like caramelised onion/onion relish.

The chips were a good portion, crispy and well seasoned. I enjoyed it more than the sandwich, honestly.

The tank beer was fantastic, as expected. The trivia was enjoyable, with a fun, easy going host. Staff were friendly and service was fast, and receptive to my feedback.

Overall, good potential, but not quite there. Based on this experience, I probably wouldn't return without an Entertainment...

It was supposed to be a good location close work, and we had good time over there, until now. Therefore, this review is only depends on the most recent experience.

Simply put, they messed up with the booking as starter, we had 12 people and they booked only one table which can barely sit 8 people! This thing happens very now and then in various restaurants, however, in this one at this time, when we told them we had 12 people that we needed two table, the girl went back to the counter, looked like she tried to sort it out. From this point onward they worsen the issue and make it a problem. We wait for a good 10 minutes, we however didn't see a sight of any new arrangement. One of my colleague went to her wot is going on, she pointed out to the gentlemen who was serving alcohol and said she was "waiting" for him. That was it! She then went away to serve other customers. It looked like she totally ignored us and left us sitting there without being looked after. This was just totally absurd, and they didn't deserve any more waiting time from us, 12 of us. We left for another better location for lunch.

We will think twice about going back there for...