Royal Exchange Hotel — Restaurant in Traralgon

Honestly the only reason this place gets 2 stars instead of 1 is thanks to the lovely young red headed lass at the bar. She was warm and friendly, answered any questions we had, and spoke to my 5y/O like he had a brain and didn't need to refer to me for the conversation. Everything else about this venue is lacking. There's minimal signage to show where the main entrance doors are, and what they're for. The server who greeted us looked like she was bored out of her brains, but she smiled and was polite. We ordered garlic bread, kids nuggets and chips, and a chicken schnitzel with chips and side salad. The kids meal and garlic bread came out fast which was amazing, except that 5 sad nuggets and a small handfull of old chips was what constitutes a kids meal, and the garlic bread was obviously store bought (you know the classic one you get from Woolworths fridge section, it looked, smelt and tasted the same) and not nearly cooked enough. The schnitzel was crisp and had more chicken than crumb which was also a pleasant surprise, the meal was brought down however with the same dry chips covered in Chicken salt, and a "side salad" which looked as though it had been marinating in balsamic for the whole day. Thankfully the kids juice and icecream was great. I was so disappointed with the overall experience here, with outdated decor, bored staff and subpar meals, we definitely...

Went there for a surprise birthday dinner. Was very quiet for a Saturday night. Everyone was able to easily order their own meal, although the specials board hadn't been updated with the current Arancini flavour which had been vegetarian and now has bacon. They had a separate menu for vegan/vegetarian that we had to ask for. They were thorough in checking that the sour cream and cheese was OK to include. The meal was an extra $1 than what the menu said and when this was pointed out, the response was "that's the old price. We haven't updated the menus". Could have, but didn't argue the point on that one. The baked potato though was delicious! Very big and fluffy, cheese melted perfectly, caramelised onion, crunchy fresh coleslaw and a generous dollop of sour cream with parsley and chives on top. 10 out of 10. Two people ordered the risotto one seniors, one normal and both had the same amount of food, the seniors was just served on a smaller plate. Also, the bar didn't notice the drinks ordered through the App, so had to go over but they were helpful when there was a change to our order. Special thanks to Sarah who was very attentive serving our table, taking group photos for us and accommodating with the BYO cake. Overall was a good night. Thank Royal...

Decided to eat in Flanagans Bar as the menu sounded a bit different from the Bistro. We were a couple of minutes early and has to wait in the cold out in the street before going back inside to ask what was happening. Short of staff was the excuse. Eventually were directed through a back corridor to a very empty room with loud non+Irish music. No real service to speak of even though we were the only people in this bleak room. Ordered and waited, waited, waited. Eventually asked why and once again were told that they were short staffed and the Bistro clientele were being served. We really should have sat in the Bistro and demanded the Flanagans menu! Even had to ask for the boring loud music to be turned down. Bar staff should not be on their mobiles - could be asking patrons if they need anything else or reassure them that their meals are on the way. Over an hour’s wait was unacceptable. This was a once-off visit never to be repeated. I was thinking of giving a one star but the food was ok so it was two stars at the...