Belmont Hotel (Geelong) — Restaurant in Victoria

We had a engagement party/surprise wedding here on July 15th. Our night was amazing thanks to our lovely guests, unfortunately no thanks goes to the pub. We booked the function room and paid their $200 booking fee sometime in May. 6 days later they advertised FREE function room hire for the month of July on their facebook page. When I contacted them to query this they claimed we got the better deal as we weren't required a minimum spend on the bar. A friend also inquired about booking for a function in July and was told that the room hire was free with a $200 minimum spend on the bar. So my friend was getting $200 worth of grog and we got $200 worth of nothing. When I again questioned this I was more or less told to get over it. I was also told at that stage, if I cancelled we would lose our booking fee, although I was not advised this upon booking nor did I sign a contract or anything. You can't argue with stupid so I sucked it up and got over it. Our party was a success, the food was ok, although not brought out until being prompted when we'd clearly discussed the timing of everything only 24 hours before. Unfortunately the end of the night was a total disaster cos it appears this pub don't adhere to responsible service of alcohol standards. A clearly regular, loud mouthed, overly intoxicated, little fat man in the bar area, thought issuing death threats to my guests, telling myself to 'go and get f@@cked' cos I knocked him back (just got married!!) and just generally making a total tool of himself, was completely appropriate. It took them at least an hour of this rubbish to finally ask him to leave. Upon leaving he decided he was big and brave enough to come back and pick a fight with my husband and 2 of our male family members. The bouncer standing on the side lines saying 'come on boys, no need for this'. At no point actually trying to break it up. The little fat man was finally ejected at which point the bar manager stormed up to our cousin and my husband, began poking them in the chest and screaming in their faces that they needed to get out. Had she done her job correctly in the first place NONE of those events would have taken place (as every other patron in the pub said to me after the event). An incredibly rude woman with a disgustingly loud mouth. AND a complete disregard for the responsible service of alcohol! She even slammed the door in our faces on the way out! Not a good look and we definitely won't step foot in the place again. Incredible way to treat a group of people who had just spent a lot of money in your pub! 1 star for the wait staff who were lovely. Thanks for...

I've been a loyal customer of The Belmont for decades, even meeting my husband here, but my latest visit was a letdown. The $10 cocktail special tasted eerily like lime cordial, lacking any real depth or flavor. I decided to try their Aperol Spritz, but what bothered me more was the bartender's questionable recipe. As I waited for my drink, I overheard a young bartender attempting to educate a new staff member on how to make an Aperol Spritz, instructing them to use 1 shot of Aperol and 1 shot of Prosecco. I politely intervened, suggesting the traditional recipe of 3 parts Prosecco, 2 parts Aperol, and 1 part soda water.

Instead of appreciating the feedback, the bartender responded by asking if I was driving. When I said no, he explained that they alter the recipe because people drink and drive, and "they can be held liable." Regardless, for the record, I used an Uber to get to the venue and had planned to use one to leave, so the concern seemed unwarranted. I found the implication not only condescending but also misguided, as I wouldn't have spent $20 on a subpar cocktail simply because some patrons might drink and drive. His justification felt like a thinly veiled attempt to shift responsibility rather than take ownership of serving a subpar drink. As a mother who had my child with me and had only three drinks for the entire session, I felt judged and shortchanged by the implication.

Given the poor drink quality and unwelcoming service, It makes me sad as a local that I'm uncertain about returning to The Belmont. Perhaps the management isn't aware of the issues on weekends, but I hope they'll take steps to improve their staff training, recipe consistency, and customer interaction. Until then, I'll be taking my...

Absolutely terrible experience, would not recommend. We ordered rare steaks what we received was far from that, they were well done, likeable to seal meat that had been cooked till not even a polar bear would like twice. Upon requesting our dish to what we asked for, the staff were uncaring. We were not informed whether we were being refunded or delivered new dishes. Simply whisked away. After waiting some twenty minutes without attendance to our surprise, low and behold the food we had ordered. However again, the dish was over cooked. I at this point was hungry and simply wished to leave the establishment, I consumed my mediocre meal. All whilst we were not once checked on by numerous floor staff. My partner however left her steak uneaten. When our partially empty dishes were removed, there was not a single question as to the enjoyment of our meals.

All in all, a severe lack of competence on behalf of the kitchen staff was only compounded by the lacklustre effort of the floor staff. Coupled with the more then upper price cost of the restaurant and lack of customers on this night. I can say without a doubt this was one of my worst dining experiences....