Pub Of The Week: Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne
629 Bourke Street, Melbourne
9629 2400
When?: May 24 2024
SUMMARY:
At the very (western) end of Bourke Street, next to the beautiful St. Augustine’s Church, is the Royal Melbourne Hotel, a long time yet unobtrusive stayer in the CBD pub scene.
Family run for nearly two decades, the old style redbrick Police Station was home to many a miscreant when known as City West and now is a well run, steady-as-she-goes pub made up of many parts.
From Bourke Street, you enter a labyrinthine old boozer; the glassed in atrium, courtyard with retractable roof, through to the more intimate bluestone cells, heritage room, and governors lounge, all wonderfully modern without losing the historical features of a Melbourne long past but having their own points of difference. Any type of function is well catered for at the RMH.
It is a credit to the owners to strike such a balance between the old and new.
The RMH is an acme “CBD” pub: by that its core business is driven at lunchtime, five days per week, then some post work activities. Weekends rely much on sport at Marvel, (early finish 8pm on those days), so when large groups arrive for a gathering it is inferred that there’s about an hour to spare.
On what was observed, this was achieved perfectly driven by switched on young staff working the room on a recent Tuesday. Two groups, 20 per table, placed orders, had a drink, meal and catch up all within the 60 minutes. The service was clockwork.
To that end being a CBD pub, the menu is a parade of user friendly favs, staying closely to the (dining) road more travelled.
Pokies: No
TAB: No
Sharing plates offer chicken wings, 10/serve for $15, with a bourbon BBQ sauce, or arancini balls, 4/$15, of pumpkin and spinach with romesco as dipper. There’s about eight shares offered in total.
Mains fall in a price range of mid 20’s to low $30’s. flathead fillets, chicken parma, RMH beef burger are $25, seafood marinara $30, with a porterhouse, C&S, and your choice of sauces for $38. A range of pizza comes in around $18. The RMH offers blackboard specials regularly.
This menu is fairly typical of what pubs offer in the CBD given time is the most precious commodity for your customers.
Beer is well served and has the trusted brands of CD (6.9/pot, very good), Melbourne Bitter, Great Northern, along with Pirate Life, Peroni, and Balter.
Wine list is covered by comfortable and well known brands e.g., Wynns, Pepperjack, St. Huberts, with $10-12 pg, being the fairly priced range. Leo Buring Riesling, $10pg//42 per bottle never, ever misses.
A couple of highlights were;
- Grilled duo bites. $17. Four mini skewers, lamb/beef are marinated in lemon/herbs, and served with roasted peppers, pesto, flatbread. Easy eating, tasty, moreish. Good sharing plate,
- The big German schnitzel $29. Pork schnitzel, tasty, covered the plate. It would take some eating to knock it over in one go. Chips were fine, but pepper sauce lacked punch, and coleslaw was particularly bland. A dish of two tales.
There’s a couple of massive screens for sport, and the RMH would be a fine places to gather pre/post anything at Marvel.
Experience shows out at RMH as there are so many parts to the pub, letting one area slip would bring the feel of the place down. But as has been the case, hospitality workers in pubs are really excelling and here was no different.
No real faults at the Royal Melbourne Hotel, confirming steady as she goes can win the race.
Score: 14