the post office hotel

a decent meal. had a decent night out at the courthouse hotel. the menu looked really good, and delivered 80%. we started with the beef carpaccio with fried shallots, horseradish creme fraiche (which needed more horseradish flavour), and samphire which was a nice addition to the dish. it needed an acidic component to make it an excellent dish. then we had two pizza's - the gorgonzola was delicious and the mushroom was good but the watercress on top had way to many inedible stems should never have been plonked on like that. the staff were friendly and attentive, the atmosphere a bit noisy and the meals a bit pricey, but i would definitely go back.

overpriced, poor quality food - seek opportunity elsewhere. the first thing to mention is that the post office hotel is located in coburg, where overheads are not as high as comparable inner city pubs located in collingwood, fitzroy and north melbourne. it seems strange therefore that the food is priced well above its counterparts.

that said, i wouldn't mind paying a premium given the lovely fit out of the place - with the caveat that the food is good. it is not!

the parma was thick, dry and tasteless and the burger soggy, poorly seasoned and badly thought out. the 'special dish' of pork belly was served with a half toasted wombok which completely dominated and ruined the dish.

the steak (eye fillet) was well cooked and an excellent cut of meat, however it did not come with any sides. i ordered fries and veggies which bought my meal to $70.

all of this was delivered by inexperienced and overly attentive waiters.

there are countless opportunities to have a wonderful $70 meal in melbourne, however the post office hotel is not one of them.

jen. loved it!
i've been in hospitality for 10 years and am very particular about everything at a restaurant.
best steak i've had in 12months, the sides were quality and decent portions, great selection of wines, very attentive (but not annoyingly over attentive) service.
we were recommended by a chef in melbourne and were stoked.

came for a friday night catch up with a girlfriend and i actually loved the place! great atmosphere, fantastic food and our waiter was awesome! my biggest regret was not leaving a tip for the great service, freaked out when i went up to pay as i didn't know you can leave tips via eftpos. nonetheless, highly recommended!

bad bad bad. the menu seems to have an identity crisis - pub menu with restaurant prices. i ordered the ribwich which came out looking great but on first bite i found gritty, un-washed lettuce (that on inspection had been eaten by a bug) and woefully undercooked beef short rib - i think it may have been around 1.5 hours under cooked, the meat was stringy, chewy and inedible. i love secondary cuts of meat but they have to be treated with love and respect, and this clearly was not. needless to say i had to return the plate to the kitchen and go home hungry.
when every other hamburger venture in melbourne is doing burgers below $12 how can a $20 price point be justified?
lets break this down:
1 handful of mc cains frozen chips - $0.45
1 bun $0.70
beef ribs (@$5.50 kg) maybe $0.75
lettuce, mayo, cheese etc maybe $0.50
$2.40 food costs on the plate for rotten pigs swill.

nice place to come on a weekend afternoon, sit out in the courtyard and enjoy some quality beers/ciders with great pizza! pizza bases are thin and crispy with top quality ingredients and choices! will definitely be back to try the restaurant!

good but not up to its reputation.. whenever i go to the post office i'm expecting a great meal because everyone speaks of how fantastic it is, but really, the food is never very nice, as well as overpriced for what is on the plate. avoid the yellowfin tuna salad - sounds great but is drenched in sickly salty sauce. the burgers are pretty unspecial too. it has a lovely atmosphere and my favourite element is the historic pink tiled bathrooms! but go for a beer and chips, not the food.

lovely night out. attentive service. top notch food and a great vibe. our waiter was outstanding

cool place.. food can be a little hit and miss, but overall great place for a casual meal or drink. service was attentive and the pizzas quite good.

i have always enjoyed numerous experiences at the post office. the pizza is top notch and very authentic , the specials are consistently good and the wine list is smart, concise with good boutique and euro drops. thumbs up for me!

lack of hospitality from bar staff. a great venue on so many levels, but why do the bar staff greet you as if they are doing you a favor by taking your order?

frustrating. visit last night was disappointing. arrived early, had a drink at the bar, great drink choices, great bar staff, but when it came time to eat it all fell apart. the entree dips were spoilt by the inedible pork crackle which was as tough as anything i have experienced, just warm main course of fish and big under-cooked chips. the desert was not what the waitress said it would be and was only ok, i will go there again as i think i went on a bad night.

love it. we have visited the poh for years and the food is always fantastic and we love playing pool. we have never had a problem with the staff - they are always so friendly and welcoming. they interact so well with our boys and know how to have a laugh with them. my husband loves going for his regular boys night to the poh. cannot understand the negative reviews on urbanspoon at all. i know lots of local coburg families that love the poh and are very happy with the food and service. the poh has always supported the local school community and is what a great local pub should be.

ran out of basic menu options (incl a pizza topping!) by 7pm on sun of cup wknd - poor form particularly given it wasn't packed.

felt ripped off. really didnt want to write a bad review about what should be a very good place to eat within walking distance of our house. i actually blame myself somewhat in the bad experience last night. not sure why i ordered steak, as i promised myself i would never do it again in another restaurant, as without blowing my own trumpet too hard, i do them so well myself at home and always over charcoal. twas the flank on the menu board that sucked me in. i've got friends that grow their own beef and tell me this is the best flavour you can get.... maybe for them with their hand reared highland cattle yes, not here though.

thats not really the problem though, my problem was despite the attentive service, which was slightly over done, interruptive i would call it, the steaks came out luke warm on the plate, we had to pay 20 dollars extra for the sides, which at 32 and 35 for the scotch fillet is a bit of a liberty, and the meager sized serving of the "vegetable" saukraut, which looked and tasted like normal saukraut, to me was starting to make me feel i dining somewhere pretentious that shouldnt or needn't be. so despite this becoming a very expensive and not so great meal the final insult and i took it as an insult as well, was adding gst to the final bill. that really upset me.

i'm not saying i wont give this place another chance, i want it to succeed as it's a local and i know it can do welly reading the other reviews. but don't order the steak for xsakes when there are more complete meals on the menu that look damn interesting.

so last night i take at least 20 pct of the responsibility for me worst dining experience of 2014 in ordering the wrong meal, despite telling myself i would never order steak so many times before.... however that 20pct was totally negated by adding the gst to the final bill, something i personally wasnt prepared for.

get your act together i'll give you one more chance purely on the basis of being local... no way would i drive to the place twice.