Mail Exchange Hotel 688 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000

"Its probably not everyone's cup of tea but if you ignore the gaming the venue is a good place to do some work and check your emails with a coffee or have an informal meeting. Close to transport makes it a good place for travelling workers day or night"

"Yum! I love this gorgeous old building with original steel beams inside. The hotel is in the basement, but it’s not dingy. Although it’s an extensive place with many places to eat, drink and meet, it’s intimate and welcoming. The food was absolutely delicious. The pork cutlet was juicy and not dry. The pasta was very flavoursome, both meals were. Cooked to perfection. Good choice in the menu. Staff were very accommodating, even though we walked in with the after footy crowd. Best to book if you have a large crowd. Cool event room (with window to the street traffic) and pokies are available too if that’s your thing."

"We had a large group (around 23 people) and we were in our own room! Splitting the bill and paying for our own was made easy by the friendly staff. The vegetable Korma was *delicious*!! If you're going to have the Eton Mess, recommend to share it with someone. It's bigger than it looks and very rich, sweet"

"Food was serviceable, the burger was definitely better than my previous experience with the parma. Great proximity to public transport but atmosphere is lacking as the dining area is pretty dead (though the gaming area is buzzing) Update We were back at Mail Exchange tonight for dinner pre attending The Lume and I was seriously disappointed. I ordered what turned out to be probably the worst parma I’ve ever had, definitely processed style chicken you get from the Coles deli with some terrible out a jar sauce on top. I didn’t even eat half of it. The chips fared better and were nicely seasoned but some were chunkier than other others and the fatter ones weren’t as well cooked. The only positive I’ll highlight is the security guard was the most vigilant I have ever seen any venue be in checking covid vax and even asked for my ID to confirm it matched my certificate Original review Having worked practically opposite this place for years I've eaten here on many an occasion. While the menu is pub food the interior is not too bad inside with the pokie machines kind of segregated to one spot and the dining room relatively uninterrupted by their neon gleam and electronic dinging. There's also an escalator inside (random). I generally order the salt and pepper calamari which interestingly comes with a spicy pineapple dipping sauce. The portions aren't the largest but I'm pretty sure I eat way more than a normal person should so they are probably the correct nutrition sizes. The reviews on here are fairly scathing but remember the type of establishment this is. I think it's perfectly fine for pre football drinks or dinner and given its proximity to Etihad stadium I do believe that's exactly how it's treated"