O'Connell's - South Melbourne

We vwere looking forward to this venue very much given its reputation as a great gastro pub.Parking was surpisingly easy with plenty of 2 hour parking right out... read more We vwere looking forward to this venue very much given its reputation as a great gastro pub.Parking was surpisingly easy with plenty of 2 hour parking right outside.The ambience is great and the restaurant was full. But disappointingly the service was slow(not enough staff??) and the food OK but not brilliant.Conversation was easy.Maybe just a bit of an off day and will happily go back again.

Went for a work dinner - regret it and won't be going back. Mains took over a 1.5 hours to arrive on a quiet midweek early evening after substandard starters. E... read more Went for a work dinner - regret it and won't be going back. Mains took over a 1.5 hours to arrive on a quiet midweek early evening after substandard starters. Each main was cold, dry, lacking in flavour and generosity and completely lacking in care. Service was brash and unfriendly, with dishes (when they eventually arrived) thrown down on the table in front of us aggressively. I contacted the restaurant before leaving this review and was promised a voucher as an apology. This never arrived after almost two months of waiting. No responses to emails since. Dishonesty probably, or fake care for customers at best. Plenty of better local options.

I have been a customer of O'Connell's for many years and no doubt I will continue to keep going back for old time's sake. I went there for lunch this week and t... read more I have been a customer of O'Connell's for many years and no doubt I will continue to keep going back for old time's sake. I went there for lunch this week and the waiting staff were as good as always and the venue revived old memories. The problem came with the food I'm afraid. The Guinness Pie was a mere shadow of it's old self and the Wiener Schnitzels were very very ordinary. Perhaps it was just a bad day - I hope so.

Booked in for a table of 2 over the phone on the 6/9/18, when I arrived at O'Connell's I was greeted by a gentleman called Alex McCrae, who was very pleasant an... read more Booked in for a table of 2 over the phone on the 6/9/18, when I arrived at O'Connell's I was greeted by a gentleman called Alex McCrae, who was very pleasant and showed us to our table. We sat down and looked at the wine list INCREDIBLE !! we ordered torbreck the laird shiraz 2012 which was to die for. Before we ordered we were given an amuse bouche what a lovely touch, we ordered a salmon gravlax and beef short rib to start, they were amazing. For mains we ordered a 1.1 kilo sharing rib eye medium rare, cooked to perfection. After the mains had been cleared we glazed at the dessert menu and were once again greeted by Alex with a fabulous pre dessert of lemon verbena ice cream, Bulgar and fennel meringue. after this we couldn't not try more, we ordered a mouth watering chocolate fondant to share. This experience was second to none we will definitely  be back to taste more of the outstanding chefs food congratulations guys, Alex McCrae and O'Connell's team see you soon

The restaurant at the pub has a separate section with classy decor that I love. The service was fantastic and the food came out quickly. I was pleasantly surpri... read more The restaurant at the pub has a separate section with classy decor that I love. The service was fantastic and the food came out quickly. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. For starters, we had the wild rabbit and pistachio terrine, which was good but not as flavorful as I had hoped. The St Bernard's free range pork belly, however, was outstanding. The pork belly was lean and flavorful, and the scratchings were crunchy without being too oily or salty. The burger was also delicious, with perfectly cooked beef. The only downside was the fries, which seemed like they were frozen. Despite the slightly higher bill, the generous portions make it worth it, especially with the Amex Spend $50, get $20 back promotion.