Builders Arms Hotel - Melbourne

We where in the area and thought we would pop in for a burger or steak.Plenty of seating inside , outside was mostly full, being a Sunday night.Mostly young staff , relatively friendly.We went for the bistro menu (that was limited as well, not many choices for a nice hot or filling meal).Limited bottled beer or tap beer menu (2 on tap) and 5-6 bottled (mostly Asian type).We settled on cheeseburger and chips (we thought being a safe option)When it arrived , it could of been a McDonald's gourmet selection burger and chips clone (I'm not kidding !!!).Shoestring fries and cheeseburger on a brioche roll with salad , meat and special sauce ??? Wtf ???I felt ripped off, we could of just went to maccas for a lesser price??I don't know if we got pranked or that's the norm, but it was so much like a McDonald's gourmet burger and chips on a plate - that we where massively disappointed.$50 for 2 cheeseburgers and chips with 2 beers ain't that cheap either.We felt disappointed with the overall food experience and headed for some dessert in Lygon St instead.

Was looking forward to this... but....Decided on the banquet. Smashed cucumber and radish, and dish of heirloom tomatoes were Ok, but not remotely asian. Next two courses arrived quickly, by 30 mins after we arrived we had five dishes on our very tiny table. Wontons were not interesting at all. The tofu with its sauce - all very soft and liquid - was good - but why were we asked if we wanted spoons? There was no way you could eat it with any other implement. The duck dish was uninteresting, found me wishing for the usual crispy skin, unctuous meat, spring onion, and good hoisin sauce, none of which was happening here in their version. The sweet of granita etc was good.The wine - made the classic mistake of my wife ordering the wine then the waiter presenting it to me for perusal. The he asked if we were happy to serve ourselves by leaving the bottle on the table - it was a rosé, and it was 36 deg outside - or on the bar in ice? Why were we asked? And then we had to summon staff to top up the glasses on each occasion, and not easy to catch their eye. The rest of the service was just annoying. And $56 for a $13 wine....The bill - very considerable - and they charged us an extra $2 for another 4 bits of duck wrapping!Not worth it.....

The pub is nicely decked out in side. The food is great and the staff are very friendly, certainly worth a visit.

Nice clean place, didn't have a chance to try the food however drinks where way overpriced. Nothing is making me want to re visit

The Ricky and Pinky restaurant serve contemporary Asian food at the Builders Arms Hotel in Fitzroy. The waitstaff are friendly and professional. We enjoyed the food and the drinks. We think there is not enough noise absorbing features at the restaurant because it is quite noisy and a bit hard to talk to each other