The Royston

Bar, Eatery

12 River Street
Richmond, VIC 3121
Australia

+61 (03) 9421 5000 | map
roystonhotel.com.au
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.19
Reviews:
4
Ratings:
5
pDev:
2.63%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
 
Rated: 4.25 by bylerteck from Canada (ON)

Oct 23, 2013
Photo of MrKennedy
Reviewed by MrKennedy from Australia

4/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 2
Cool pub with a big U shaped bar that the room is centred around. Nice mix of bar stools and perimeter seating. Dimly lit, but nice feel.

Not stocking stuff because they can, good bottle lust of local micros plus BrewDog and Sierra Nevada. Cool taplist with Bridge Road India Saison, Moylander, Holgate ESB on handpump, nearby Mountain Goat Hightail and IPA.

Service was good, quick and attentive. The barman kept reminding me of Derek O'Farrell (CAN oarsman) with his movember moustache.

11 taps, with one for cider, bottle list of around 20 beers that you would actually drink.

Had the Wagyu burger which seemed like an attempt at making an upmarket Big Mac, even down to the gherkin and sauce...disappointing dish.

Sitting at $4.50 to $50 a pot, it is pretty good for a city.
Nov 27, 2011
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Reviewed by mulder1010 from Australia

4.33/5  rDev +3.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
A--- US dive bar, crossed with hipness. Very much a dive bar in a strange area but a good place for drinks and food. Very nice.

Q-- When there is Moo brew Imperial Stout and Rogue Imperial Stout the place has serious beers for Australian standards. Good list of beers.

S-- It's Melbourne. You want service?? Go to Melbourne. You want to be ignored?? Go to Sydney. Plain and simple, as an American expat. Go to Melbourne first before Sydney. Will make you wonder why you even went to Sydney because service standards are much higher in Melb than Sydney. If you like poker machines go to Sydney.

S-- Holgate ESB on hand cask??? Never going to find that shit in Sydney. Good beers, cheaper than Sydney.Nuff said

F-- Food was good.Deserts were not that inspiring though

V-- If you are traveling to Australia from the US go to Melbourne first before Sydney. 20% cheaper than Sydney is. Better service and food than Sydney has. Go shopping in Melbourne, get ripped off in Sydney. If you are looking for beer in Melbourne you will do well there. Drink wine and forget beer in Sydney. Royston is a great pub with a good pub menu and good beer.
Jul 05, 2010
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Reviewed by hefevice from Australia

4.15/5  rDev -1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
What a great little spot! Visiting Melbourne on business and managed to drag 3 work colleagues out for some proper beer.

A bit of a trek from town on the Tram, however it is well worth the journey. We arrived on a Thursday night and occupied a table in the main bar, which was pretty full, but comfortably so. There is also a formal dining area, but we did not check it out this visit, prefering to eat in the main bar.

Service was friendly and very efficient, but the highlight was definitely the beer. They even had a hand pump going serving cask conditioned Holgate ESB. Selection was the best range of Aussie craft beer I have seen on tap, with plenty more in bottles in the fridge. All beers were served in appropriate glassware. I even managed to get one colleague who started on a Corona to drink craft beer for the rest of the night, finishing on an Imperial Stout.

Food was high end pub grub - tasty, unpretentious and plenty of it.

This will be a regular haunt whenever I end up in Melbourne.
Aug 27, 2007
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Reviewed by brendan13 from Australia

4.2/5  rDev +0.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5
The Royston is a nice little bar that I would love to have as a local.
Their main thing is Victorian micros but they also have other Australian micros both on tap and bottled. They have 3 guest taps. When I was there they had Hunter Valley White, Red Oak Organic Hefeweizen and another Red Oak that I can't for the life of me remember.
The have a Dining Room at the back for more formal eating or you can eat at the front bar. I guess the food would be described as "fancy bar food". I didn't really think the food was anything special but I was there for the drinking so that didn't bother me.
The guys who work there that I've talked to seem to be pretty into beer and are always happy to make suggestions.
They also do takeaway which is great if your going to a party and all the good bottle shops are closed.
Feb 17, 2007
The Royston in Richmond, Australia
Place rating: 4.19 out of 5 with 5 ratings