Fantastic

Enjoyed the Lunch Special and the great friendly service. Thanks.

Was here last nights for my friends engagement party. Venue atmosphere on point, the food was amazing,great variety and the staff were fantastic. I would highly recommend this place for a function. We were upstairs on the rooftop and also there is free parking close by after 6.00pm.

Schnitzel was good.

Good food and even better service!!

Class

Fantastic place great service staff lovely food and a great place for a event. Upstairs is fantastic. Thanks for looking after all of us.

Great pub

Food is always very good and promptly served. Excellent overall.

This was a pretty good place and the food was very nice.

What an amazing venue. I would recommend the Balaclava hotel highly. Food, service and the staff just AMAZING. I had 120 guest at my party and it was most comfortable and best function I have ever had. I can’t thank Lee and Amber enough for helping me organise my amazing 50th birthday celebration. Would definitely recommend the Balaclava hotel St Kilda… THANK YOU….

Came here for drinks. Staff were really lovely and friendly. Loved the roof top!

Very beautiful and nicely renovated venue. The food is top notch and the staff is very respectful. Good to be there . Must try.

The Balaclava Hotel gave us an unforgettable Saturday night! A special thanks to Josh, the manager, as well as Amber and Zane for going above and beyond to accommodate our last-minute booking and make it extra special for our guests who flew in from the UK. They really helped us and made sure everything was perfect. The food was delicious, the service outstanding, and the atmosphere warm and inviting. Thank you to the team for making the night so memorable—we’ll definitely be back! Micheal

Amber behind the bar was extremely helpful happy and smiling face what great service

Had lunch today at The Bala. An old stomp of mine from many, Many years ago. Nice, clean and hip kind of place now. Had the garage chicken baos and haloumi zucchini fritters. Both very tasty and well presented. Crispy fritters and chicken. Crunchy and certainly not greasy in anyway considering they are fried options. Mains potato pizza and chicken chorizo paella. Chef Sunni nailed both. Pizza perfect (big serve for a pub pizza) and the paella was excellent. Spicey hot not stodgy or dry or to wet. Plenty of flavour. We will be back. Thank you Chef.

Clean,airy,relaxing,large tv screens covering sports... rooftop is fab..band a bit loud on a Sunday... rooftop has so much potential.

Balaclava hotel has been well renovated with a nice rooftop bar upstairs. The venue is clean and tidy with a gaming machine room and pool table. Plenty of bathroom facilities and a smoking room out back for smokers.

Had a great time at the New Year’s party!! The staff were amazing, we had an absolute night 👌👌

We had our daughter’s 21st birthday party here. The rooftop space is perfect for parties. We would like to thank Will and Hugo for being the best hosts, so helpful and welcoming. And thank you Lee for all the help with the booking and Jake for firstly showing us around the space. We had a great night!

We hosted our son's 21st birthday in the roof top bar, it was a great space and the staff were brilliant, especially the manager on the night, so attentive and professional.

We had my partners 40th birthday party at the rooftop bar. Organising the party with Lee was completely stress free. Thank you so much.. the venue was fantastic, the food was beautiful and the drinks were flowing! we got to play our own music which everyone loved. Nothing was too much for the staff, they were very accommodating and pleasant. Special shout out to Will, who was amazing. Can’t wait to have our next party here. Thanks a million, from all the Irish :)

The locals create the atmosphere! So many new staff they do their best however I do wonder why they don't stay for long. Is it a good place for them? Regardless they try their best working in a horrendously laid out bar - bad design. Thanks guys for the work you do!

The staff were attentive, friendly and helpful all night. I was very impressed by the staff. The food was great. There is a really great atmosphere in the upstairs function room. All our guests had great things to say about the venue. My son had a great 21st. We will hire the venue again for our next function.

Will was an absolute jet. Went above and beyond for us even though we were just ordering beers. Just moved to the area and will be back. Our new local.

Attended a function at the pub. Young employee Will couldn’t have been more helpful. Great venue.

Security was rude arrogant and a bully accused me once of being too intoxicated yet I don't drink alcohol, he has no idea

Probably one of the worst venues in Melbourne.

Pokies, beer, food, sport. Say no more.

Food was good, but bartenders use glasses to scoop ice for drinks, which is not safe

Really good baos..and free pool sundays🤩🤩🤩

Amber the duty manger helped me save money by installing the pub app. She is patient, accommodating and friendly

Great service, food and atmosphere

I recently had my 50th in the rooftop bar at the Balaclava Hotel, Lee, Amber and the rest of the team were great! Everything went perfectly. The venue itself is awesome, with many people commenting. The food was well prepared and good quality, and plenty of it. Overall, great memories and I highly recommend considering the venue.

I always go after work late at night to relax and enjoy the pokies now I carnt get in due to have to prove who u are my god balaclava hotel loss

Awesome place for a catch up with mates

I had my 40th birthday at the rooftop and the team at the Balaclava hotel made it a seamless process from the beginning. Lee and Annette from the functions team were super helpful and friendly. The rooftop is a fantastic spot for a function, love the exposed brick and it has an inviting atmosphere and layout. It also has a lift which was helpful for some of the older guests (and the ones who had too many ha!). Food was yum and fair priced and they catered to all dietary requirements. Great place to host a function. Highly recommend.

Came here for a group event and Jonty the bartender was incredibly helpful and went above and beyond!

Great new refurb, shout out to Jonty he was a vibe

New to the area and stopped in for a beer, got nothing but shocking service and a bartender full of attitude. Tall young dude, No manners at all, difficult to interact with and just overall bad service. Safe to say this won’t be our new local. Not hard to smile and say g’day! Not necessary at all to be so rude and arrogant, very disappointing.

Ordering food using QR code at the table. The serving size is generous, tastes pretty good. The venue has a rooftop sitting, sports bar, bistro and gaming area.

Good place, good food. Good sports bar.

Haven't eaten here yet looking forward to having a feed and a beer or 2

Great food and service!

Nice food, big serves, beef brisket sandwich & chicken snitzel were awesome!

Pokies were clean and tidy. Quite busy for 1AM, Andre was friendly and helpful.

Getting service in this pub appears to be a local joke. Standing for well over 5 minutes watching Zain make coffee, while I want to order 4 meals, 4 minutes in another fellow joins the wait wanting to buy a bottle of wine, further minute in a fellow comes in wanting a jug of beer. I’m having a bit of a chat about the appalling service and a lass sitting behind me points out the bar man chatting with god knows who, saying our chance of service is nil to none. Finally I am served by Zain, make our order, food fabulous! While we are digesting our meal, finishing our wine, our apparent bar tender walks by, picks up forks from another table and tosses them in the box on our table. Why? It didn’t serve any purpose, the box needed everything not just forks. This felt like an act of apparent aggression. We had not actually interacted with this person. Nothing in our behaviour until that moment could have been described as anything but enjoying our night. We visit Balaclava every 3 months or so, love this pub but guys you need to lift the service game.

I had a small and intimate wedding reception at the Balaclava hotel and everything was amazing! I couldn't recommend the venue highly enough. The team was wonderful, the food delicious and the atmosphere just made the day. Thank you for adding to the memories of my special day.

I had my 21st birthday here using the winter package and it was exceptional! Lee made sure everything was organised in advance so my day was as least stressful as possible (and it was). The food was amazing, drinks were spectacular and the rooftop venue was stunning! The staff on the day were incredibly on top of everything and so lovely! Additionally, incredibly accommodating to dietary requirements!

Absolutely love this pub! Food is delicious, and it has great cosy vibes during the winter. Perfect place for a pub feed and to watch the footy!

Great food, thanks to Hayley for the great service and making our night go smoothly! Definitely will be coming back soon!

Hosted a work function in the upstairs private function room. Food was amazing and service was great.

Great spot. We all enjoyed our meals - the service was quick and pleasant. Open fire nice in a cold night outside. We will be back

So we can’t have a cheer or a whistle whilst supporting a beloved afl game, we had a whistle and where told to not to cheer or whistle and by all means we where not being excessive we where trying to enjoy a game of pool and cheer on our team. So to all enjoy and have a great nite at this place as we where not welcome

Great pub....really good music on a Sunday afternoon....just need better service as its a bit on the slow side when wanting a drink...its quicker to go downstairs

Lee was an absolute pleasure! the venue and staff were so accommodating and i wouldn’t have wanted to celebrate with anyone else💌

Best tacos ive ever had, $15 jugs, quick and friendly service, plenty of seating and large screen to watch the footy. Faultless.

Staff are real friendly and kind

Great place for having fun with your friends

Trivia and Tacos.👌

I've been really enjoying hosting the open mic in the upstairs bar area!

I recently had dinner at the Balaclava Hotel with a friend. This is the second time I have attempted to leave a review. Unbelievably, my first one was not published. I ordered a Ceasar salad. It cost, including the chicken, $27. It was so disappointing. I did not receive any croutons, despite this being advertised on the menu, the poached egg was cold, the chicken portion paltry. The size of the salad for the amount I paid was price gouging at best. I have had some pretty amazing meals and some poor ones, and this is up there on poor. I will not be back.

Amazing roof top! Recently celebrated my brothers birthday, catered to everything. Perfect outdoor heaters, bathroom facilities and bar.

Was here recently for a function that was help upstairs, It was fabulous! The venue itself is terrific and the staff are all delightful. Upstairs we had one Bartender who was on top of everything. If you visit and happen to be served by Panos; it may be the highlight of you day, like it was mine. I also went downstairs for a while to get a proper meal because I ravenous. The food was cooked and presented well and tasted better than it looked. in the short time it took for the food to come I sat down for a few spins of the pokies and even managed to go home with over $100 more than arrived with! Overall an absolutely marvelous time and highly recommend for work or personal functions or even just on a night that you don't want to cook for yourself.

We had a wonderful 21st celebration at the Balaclava rooftop venue. The staff, atmosphere and food were all wonderful. Parking was easy and free. So happy we chose the Balaclava. Thank you!🤩

Whenever I visit the balaclava hotel, I always look out for Lisa in the gaming area. She is the loveliness and most nicest person that works there. Whenever I think about going to the pokies, I always choose this place because of her. Security can be a bit of a downer, but if they just lighten up a bit, they’d have less confrontations and customers numbers would increase.

Great place, Great steaks, Ruby behind the bar was very nice and professional, she deserves a raise.

Had a function on the rooftop - it was excellent. Staff, service and venue all fantastic and even on a cold night the heaters kept everyone warm. Highly recommend!

Lobe all staff

Lovely staff on tonight, beautiful place, nice and welcome.

Delious food and drink. Great atmosphere too. Thanks for a great night.

We bought the function pack for an 80th birthday party at the Ruth garden and excellent venue free parking at the back a lift to get to the roof. Garden the food packages that we selected were excellent. So many comments on how good the food was. The staff were wonderful I’d recommend this place to anybody.

Had my brother's birthday here and everyone was so impressed with everything, from the food, to the service, to the atmosphere. Will be coming back!

Great spot for a beer.service is quick, great northern pints are 8 dollars all day everyday and a mid day Parma will set you back 15 dollars. Restrooms are suspicious, the pokies area draws an interesting crowd but look no further than the cheap beers and sky racing on every screen this place is awesome

Just recently moved to the area so trying out all the nearby pubs. Went for dinner with family. Service was quick and staff were friendly. I had the salmon. Was delicious! Definitely will come back for food and drink.

Great food and good pokie venue (when u win)LOL

What a fabulous and surprising rooftop venue atop the Balaclava Hotel! We hosted a luncheon for a few dozen people on International Women’s Day for our Divas of the Round Table event and all our expectations were not only met, but truly exceeded - across the board. We arrived up the lift and stepped out to a space that lends itself to the perfect private function away from the hotel vibe downstairs. I’d say its a bit of a hidden secret of Melbourne. The menu options were perfect and the attention to 'food detail' for quite a large group of our women (with more then half a dozen who had rather particular dietary requirements) was perfect! It was all so intuitively thought out for each individual. Your kitchen chefs and crew are to be thanked and praised for a wonderful selection and generous portions - no matter what the dietary requirement we had put forward. I can honestly say that factor ended up being quite a conversation at our table at the time and there was not a person at our event who didnt comment on how pleased they were with the food and options on all three courses. Also - we cannot thank Lee enough for his exceptional service from beginning to end for our event. It's not often we find someone who goes that extra mile these days, but the service factor we received definitely puts this rooftop venue and the team at Balaclava Hotel now at the top of our list for future options for further events. Thank you to all the team - they all made the day perfect for our event. Delighted is the perfect description... Highly recommended for a private function on the rooftop.

I’ve lived in balaclava for 6 months now and never have I ever had such a crisp and seamless pint. Delicious. Joe went above and beyond to make the me the happiest and most hydrated girl in balaclava… 10/10 customer service. Would come back again and again (if joe is there).