Royal Saxon

This is a review of the restaurant. If I were to rate the service in isolation I would give it 1 star. BUT the food! It more than made up for the below average service. We had amazing salads with a side of roast chicken. There were amazing sugar coated walnuts in one of the salads, and the ice cream was home made and amazing. It’s rare to be really impressed with the quality of food, but this night we were. The mint ice cream and chocolate coffee was sensational. Very pleased, though I hope the chef replaces his floor staff soon!
Lighting was dim creating great atmosphere too.

The Royal Saxon is a slightly-​upscale bar/​gastropub. They have a good selection of beers, wines, and cocktails, accompanied by a decent sized food menu. I visited a little before dinner time so I only sampled a couple of their dishes: the salumi misti and the roast potato. The meats in the salumi misti were quite good, and the potatoes were nice and crispy.
The venue itself feels modern and it is quite spacious. They have a large area for people ordering meals, a good sized outdoor area, and an area immediately in front of the bar for those wanting to drink indoors.

I have visited the Royal Saxon on several occasions for work lunch and I have ordered the Nduja salami (hot), red onion, tomato and scamorza bianco pizza every time as it’s quite tasty. So I can personally vouch for this meal if you happen to be looking at the menu and struggling to find a dish that you might enjoy.
The service is faultless and the staff are lovely. So you will be looked after and not feel forgotten as with some experiences this has been a bad habit for some venues I have been to.
The design of the Royal Saxon is quite interesting. You feel comfortable walking in and cosy with great emphasis on space. It’s neatly laid out and modern as well.
You won’t feel lonely here, it can get quite busy. They have a bar if you feel like something to drink as well.
If you like Italian food than the meals will appeal to you, I haven’t tried enough of the menu to highly recommend the food here, but take the risk with the pizzas, they haven’t disappointed me yet.
There’s a lot more to the Royal Saxon with an outside and upstairs area which I have yet to explore, but as it stands, my experience has been pleasant and haven’t had a reason yet for not recommending this place.

This is one of the few places left in Melbourne where you can make a booking for a group of more than 10 people and not get asked to do a set menu.
Both visits to the Saxon have been more than enjoyable. The service is impeccable and the food (both times I went, I had something from the special’s menu) was mouth watering!
The outside area has a great vibe and I particularly love the massive tree right in the middle of it. Beware though, it gets pretty packed and before you know it, you will be surrounded by smokers!

I have always loved these guys they know how to make me happy, and really so they should I have been there enough haha
Nothing better than when you finish a hard day and you can walk in somewhere where can have just a stiff drink or a bite to eat.
Not to mention that these guys prove that you can be a great all round venue and still provide an interesting signature martini.
When asked for the ‘house’ martini I was given the following; Cutlass Gin from West Winds Gin, Maidenii Vermouth (great Aus vermouth), served in a classic martini glass and garnished with two slices of red capsicum, interesting and unique.
Who’s up for a martini now?

Great Classy Venue. Beaware though this place gets packed and you might have to wait a while! Good range of drinks, not to sure about food as I was there while it was a bar.

The Sax has been around for what seems like forever, which doesn’t *necessarily* make it good (just look at Cliff Richard), but in this case it means they’ve had the time to fine tune some intricacies and now the Sax is a functional and versatile bar/​pub/​restaurant.
The menu knows where it’s at, there is no pub-​standard overwhelming curry/​pizza/​pub meals/​pasta/​focaccia/​dehydrated space food menu that tries to cover all bases and ultimately bollockses up *all* of them. Home-​style Italian in style, you’ll find antipasto, pastas, rustic mains, gourmet pizzas and some sweets. All food is organic, free range, locally sourced, seasonal and largely house-​made (wild foraged morel mushroom tagliarini with house made pasta, anyone?), so it’s guilt free. Provided you stay away from the desserts of course but that’s a whole other kind of guilt that no amount of ethical sourcing can assuage, but then there’s always a treadmill or bulimia for that. Points to note though: bring an Italian dictionary, and vegetarians should maybe think about getting a lentil sandwich on the way in or just hoeing into some cocktails and imparting an anti-​cruelty diatribe while everyone else chews on a fat steak or juicy quail.
Neat segue into cocktails: sweet tooths should check out the toffee apple, everyone else go the boozy mandarin julep. Lots of imported and boutiquey beers plus 11 on tap, and a great wine list including house wines on tap (right??) available by the glass/​half litre/​litre. The bar is well stocked but forget about the following: wet pussies; Jagermeister, Red Bull, Jagerbombs, Skittlebombs, Malibu, Midouri, and French martinis. The barstaff will give you a look that’s drier than the driest dirty martini and a lot drier than the bartop on a busy night.
Speaking of busy nights, expect to queue but not for long, then once you’re inside you can either queue again to get past the velvet rope into the oddly exclusive upstairs bar with cosy booths, full bar and smokers’ balcony. But downstairs is good enough for most, with a massive heated courtyard and a fire place. Just beware my housemate, Dopey Dwarf, who haunts this joint like the ghost of good music haunts Bono’s house. I mean mansion. Or yurt, wherever he lives now.
The Sax is an ideal spot for Sunday sessions and I’m not just saying that so you’ll come and keep me company. The crowd tends toward the good looking and sophisticated, minimal hipster contingent, and Neville.

Really nice décor and I hear the upstairs is fun at night. We went there on a lazy Sunday afternoon and enjoyed our beers. Everything is a tad more expensive than I would have expected. The large beers are not pints but you’re billed like it is a pint ($ 8.50). The mushroom and rocket pizza was pretty dry and hardly had any toppings and was one of my least favorite pizzas that I have had in Melbourne ($ 20). The octopus salad was $ 18 for tiniest little portion with barely enough little chunks of (delicious) octopus to serve the three of us. We each had one or two tiny morsels.
Perhaps its just a great place for drinks, as the décor and open air feel is very nice. Great design.
The service was attentive and great.

Take one Richmond Pub, gut it and leave only the exterior standing. Fill the interior with a concrete and glass box and some outside tables. That’s the Royal Saxon Hotel. It actually looks pretty good and is a great place for an afternoon beer.
The main thing on the menu is pizza and the pizzas are quite good — thin bases and some great toppings. The pork-​belly is an obvious favourite, but I preferred the hot salami. There are much better pizzas in Melbourne, but the Royal Saxon is a great place for a beer that just happens to have some good pizza as well.
Service was a bit hit or miss though — three mistakes (wrong drinks, wrong pizzas) in the one session seems a bit excessive.

Stopped in for lunch with a few work mates. The place looks great and has a good atmosphere. Although they were busy it wasn’t long till we were seated and had started with the beers.
Staff were extremely nice, even when I had to send my White Rabbit back. Apparently it was the bottom of the Keg. Switched it for a Little Creatures and I was back on my way.
If I was after a good lunch, I wouldn’t recommend the Royal Saxon, the menu sounds enticing and flavourful but doesn’t deliver. Unless your after pizza and then it passes.
We kicked on for a few hours and were never short of service or a full glass, so as an afternoon drinking venue, the Royal Saxon fits the bill.

Ahhh. My brother’s fiancée would hate this place. She’s Canadian, and she’s got this thing about the standard of Australian service (not entirely unjustified, I might add.)
You see, I was here for a friend’s going away, and for me the service exemplifies the very best traditions of Australian hospitality. They’ll serve you the food (I had the potato pizza by the way, quite tasty.) And they’ll do it with a modicum of indifference with just a soupçon of chat and recommendation. It’s a relationship between equals.
Beyond that, there’s not a lot that I’d have to say about the Royal Saxon. They’ve got a nice garden, and there’s enough Friday traffic that it’s hard to get a table. The bar’s well enough stocked, but there’s nothing unique about it. Pizza was pretty damn tasty, though.

What I enjoy about The Saxon is that its a concrete jungle. This may not be appealing to all, but for many The Saxon provides a great feeling of space & modern line with an open air courtyard full of blue stone, black iron & stylish architecture that dominates the eye similarly to the crowd it attracts.
This place is almost always happening. During week days its a great place to luncheon or share a drink or two with friends fantastic for a summer afternoon anytime of the week. On weeknights its attracts a mixed crown, a combination of old & young professionals.
The menu is Italian inspired with Antipasto & Tasting plates being a popular choice amongst groups. The Upper level also has a large bar and balcony which overlooks to a magnificent open air space. The Saxon also caters for functions in this area for 50 – 100 people. The Royal Saxon operates by table reservations and frequently uses door lists.

Not for the faint-​hearted. Meaning, not for oldies who will complain about the ‘noise pollution,’ the dimly lit dining area or the small print on the menus. I know this because, in an admitted error of judgment, I took my folks here and they did not share the same enthusiasm as I did for this rockin’ establishment.
Now, the above is not to exclude any cool oldies that can take a bit of darkness and volume. If you fall into this category I highly recommend the Saxon for its groovin’ atmosphere, scrumptious food — particularly their flat-​base pizzas, and the top service. The waitress there reintroduced me to an 80s cocktail classic, the Southside, that has since been a favourite of mine.
Saxon is best for drinks and dinners with a large-​ish group of mates, or a great place to start a night out. I haven’t yet ventured to the Saxon during the day but I’m sure it’s just as delightful with a great outdoor area.