Hotel Nacional

Google Reviews (Keywords: Gluten, Celiac/Coeliac, Vegan, Dairy)

Reviewer: Candice Shields
Date: 2024-09-01
Rating: 5/5
Review: Fully gluten free menu, which is a great start. Couple that with frozen margaritas, spicy margs and fresh share - style plates, you've got a good thing going. However, the kingfish ceviche for $27 was a very small portion and $13 for one prawn tostada also didn't feel like very good value. Layout, seating, rooftop and staff were all gorgeous but pricing didn't feel like good value.

Reviewer: Jasmine (Jas.eats)
Date: 2024-08-02
Rating: 3/5
Review: ORDERED: 🥑 Guacamole, coriander, pico de gallo, corn chips ($16.00) 🐟 Kingfish, ceviche, jalapeno, tomatillo, shallot, platain crisp ($27.00) 🌮 Baja rockling, fennel slaw, chipotle aioli (1 per serve) ($9.00) 🌮 Birria braised beef, grilled cheese, pickled onion, consomme (2 per serve) ($18.00) 🥩 Slow cooked barbacoa lamb, sweet potato, Mexican bbq sauce, green olive, onion ($40.00) 🥬 Mixed lettuce, queso, vegan fetta, corn chips (v) ($12.00) 🍟 Mexican fries, tajin, salt(v) ($12.00) ~$51.67pp REVIEW: 🌾 I appreciated that all the food in Hotel Nacional was gluten free. This was perfect for our 3 year old gluten-free toddler who got his hands into and wanted to try everything. ❤ The baja rockling was the table favourite! ❤ Big crunchy fish, bright crispy salad, eye catching sauce and tanginess from the lemon - it was delicious. We could've done 2 each of these! Overall, the food was decent. It's hard to go wrong with guacamole, ceviche and good fish tacos. ❌ In saying that, my least favourite was the lamb. One portion of this serves ~4 people and was incredibly gamey. I didn't enjoy this as much, because it felt like just a really big thick slab of lamb. 🤼 In terms of the service, it was great at the start. Friendly brunette waitress and really accommodating to the toddler at our table (e.g. fries without tajin because it could be too spicy). Until we finished our tacos we almost had our plates packed away... luckily they checked with us first to see if we had any dishes remaining? Yes. The lamb, lettuce and fries. It took forever to come out and I almost cancelled our order so we could move elsewhere. I didn't have any issues with the noise level (downstairs, table of 6 adults). ➡ All in all, interior is gorgeous, service was friendly and the location is accessible from Melbourne Central. However, there's definitely some areas of improvement in the timeliness of food.