The Empress Hotel

Located in the north of the city in Nicholson village, The Empress is a solid, reliable place to have a drink or two and a meal. We’ve eaten here two or three times now, and it’s a local drinking place as well. Staff are friendly, food is good and there’s a decent craft beer selection here. What lets it down slightly is the atmosphere — it feels somewhat lacking, as if the venue can’t quite figure out if it wants to be a grunge-​style pub or cater to diners, and it tries to do both. That’s fine — there’s nothing especially wrong with The Empress, but it’s one of those places that feels like it’s not quite realising it’s full potential.

When I first arrived in Melbourne this was one of those really cool grunge bars that would have live music, however it ended up closing down which really disappointed me because I actually quite liked the place. Anyway, one week a friend of my suggested we all go out for dinner, and picked this place, and it wasn’t until I arrived that I realised that this was that old grunge bar, only that it wasn’t all that grungy any more. Okay, while it has changed itself I still quite like the place. The staff were friendly, and they have a pretty decent beer garden. In fact it looks like it has cleaned itself up quite a lot, not that the old grunge feel was all that bad. I still like the place though and I suspect we’ll find ourselves back here for dinner in the not too distant future.

The Empress is a small, unobtrusive looking place on the corner of Nicholson and Scotchmeyer streets in Melbourne.
I decided to treat myself to dinner and ordered the Chicken Parma. $ 24.50 is pretty steep in Melbourne when you consider that almost every pub has a $ ¹⁰⁄₁₅ parma night.
The quality, however, gives this place real value.
Perfectly done golden and crispy potatoes? Check.
Prosciutto topped moist chicken breast (and decently sized)? Check.
Salad with the perfect tart vinaigrette? Check.
Fast service? Check.
Lovely friendly staff? Check.
I was in heaven. Definitely recommended. I’ll be back to try the other meals.

We popped into the Empress for a casual weeknight family meal recently, and were fairly happy with the experience. On the ‘pro’ side, the menu was interesting, and three of the four of us went for the burger special du jour ($ 15 for a burger and a pot). The burgers were great. The menu also featured a few pub classics like chicken parma, and some fairly standard kids’ options. The prices seemed a little on the high side, so I doubt if we’d eat here often, but look out for the specials and you’ll do well. One more on the ‘con’ side: The chairs in the dining room were a little schoolroom-​ish, so not that comfortable.

The Empress (more like Impress, amirite?!) has relaunched this year with new beers, a new menu and a rather ravishing facelift and should be at the top of your list (or at least in your top five) when it comes to a Sunday session.
For those that like craft beer you’ll be a happy chappy here. They have old favourites Mountain Goat and Vale Ale as well as a few newbies chucked in every now and then, most recently they had Moon Dog’s pine-​lime IPA tapped.
As I said, this is a great destination for a Sunday session, and therefore my menu knowledge is limited to a parma (deelish) and a bowl of chips (also deelish), AKA Sunday Session meals. However they do have a $ 10 Pizza night on Monday and a $ 15 Burger and a pot night on Wednesday, which I intend to check out shortly.
Their courtyard is decked out with astroturf and some admirable foliage but be warned, it can feel a bit like a peak-​hour tram in summer. Packed. If sun is what you’re after, try nabbing one of the outdoor seats on Scotchmer Street, you might have more luck plus more fresh air.
All in all, a great spot to watch the footy and share a couple of jugs with good mates.

Love the new version of the Empress. As well as an awesome craft beer selection the food is great too. There’s a beer garden out back and a few tables by the street. Staff friendly too.

The revamped venue is lovey. I wasn’t a fan of the pervious version, but is is great. It has a sparse décor with simple furniture leaving it bright (but not too bright) and roomy.
There’s an outdoor space internally which is great and very popular, as well as seating out on the street.
The beer selection on tap is excellent and the staff is friendly. Feral hop hog is always his fav and Mountain goat summer ale is one I like a lot.
The food is great. The menus has an Italia twist to dishes and the is really tasty. I had the carbonara with pancetta and he had a barramundi special. We were very pleased with our dishes. The cost wasn’t terrible either.