Despite my disappointment with the cheap dinner at the Rochester Castle, I was fairly confident that my half price dinner at the Builders’ Arms Hotel (211 Gertrude St, Fitzroy) was going to be less of a compromise. And it was. I ordered fish and chips, and despite seemingly being downsized to reflect the $11 (normally $22) price tag, particularly the fish fillet, the quality was still there. The fish tasted fresh, and the batter was perfectly crisp.
My girlfriend ordered a beetroot and feta salad ($8), which wasn’t up to the same standard. The feta didn’t to be particularly good quality, and the flavours were not particularly interesting. You can certainly get better at Alimentari down the road for a similar price.
Another thing to watch out for, the half priced offer (Mondays only) only apply to meals priced $22 or less, which rules out some of the more interesting and substantial offerings.
My housemates and visited builders on a half price Monday a couple of weeks ago. Service was terrible to start with and then our order got lost while our waiter blamed us for the confusion. At least someone else come over to placate us with a free round of drinks (we were up to about our 4th by this stage we had been waiting so long). When our food came out it came one dish at a time, so one of us ate then the next dish came out then they ate and then the final dish came out. Despite this the food was fantastic and portions were fine on the night we went (just the service that lacked)