Bar Nacional - Melbourne

On the way home from work on a Friday a friend and I dropped in for drinks.Happy hours starts at 4pm and there are limited choices in the bar for $6. (2 beer options and red and white wine). Tapas is available.There is seating indoors and outdoors and gets very busy on a Friday afternoon.Just a short stroll up the road to Southern Cross Station to get home.

To put my review into context, my comments are based on four visits, all for morning coffee and/or toast.On a positive note, the coffee is superb, as good as I've had around here. Decor/music is good and generally a nice atmosphereSadly a couple of negatives that may drive me further afield...Staff - plenty of them but mostly surly and uninterested. Tipping point just reached today as I wandered into during a quiet spell. Young blonde lady took a minute or two of doing nothing before acknowledging me. She then completely ignored my "good morning, how are you?". She then decided to clean some more before making the coffee. We both stood in silence. The coffee was quite literally dumped in front of me without a word. Charming. A word of advice to this young lady and a couple of the others I've encountered. If you cannot be bothered smiling and even passing the most basic of pleasant exchanges then perhaps a career in the service industry is not for you. Fruit Toast - large slices but needs to be made in a toaster not on a hot plate. Prices - $12 for large coffee and toast ! I was paying $6.90 last week at a different venue. Sorry folks, with many other options around I think I'll look elsewhere for food, coffee and a welcome.

Great bar in a prime location. It can get very busy especially with the further office space in the towers at Collins Square coming online. It is located next to one of the main thoroughfares from Collins Street to the foyer of Collins Square. When it is at its most busy, on a Thursday and Friday nights, it does overflow significantly. Considering the dearth of other options currently available around this area of Docklands it would be strange if it was not ultra-busy during times of peak demand. I should mention they also a tapas menu and the food whilst a little pricey for the portions (all Australian tapas tends to be too expensive) it is very tasty.

Came here last Friday night and tried their feed me menu. Plenty of food and we were very full! Let me see if I can remember all the dishes we had!Marinated olives: 5/5Chartecurie Platter: 3/5About 4 types of cured meat with some picked garlic and three slices of crisp bread. Obviously, room for improvement to add more accompaniments.Chorizos: 4/5Better quality bread could improve the dish.Potato croquettes: 3/5A bit runny inside and the potatoes needed more seasoning as they are quite bland. However, well deep fried and crispy on the outside. Paella: 2/5Came out burnt in parts with broken pieces of mussels shell on the rice. Zuchinni salad: 3/5Not well mixed with lumps of zuchinni slices stuck together without the salad dressing being mixed through.Salmon: 3/5Not a fan of fully cooked salmon without any sauce as I find it too dry.Orange creme brulee: 4/5Really good creme brulee but not a fan of the orange flavourService: 4/5Order and pay at the counter service. Price: 1/5Came to over $100+ for two people. Overall: 3.2/5

Good place for either a quick lunch and tapas or drinks after work. The staff are always helpful with the menu and prompt with service