Rita received the email below about the new venue at New Town:
"The Grain is lovely inside. You feel like you are going somewhere a bit special without feeling like you have to dress up (a vital ingredient for my full enjoyment). Mum reckons it was the nicest steak she has had (mind you the steak was $38)."
So - that sounds heartening. If someone else gets out there before I do, can they please tell us about it?
Monday, 20 April 2009
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29 comments:
I hear it has been started by the guy who owns Pure South in Melbourne - the tasmanian produce based restaurant at Southbank. Apparently Tony has returned to Tasmania to support the industry and set Tasmania up on the world stage in terms of culinary deliverance... i say support him!
TJ
We were going to go opening night, but decided against it (I cant remember why, I think it was the fact I was tired as). Hope to try it as soon as this Rep run at the Playhouse is over.
I thought it was the Dukkah/Salt etc mob who opened it...
I thought the people who owned Pure South Melb also had another venue in the Southgate complex that was just closed down. GFC claims another venue.
Will have to go check out this Grain.
I'm thinking it is the guy previously from "Say Cheese". - Gabby?
The Pure South guys have moved on
dave
The Grain plot thickens!
It's the salt guys.
speaking of new(ish) establishments... the menu at mojo has changed with the new ownership and has a much more asian influence (not surprisingly). Also, the menu header says 'infusion' so perhaps a name change is imminent as well?
However, i note that their lunch menu still includes a burger, and lasagne options and wonder if they kept them there to cater for the vaucluse residents?
Yes, Anon 9.19, I was thinking along the same lines! Must go and try the new menu soon. But I haven't yet seen any sign of the takeaway option that Rita mentioned in her news item about the sale of Mojo's.
Follow-up to the above posts on Mojo - it is now officially Infusion, I saw the new signage yesterday!
The waitress at the maypole before it got closed for renovations said 2 guys from Sydney bought the place and we're making it into a steak restaurant, plus had designs to put accommodation out the back where the carpark is.
$$$$$$$$$ halo halo too expencive
We ate at The Grain last week and it was fantastic...renovated perfectly with a great vibe, amazing food with some intense flavours and cant go past the service, this is by far the best dining experience I have had in Tassie for a long time. And as for the prices we thought they were very reasonable - its quality food and service worth every cent. Oh and by the way, it is definitely the boys from Dukkah and Salt... no Sydney or Melbourne buyers as suggested!
That last comment HAS to be from the owners!
Comment definitely not from owners, just someone who appreciates great food and ambience, doesnt mind paying for it & then sharing the experience with others. Actually we are expats visiting Hobart & googled somewhere to eat. Found this blog site & just decided to check it out. The FOH staff filled us in on their story which is how I know about Salt etc. Why do people have to think that any positive feedback must be from an owner?? I thought the whole idea of a blog/review was to share your thoughts...silly me.
Yep. Sure. There is also a tooth fairy.
Anon 9.44 - I believe that you are merely a happy diner there and not an owner. (I would also love to believe in the tooth fairy, especially since reading my grandchildren a story about the tooth fairy a few hours ago.)
But I truly think it's better to provide compliments than criticism if you can, so applaud you. I received a lovely email the other day from Exec Chef at Grand Chancellor in Launceston thanking me for my post about the yummy meal I had there last Thursday, and agreeing that people rarely give positive feedback but are always more than happy to criticise - so you see we're both doing well with the positivity!
Could not agree more Rita. Im a big believer in feedback and its nice to be able to be positive where you can. This was actually our first meal out in Tassie having been overseas mainly in third world countries. We saw how challenging their lives are on a daily basis and what they have to go through just to physically get food,let alone cook it. I am so much more appreciative of the variety of beautiful fresh Australian produce & flavours of the food we are lucky enough to enjoy...that obviously came through in my comments! How fabulous that the Exec Chef took the time to email you... its the little things that count sometime!
Could not agree more Rita. Im a big believer in feedback and its nice to be able to be positive where you can. This was actually our first meal out in Tassie having been overseas mainly in third world countries. We saw how challenging their lives are on a daily basis and what they have to go through just to physically get food,let alone cook it. I am so much more appreciative of the variety of beautiful fresh Australian produce & flavours of the food we are lucky enough to enjoy...that obviously came through in my comments! How fabulous that the Exec Chef took the time to email you... its the little things that count sometime!
That made me laugh! Of course it would be good after eating in third world countries! yep I'll bet thats a comparison the Maypole owners would love!
Anon June 6 - you have really missed the point. Cant be bothered entering into any debate about it. I have written my comments and stand by them. Unfortunate that you seem to take such a pessimistic view on things. Enjoy Burger King...at least you know what you get there.
My partner and I tried to go here for dinner last night at 7pm without a booking, and were told (very apologetically) there'd be no tables free until at least 8.30pm. Sure it was a Saturday night, but they must be doing something right! Many places in North Hobart were half empty as we drove through to Royal Thai...
Good write up in todays paper, no matter how you look at it.
Solves the riddle of who is running it anyway.
I'm looking forward to going.
The scotch fillet for two sounds good to us!
We finally dined at The Grain on Wednesday night. Very, very nice.
Three of use chose a steak, cooked three different ways, medium, medium to well and well done. They were all cooked to perfection with plenty of flavour.
Sue had a dukkah crusted salmon and declared it so lovely she wanted to lick the plate. Trace had slow cooked lamb shoulder, and as she's not a big eater we all got to try. I found this to be amazing. No need for a knife and barely had to chew. It was so lovely and tender. Full of flavour I declared it better than the steak!
The atmosphere was lovely and warm, the bar area too.
A great job has been done.
Staff were friendly and knew what they were doing.
Our only let down was the potato dish. Described as Potato Gratin, it probably was, but it contained finely shredded potato and was not to any of our liking I'm a potato freak and even I left half.
I just didn't like the texture of the dish.
Next time I'll have the chips!
Over all a welcome addition to our area.
I agree about the potato gratin.. its really bad. Beautiful front bar enviroment.. lovely staff/busy place. Steak ok personally the presentation is average (my opinion). Great wine recommendation at $38 when they could have sold us a $60 bottle....
I went to the Grain last night for a Christmas function. The food was lovely (I had the slow cooked lamb thanks to the comment left on this forum) and service fast. We did encounter a problem however, we made a booking for 20 people and two people didn't show. This is quite a normal practice so when it came to paying the bill, we were shocked when the waitstaff told us we had to pay $35/seat for the people who didn't show. We objected of course as most of our meals didn't even cost that much and the amount of money the 18 people who did turn up spent would have probably reached $1000. After much discussion with them they "waived" the charges. How ridiculous! Anyway, this is just a warning that if you make a booking, please make sure everyone turns up or you may just find yourselves in this same situation...
Last anon, its not a ridiculous situartion for the restaurant in question.
Last night we had a booking of 33. On the night 22 turned up. No explanation was give even though they had confirmed numbers the day before. We turned three tables away, two fours & a two because we were full & had allocated them the extra table. Had the large party informed us that their number had dropped considerably we could have recouped. Instead I had to pay the wages for an extra staff member who wasn't needed.
I dont think that is polite nor fair behaviour.
I have eaten at the grain now on several occassions. I have had the steak every time and it has been cooked to perfection each time. The wait staff are very polite and friendly. As previouly metioned, my ONLY let down was the potato gratin, pleased to say it has been modified-still the same name- and is now very nice. Owners should be proud. As for the booking of 20 and 18 turning up, did you look at things from a business sense. I went out the other night with 10 people and cost over $1000, so $1000 for 18..... sounds cheap to me, go to china diner next time!
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