Not to be confused with Fish xyz ... Restaurant 373 is a newbie in North Hobart in the old Lickerish spot next to the State Cinema.
That's right. Black Pepper has gone.
Restaurant 373 opened last week and we managed to stumble in spontaneously (see, this is how being a last-minute-larry can work in your favour). Menu was enticing and not too pricey (pork bellies, scallop risotto, kangaroo, and so on). Mains were under $30. Wine list was well put together and reasonably priced. Decor: Dark and moody with splashes of deep red. Service was personal and attentive, if a little too on the "everything ok?" side of things - but they've just opened and are naturally keen to see that all is as it should be.
Best of all ... we were surprised by their very generous take on the 'amuse-bouche' so popular in New York (yeah, as if I'd know). We sat, we drank, we ordered entree and mains. Out came a little plate with skinny bread sticks and olives. How pleasant. We drank some more. Then came some little bread rolls with some white bean dip. Nice. Then came an outstanding consomme of roast tomato with a disc of minted jelly (best stirred through we were advised). THEN came our entree and then our main (nicely timed, good portions). We drank some more and contemplated dessert (I really do promise it's unusual for me to have dessert!). Anyway, to my surprise, out came a little shot glass of a delicious little white frangelico thingy that wasn't a pannacotta and wasn't a mousse, but somewhere in between. THEN came our desserts.
Oh my lord, when they say soft-centred chocolate pudding, they really mean SOFT-CENTRED DEATH BY CHOCOLATE!
Anyway, putting my tongue back in my head for a minute, Restaurant 373 is very keen to provide a wonderful dining experience in the North Hobart strip. Picking up where Lickerish left off, they are having a damn good stab at it. It's early days, but all indicators are that they are on the right track.
Hurrah!
10 comments:
Sweet - somewhere to take the parents when they arrive on Tuesday. My dad mourned the closing of Lickerish....so hopefully this will cheer him up!
Georgie, its Restaurant 373 - as I found out when I couldnt find it in the white pages.
Yes, just realised that myself. Hmmm, human after all, eh?
GW
Yup - and once again spot on with your review. We went last night...drool worthy and equal to Gondwana in the dining experience.
Is zelda affiliated with gondwana?
No...but I will take any such discount as may be applicable for promotional purposes! ;-)
Did it last night and found to be acceptably pleasant. Howevere, my pork belly was dry and the was a waaaay too long wait between entrees and mains. We weren't to only to suffer, there was real tension amongst diners as they waited and waited. Giving them a chance, as I like to do, I asked the Mate-D if there was anything unusual about this evening and the way things were running. He said No, so I had to ask, "so, is this the level of service I am to expect each time I come here?" his face dropped a little when he realised he had to say yes, but then decided to qualify it by saying that a lot of people had all come at once.
My experience at 373 was v.good (I rate it maybe just a trifle better than my favourite, Gondwana (admittedly a very personal and subjective rating scale).
I agree that the wait between entre and main was just a bit too long - not enough that I thought about complaining, but it had me wanting to check my watch.
I think the little aperitifs they bring out between courses helps to cut down on the 'standing in a queue' feeling, but then again, so does the company you have.
I'm hanging out for an excuse to go back, as I think 373 could become a standout restaurant in Hobart. They get extra points for the interesting menu.
My partner and i went to 373 recently and found it great, and i'm a little puzzled by what a acceptable waiting period is between entree and mains, when i've dined in europe the wait is 40 mins+ but have never complained as i always have interesting company and the food( which at 373 was pretty good for a place only opened for less than a month) adds to my night, the wait would have been 30 mins but my waitress told me that the table is ours for as long as we wont they dont want to get rid of us to turn the table over and we got there at 6.15pm so didn't really care, did you tell the "mate-D" that you were in a rush?
Sounds good. I am off to Tassie soon so might have to check the place out especially if all the chocolate stuff is as good as you say it is.
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