Brighton Hotel Motel — Hotel in Hobart

I recently dined at the Brighton Hotel Motel, and while the venue itself made a good first impression, clean and tidy throughout, the overall experience was unfortunately disappointing. Ordering at the bar, I immediately felt like an inconvenience rather than a welcomed guest. The service lacked warmth, which set a negative tone early on. That said, my order, two mains and a garlic cob loaf was entered correctly into the system, which was one of the few positives.

The garlic cob loaf, served as a starter, was a decent portion for $12. However, the garlic butter tasted like it had been made with jarred minced garlic rather than fresh ingredients. The bread itself was fine, but overall, the dish felt underwhelming. I'd rate it a 5/10.

For my main, I chose the Swiss Chicken, described on the menu as a chicken breast topped with bacon, cheese, and a creamy Dijon mustard sauce, served with chips and salad. Unfortunately, what arrived didn't quite live up to the description.

Starting with the positives: the portion size was generous and served on a plate. The salad consisted of just lettuce and cucumber with a vinaigrette, not unpleasant, but it bordered more on garnish than a proper side.

The chips were disappointing, stuck together and bland, likely reheated rather than freshly cooked. The chicken itself appeared to have been pre-cooked and reheated; it lacked moisture and flavour. The sauce was gloopy and reminded me more of jelly than any kind of creamy Dijon mustard. The bacon, diced and mixed through the sauce, appeared microwaved, it looked undercooked but was hot. I couldn't detect any mustard flavour at all. At $31, the Swiss Chicken was particularly poor value. I'd give it a 1/10.

To be fair, the menu makes no claims about meals being freshly cooked, but that shouldn’t be an excuse for such a lacklustre offering. Would I return to the Brighton Hotel Motel for a meal, NO. Please note that this reflects my personal experience and may not represent the typical quality...

The wait staff were pleasant. Overall, a slightly less than ordinary pub meal. Typical 'family friendly atmosphere'. Certainly nothing special. Traditionally I'm a lover of pub food, but I left disappointed. I didn't go there expecting fine dining BUT..

Not sure why the chips were a radioactive yellow. I could see everybody's in the restaurant were like it? Can't understand why the chef thought that was ok to serve them that way? Maybe a special oil? Certainly didn't do anything for the flavour, they were pretty ordinary. Another grumble I took with my meal was since when did people become so lazy or unskilled the tartar sauce is OK to be served in little sachets. Also ordinary! The specials board is normally an option to choose something cheaper or to entice you to have something 'special' you wouldn't normally have. On this particular night each dish was very expensive and none of the dishes seemed 'special'. My date had the fisherman's basket, which basically equated to selection of crumbed goodies purchased from the frozen food section at the supermarket. Ordinary. One more thing, that wasn't a salad. That is a small dish of garnish passed off as a salad. ...

My review is on the dining, not the motel/rooms, as we did not stay here.

Food was on table within minutes of ordering, clearly they were pre-plated and warmed ready to be able to have been served so soon. Despite this the roast was delicious.

Kitchen staff/waitresses/waiters lacking, very understaffed. There was a Christmas function in the function room and only one poor waitress to serve the people attending this along with all of the patrons in the regular dining area. Poor girl was run off her feet trying to do the work that actually required at least 3 wait staff minimum.

Bar staff standing around doing nothing where they could have been utilised in dining area. Makes sense when the bar is not busy!

By the time another waitress was called in we had been waiting an hour for our dessert(which we never received)so we packed up our plates, delivered to kitchen area and simply left.

Clearly the restaurant/hospitality manager is inadequate and not organising their staff properly to run the dining and function area smoothly.

We felt sorry for the waitress, she was doing a wonderful job with no support and had too many tables to...