Ball & Chain Grill - Salamanca — Restaurant in Hobart

You might know Salamanca for its massive market but have you ever discovered the mouthwatering meats hidden in its sandstone walls? Look out for Ball and Chain Grill's narrow entrance because you'll venture into a restaurant that is more capacious than what's on the outside. The immaculate atmosphere balances tranquil fine dining with a backyard barbecue with their billowing grill and dry-aged meats on full display. The service fully embodies the local warmth with ebullient larrikin characters that accommodate you with sophistication and politeness. As Sydney-siders, we definitely let our guards down and got comfortable once welcomed into Ball and Chain.

For the entrees, we indulged in the Tasmanian scallops baked in a sweet chilli mornay sauce. Never would I've thought that sweet and spicy would meld well with cream but it's a new tasty revelation I'm all for. Layers of the perfectly cooked scallops unfold and envelop itself with the milky yet zesty mornay with a slight saltiness oozing from the melted cheese.

The cheesy surge keeps flowing with lavish pork and cheese croquettes. Prepare yourself for a savoury explosion of cheddar and crispy bacon once you delve into the crunchy exterior, fried golden enough to challenge the Sun. Dipping one into the aioli further intensifies the creamy deliciousness with a garlic heat.

For a taste of homegrown ingredients without going full circle around the island, the Tasmanian farmers plate is an exquisite and exhaustive exhibit of pork porterhouse, dry aged beef porterhouse skewer, braised wagyu beef shin, beef sausage and lamb cutlet. The best cut on the plate was undoubtedly the beef shin. One poke with the fork and the braised beef gracefully collapses, the rich marinade infusing the fatty meat imparting me a glimpse of heaven. The pork is delectably succulent after having kissed the grill with a flavourful smokiness from its brown stripes. I was looking forward to their homemade beef sausage but was bewildered by its gritty texture. Its granules of eccentric spices and minced meat failed to cohere, raising the question of what it was supposed to be in the first place. The beef skewer was a tad tough and lacking in seasoning compared to its peers. I also wasn't keen on the lamb as it was too gamey for my liking but I understand that they're aiming to highlight the unadulterated essence of the meat.

But any dissatisfaction with the doneness of the meat is completed nullified once it is laced with their magic sauce. The velvety red jus has profound dark and fruity tang that seeps through the meat, releasing its valuable juices. I could live off drinking their red jus alone, no kidding.

You'll never tire of the diversity of meats but the sides are equally scrumptious in getting some veggies into your diet. Listed as "creamy mash", I got a pretty dollop that was exactly that, but they forgot to add "fantastic" to it. The sauerkraut was also a great addition with its acidity enabling the taste buds to have one-on-ones with each dense bite of meat without muddling the different flavours.

Ball and Chain certainly puts an exclamation mark on the end of meat along with emphasising the unrivalled brilliance of Tasmanian produce. The same respect for the diners is given to the food and I'll have to say, the respect between me and Ball and...

Friendly service, and delicious Tasmanian Pinot noir (glass 12$, served under the reference line level, not generous) , I waited only 6 minutes on a Monday night, for a rumpsteak. I was just walking on the street and I came there today as I have seen the matured beef at the entrance. I have asked if it was 2 weeks maturation and the boss told me 9 weeks !!! So exceptional! The 300g eye fillet was cooked well, (asked rare), all good but wasn't the tastiest steak I've had in the last year by any means (France, Argentina). The problem of communication and understanding as the chief boss told me dry-age matured beef of 9 weeks!!! (5 weeks on the fridge, and 4 weeks in the mature room), so as I am a fan of these kind of tasty matured meat , but the color meat was very red and not matured more than 10 days. Contrary at what has been said, It was not the same beef as in the entrance matured box room . That’s the only problem for me. It was important as I choose only selected beef and usually eat it ecologically, just once every 15 days. I came there only to taste this matured beef.

The accompanying pickled cabbage, 1 black carrot, potatoes gratin dauphinois, asparagus, brocoli were all nice, if not a little light in their serving size.

Hardly could ask for a piece of a natural bread, but they brought me a slice of unfresh bread from 2 days ago, not fresh, and they billed 6$ for it !

Overall, a nice meal, but disappointed by the maturation of the beef. A twenty days maturation beef should smell very strong and the color is not red but darker. So 4 weeks maturation should be more, and it wasn’t. If I would have known, I...

Ridiculous place, I came three times in 6 months and kinda as a regular customer I guess, but this time's experience really may put me away and will never come back again, neither will recommend to my friends.

Started with me and my husband ordering a main dish and an entree, a waitress called echo came to serve us. She told us that only the person who order the main dish can use the salad bar, or there will be $10 extra. We agreed that only my husband will go get salad as he is the one ordering the main dish( in fact we are sharing everything but it's fine as we knew the rules before plus I paid no interest to the salad bar anyway). So far it's fine. But what happened next really pissed me off.

My husband went to get some salad for himself, it's echo again, at the salad bar, told him, that "only you can eat this salad, if we see her eating from your plate then it's gonna be a charge."

What the... it's like if she is so sure that I'm gonna eat that salad, it's almost like if we are treated as a kind of thieves and being warned that they will keep an eye on us.

This place is not a $10 $15 fast food place, it is a proper fine dining restaurant, you don't expect a service like this, eating while being warned. Doesn't matter about the food quality anymore, we lost the mood of enjoying the place already, I don't know if the manager told all the waiters and waitresses to do it so or just that waitress decided to do it so.

I hope we are the only people who experienced that. So far, one...