Franklin Wharf Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Hobart

Fresh Tasmanian produce cooked well with good size portions, my tummy is still smiling!

On the first mouthful of Paris mash and whilst lingering on the last, for a moment I was transported back to Marque IV, for those who don’t know, Marque IV was an amazing award winning waterfront restaurant “circa 2000 ish” headed by Paul Foreman, the food was nothing short of sensational, signature dishes left you coming back again and again, the food really was that good !

Back to last night, the welcoming from each staff member was very warm, we were looked after by Rahoul and Jason for food and drinks, 5 star service from both. We started with the pizza bread which was no ordinary run of the mill bit of dough with garlic butter slapped on it ! It was so good, we had to slow down ! Scallops in the shell for entree, fresh, plump and very tasty, just as Tassie scallops should be when cooked properly. My friend and I were torn between two dishes so to enjoy the best of both worlds we decided to share and ordered, ” Macadamia and Crab Crusted Whitefish with an orange, brandy and lemon Myrtle Cream Sauce and “Earth” a delicious, cooked to ordered perfection, eye fillet with peppercorn sauce. The fish, omg … fresh, light, perfect and the crust, yes there was crab and yes there were macadamias, the whole dish was like a choir singing effortlessly in the mouth whilst you were silently clapping for an encore ! “Earth” did not disappoint, the steak had been thoughtfully cooked to a specific request of a fussy eater and it arrived on point, not just slapped on a grill with a she’ll be right mate attitude. Both dishes came with the delectable Paris mash, snow peas and green peas. (My fingers may have landed on my plate towards the end of the meal to get that bit of mash with sauce you can’t elegantly scrape up with a fork, it was that good !

No surprise from the outstanding quality of each meal we ordered, that Franklin Wharf Restaurant is under the guidance of our very own Paul Foreman ! The food is sensational, probably the best in Hobart right now. But there’s another ingredient that makes dining here enjoyable, it’s the “care factor” that shone through in the service, well...

Went here for dinner on recommendation from a few people.

Probably the worst part of the trip.

Ordered a chai, which took 45 minutes after asking for it and being told 'the printer wasn't working'

Ordered the garlic pizza and charred octopus for entre, this only took 20 minutes to come, which wasn't too bad. The garlic pizza was outstanding, where as the octopus was well over cooked, rubbery and most of it inedible. Disappointing.

Mains took over 50 minutes to come and again, had to chase it to which we were told "Oh I'll check and get them to push it through" This was concerning given the mains were a slow cooked pork belly and a fisherman's basket-esk dish.

The pork rind was over salted and not edible due to sheer amount of sodium used to try and get it to crackle when being "rushed through", again very disappointed. The seafood basket was oily and not at all appetizing. The "fresh prawns" were frozen in the middle and had obviously been soaked in water, removing all taste, leaving a tough, cold tasteless resemblance of something that was once desirable. The fish filets were over cooked and under seasoned and tasted of oil that was not hot enough to deep fry in.

When ordering drinks for dinner, when paying, the server simply said "tip" without looking up it really engaging at all, which I found off putting.

When the mains were served we were offered a complimentary wine as means of apo llogy for the lateness of the meals. Which given the entire experience was not a satisfactory gesture, however better than just being asked for a tip.

Overall, the meals were late, tasteless or inedible, the drinks took a long time to come, the services was not what you would expect from a waterfront restaurant that was not busy.

The most favourable part of the whole evening was the gentleman playing his guitar and singing some absolute bangers, he was friendly and brought warmth to the evening. I'd go again for the music but wouldn't stay...

The atmosphere was great, but the major downfall was the food.

Went in for lunch with my partner about a week ago and ordered the classic burger on a gluten-free bun with a side of gluten-free fries. I informed the waitress that I was coeliac and she assured me that she would let the kitchen know.

The food came out surprisingly fast and tasted like an average pub meal. The burger was made with a gluten-free bun, however, the meal was most definitely NOT gluten-free.

Later that evening I began feeling extremely unwell, and as the night went on I progressively got worse.

A day or two later I called up Franklin Wharf asking to speak to the manager to express my concerns about such a potentially dangerous mistake. The manager was apparently not there at the time so I left my concerns with the waitress that answered the phone. The waitress asked if I would like to leave my name and number so the manager could call me back once they were in, and I agreed. She then proceeded to hang up without taking my details so I have not received a call back.

It has been almost a week since eating at Franklin Wharf and I have not been able to eat a full meal since then. My stomach is aching and bloated, I feel constantly sick, and I have not been this fatigued since the last time I ate food that had been cross-contaminated. My day-to-day life has been severely impacted, and things that should not take much effort are taking an exponential amount.

If you have coeliac or are gluten intolerant, please be weary when...