La Mensa — Restaurant in Hobart

Was with four other people and was disappointed in another restaurant being shut for the night and another having outrageous prices. Friend in the party does a quick Google, settled on this establishment.

From outside, seems like a cheap enough place, looks funky, a bit of Italian glow. Walked inside to find it a bit tacky, early 2000s, a little dated.

Ordered our meals, picked a chicken parmigiana and a cider, why not? Australian pub meal and a brewed apple beverage in a tacky Italian restaurant, a time honoured classic.

Waited a decent while, all but one meal to the table was served, to find out they didn’t even enter said meal for the kitchen to make, yet took all but 8 minutes to dish up and serve when the other meals took near 30-40 minutes to come out.

Parmigiana was a bit sad, bland enough flavour in the sauce that I could taste the oil from the melted cheese, chips that were definitely frozen and from the oven in a ramekin next to the parmi, and a seasonal salad described as the coles special. I nearly grieved for how they desecrated a great Aussie meal.

Others at the table also developed depression from their meals despite some of them already being clinically depressed. Sorry but I think a happy meal from maccas on the way home is more flavourful.

Prices were eye watering even after the meals got us crying, I recommend having tissues ready for how much eye juice you’re gonna let out swiping your card.

I’ll need a stiff drink to forget...

A bit of a mixed experience. The first table we sat at was near a really large group of kids and their parents at the back of the restaurant which the waiter told me was an unbooked walk in. The level of noise made conversation really difficult so we asked to be moved which was no problem and swiftly done. However, I suspect because of this group, the floor was very understaffed and it was 20 mins between receiving our drink order and me having to wave over a waiter to take our food order. He was really nice, but evidently under the pump and running around. Our food came out and it was tasty and generous portions. We ordered some more drinks which took quite a while to come out and when they did, the waitress spilled the bottle of beer over my wife's cardigan and all down the back of my jacket which was on the back of the chair. She was really flustered and came back with a wet towel to mop the floor. She apologised and I went to get some serviettes to dry our clothes. She then went off to serve food elsewhere and I had to go and ask for a replacement beer. I am sure on a different night, we would have and a much better experience but I was disappointed that there was no gesture like taking the beer off the bill to acknowledge the spillage. I feel for the staff as they were run...

DAIRY FREE REVIEW

Jeez where do I start. Called in ahead of dinner to ask if they had any dairy free options (as nothing was mentioned in the menu) and was reassured that vegan cheese was available for anything on the menu. Sweet no problem!

Well, things were not that simple. Apparently they use dairy in all their normal pizza bases (which are all crummy premades instead of being made with fresh dough on site) and that the gluten free option (only available in medium) was the only dairy free option. Ok, guess I'll have a smaller pizza today, no big issue, I guess.

Then this thing in the picture rolls out. We honestly thought that the huge chunks of cheese were potato chips and that there wasn't any cheese at all.

The chef couldn't even be bothered grating the vegan cheese? Is my dietary requirement that much of a problem for you that you need to make a joke through my food's presentation?

Needless to say my whole experience was reduced to bitterness, frustration and exclusion. Pretty par the coarse with these family restaurants that are always tone death to anyone's needs that differ from the norm.

If you're looking for a good pizza joint that cares about what you can or can't eat, give Pep Pizza or Local Pizza a...