Mudbar Restaurant Launceston — Restaurant in Launceston

Located at the Old Launceston Seaport Marina - a sixty-berth marina that was transplanted from Rushcutters Bay after being constructed as The Olympic Yachting Centre for the 2000 Summer Olympics - the restaurant sits at the base of the Peppers Seaport Hotel. While the architecture isn’t anything remarkable, the darkened interior does keep guest attention focused on the floor to ceiling windows & the view.

Tasmania's bounty is a definite a menu focus here, so it’s hard to pass up a Martini ($19) made with a Tassy vodka or gin. The bar will make it just made just the way you like it (for me that’s dirty & extra dry) on the gin or vodka of your choosing - for me Hartshorn Sheep's Whey Gin. From their signature list, Aging Gracefully ($21), an aperitif that takes Ron Zacapa 23 Rum, orange cognac liqueur, aromatic bitters, smoked orange & rosemary & a squirt of Lagavulin’s sixteen-year-old whisky, proved a better oyster companion than the martini with its pine-like gin.

Looking a bit like a science experiment, the oyster shooters were actually the highlight of the Mixed Oyster Plate ($40/12). Rather than the ubiquitous Bloody Mary oyster shots, these oysters are immersed in the kitchen’s own wasabi reduction, which blends wasabi, soy, sakè & various spices. It’s my winner, though I appreciated getting to taste the Tassy Pacific oysters au natural, with a nahm jim vinaigrette, & finally with ponzu, pickled ginger & wakame, as I slurped my way around the plate.

Keeping my focus on Tasmanian produce, I opted to kick off my Two-Course ($60) meal with a Japanese sashimi plate. Arranged around a fairly bland bowl of sōmen noodles, are a row of thin slices of yuzu-seared beef & a colourful array of alternating fishes – yellowfin tuna and blue-eye trevalla – sitting in ponzu. While the ingredients are great, the fishes would have benefited from keener knife-work.

The Mudbarfarm lamb loin (from owner Doug Cameron's farm) & seared scallops felt like the kitchen just stuck a bunch of Tassy stuff that tastes really good on a plate – but who can argue with that? Scallops, in general, across Tasmania are about 3 times better than they are on the mainland, both in terms of flavour & texture. While I’m not quite convinced they meld well with lamb, both proteins are harmonious with the sweet (shiro) miso sauce, pork lardons, Japanese mint (shiso) & red yuzu; so it's a really tasty plate.

Centred around a mound of sticky rice, the blue mussel lemongrass curry bowl was my favourite mussel dish ever. Every mussel was open & perfectly cooked, taking away the usual diner indecision about whether to pry open a closed shell. The lively, Thai-style curry was made from scratch with whole spices, & when combined with briny mussel juices, it gave you an excellent reason to eat every mouthful of the clever sticky rice.

A prime yearling porterhouse steak (350g+) from the charcoal grill is well-cooked & tasty. It provides a perfect excuse to get amongst Mudbar’s excellent wine list, enhanced by Coravin technology, which allows you to taste some of the region’s pricier wines without shelling out for a bottle. While it’s the first time I’ve coughed up $60 for a glass of wine, I appreciated the opportunity to try the 2013 Glaetzer-Dixon ‘La Judith’ Pinot Noir ($62/150ml) from the Coal River Valley. The wine kicks off with blackberry & raisins; continuing with layers and layers of soft, unfolding texture over dry, lip-smacking acidity. There’s so much going on inside bottle number 434 (of the 574 winemaker Nick Glaetzer produced) it feels like a Sherlock Holmes mystery in a glass: tobacco, lead, leather & stuff I have yet to unravel. For contrast I drink a glass of the 2014 Bream Creek Pinot Noir ($14) that kisses you with dark cherries & chesterfield leather but feels hollow in the middle, & somewhat barbaric after La Judith.

Warm and personable service rounded out a great experience here that made me feel confident I'd selected the right place to dine. And, even with these indulgent wine blow-outs, the bill still scraped...

We two families with young kids went to this place for lunch with high expectations from all the great reviews and had the worst experience by far.

We went there very early around 11:30- 45 when the restaurant was not at all busy. One staff attended and ask us to wait in the waiting area near the bar while she makes a table for 8. After 10 mins, she came back and say you can have lunch at the waiting area or somewhere she pointed at dining area. Felt a bit odd but went ahead to sit at an empty table for 8 thinking that was setup for us. She rudely told us that table is already reserved and pointed to a table with bar stools or at the waiting area. She also ask us to order at the counter once we are ready. We ordered the food at counter and waited. Then we started to notice how they treat other diners so nicely. After we ordered, we ask the one waiter for water. He rudely pointed to some table say that is water station and get yourself. The same guy was literally standing next another table and topping up water every other min for other diners.

The food came and i have to sat food was nice even though the size is small compared to the price. While eating we were wondering why they treat us so differently than the rest. We had 2 year old in our group and keeping him at the bar stool was tricky while trying to eat.

After the meal, we decided to speak to the manager and ask him about the double standards. He said the table allocated to us where no service available and he did not have any crystal ball to see how much we going to spend. That was shocking. He also tried to say we need to book first next time and then he knows we are going to spend here.

The place was not at all busy at the time. The table they initially kicked us was not occupied until we left at least. Someone decided that this group is not going to spend ? No one told us the place is fully booked and we will not receive any service.

We have been to places where service is bad but this is different and very concerning. Two obviously different standards. Worst treatment to us while we watch them provide best service to others. Why?? It is NOT OKAY to treat anyone like this. I am sure all the five star rating you get are correct as we witnessed how you treat so called “premium “ customers.

This is end of 2023 and we are surprised that people still thinks okay to treat people differently based on whatever...

Much room for improvement of food and service

S41°25.980' E147°7.952' The Mudbar is the choice of eateries in the Seaport enclave. According to Lonely Planet, it offers superior Asian-inspired cuisine and wine from the girthsome list in its wine storage room.

The interior is more suited to a bar than a restaurant, hence the name Mudbar. The music was too loud to have a normal table conversation without shouting and did not fit a restaurant. The volume was turned down when this matter was raised with the waitress. She did not notice the difference between bar music and restaurant music. A more fundamental mistake was the absence of salt and pepper on the table. The advantage is that the waiter does not have to remove salt and pepper before serving dessert.

In February of 2020, we ordered from the interesting menu seared Wagyu Scotch fillet 320-gram (Marble 5+) lime, white pepper Bearnaise/Chou sum, ginger, morin sesame butter ($62). The meat was tender on the inside and of good taste, but on the outside too much charred. That deteriorates the taste. The ginger white fish, prawn, salmon/cheung fu noodle/fragrant lemongrass curry, cashew-peanut purée ($48) tasted good. Tasty lemongrass curry. We loved the side dish: roasted pumpkin wedge with buffalo curd, toasted pepitas and coriander ($9). In general, the chef knows how to prepare good dishes, but it is not gourmet or superior.

We choose the red Kelvedon pinot noir 2017 ($68), included in the price of the menu. It tasted delicious and was complimentary with both dishes. We finished with a cheese platter of 3-pieces of cheese ($4). These were good cheeses but not remarkable to finish a good dinner.

The Mudbar is on its way to become a serious restaurant, but it should improve the taste of the dishes and remove basic...