Piccalilly

[Thems Good Eatin]

If the competition was to find Hobart's most expensive restaurant we have a winner. Was the food nice? Yes, everything was superbly presented and tasty as hell. How was the service? Faultless, friendly and efficient. Decor? Nice, easy on they eye, good choice of colours which compliment the heritage building.

But there's a but! It's over priced.

The serves are entree sized, this is overcome by offering 4 or 5 dish packages (this system has a French name and is apparently trendy) We opted for the 4 dish package, a decent bottle of Sav Blanc and a few start up beverages. (Any less than 4 dishes and your going to be left wanting.) The bill exceeded $230 after the tip there was no change out of $250.

A recent trip to Marque IV where the wine flowed like the mighty Amazon resulted in a wallet dent of around $180. Last time we went to Lebrina with 2 bottles of wine the bill was in the sub $200 range (Just). Piccalilly is not better than the above mentioned, its not far off, I just wouldn't pay noticeably more to go there. So although it was an excellent dining experience, it wasn't good value when compared with it's peers, this leaves an aftertaste.

The restaurant also appeared to be shy of full capacity and catering for a noticeably older crowd, I'm not loving their long term chances.

And I still hate the name.
_________________
We get suicidal teens and scramble to teach them self-esteem. Well, unfortunately, self-esteem and the ability to like yourself only come after you've done something that makes you likable. You can't bullshit yourself.

[kevin]

When will tasmanians get over this Lebrina thing? The concept, dining room and menu have not changed since I first dined there about 10 years ago! a trio of ice-creams! (hello Blue Skies) it seems that Tasmaian people are unwilling to accept a new restaurant unless it's been doing the same thing for a decade. Marque IV seems to be a simple re-hash of Gondwana when reading the menu...

[Thems Good Eatin]

[kevin]

I have eaten at Marque IV on several occasions since it opened and have enjoyed myself, it is fantastic what they have done with the dining room (being a square box) and the food has met a high standard. It compares with Mud Bar and Moorilla (Mediteranian/Asian fusion), my gripe lays in the lack of thought in completing the dish on the plate. I'm sorry, but a generic garnish over cooked and unseasoned snow peas and baby carrots on most of the main courses does not cut the mustard. As for Lebrina i am not debating that the food is simple and well conceived but that it has remained the same for a decade. it bothers me that we still consider it to be relevant in the struggling Hobart high-end dining scene. I have been to Piccalilly and enjoyed it very much, the food was interesting and well thought out, the service was understated and very knowledgeable about the product on offer. It is about time this concept of dining is introduced to Hobart, it has been building in popularity around the world for the last few years and as always Tasmania has taken a little longer to come to the party.
The concept of "Hobart's most expensive restaurant" has interested me quite a bit and have had a bit of look around at some web sites for menu prices... i should add a this point that i ate at Monty's about a month ago with a friend, the two of us had an entree and a main and shared the $50 cheese platter for our last course, we had 2 bottles of sub $35 wine and walked away without $280. looking at the MIV site the food is so expensive that they do not even list the menu prices, they simply state the starting prices of entree and main. Entree $24 and main $38, suffice to say that some options are more expensive, add a dessert of undisclosed price and I fail to see see how this could add up to so much less than the $85 that you pay at Piccalilly for 6 courses (including the freebies, wine should be excluded from the equation due to it being so variable).
in conclusion the high end of Hobart restaurants, 373, Monty's, MIV, Lebrina and Piccalilly all fall into a very similar price bracket it is down to the consumer to decide where they would like to spend their "hard earned," weather it be the old favourite where you already know what you'll be eating, or something a little different...

[Thems Good Eatin]

[kevin]

cheers! Individual opinion is why this kind of site is so popular! You mentioned in your initial review of Piccalilly that you had to have 4 coursed at Piccalilly to be satisfied and now you are saying that you can enjoy 100 ml of soup, a main and half a dessert and walk away with the same satisfied feeling... When i dined at Piccalilly i had a 5 course option and it was way too much food for me. We had to ask for a short break to let it settle. Aside from that the thing i like most about the "assiette" concept is that the food is allowed to be a lot more intense i its flavours and presentation, by that i mean when there is less food it is ok for it to pack more of a punch flavour wise, if you had a main course portion of that style of food it would make you sick. i appreciate the big flavours in small packages!

[Thems Good Eatin]

Bread + Soup + Nice Big Steak + 1/2 Dessert will certainly do the trick, especially when taken alongside a couple of beers (Moo Brew on tap) and half a bottle of wine, (They also offer freebies when your cool like us! )

The 4 courses at Piccalilly as mentioned was a good quantity of tasty morsels. 3 however wouldn't have been enough, and would cost over sixty dollars. If I pay over $60 and am still hungry, I'm probably going to be unhappy.
_________________
We get suicidal teens and scramble to teach them self-esteem. Well, unfortunately, self-esteem and the ability to like yourself only come after you've done something that makes you likable. You can't bullshit yourself.

[Julie]

Well said Kevin! Piccalilly is by far the most exciting and interesting restaurant in Hobart.

[Thems Good Eatin]

Hi Julie,

In that case I look forward to reading your review.

EDIT: I note you and Kevin both share the same IP address, so excuse me if I'm taking you with a grain of salt at the moment.
_________________
We get suicidal teens and scramble to teach them self-esteem. Well, unfortunately, self-esteem and the ability to like yourself only come after you've done something that makes you likable. You can't bullshit yourself.

[kevin]

Is there a reason a couple who share an opinion need extra seasoning? From an interesting forum to cynicism. You give yourself away Good Eatin

[Umami Hobbit]

it isn't generally good moderator practice to comment on people's IP address is it?
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hobbits love the spice.

[Julie]

yes we do come from the same place, but does that make what I have to say any less valid. I'm sorry, but I agree with what Kevin said. I think that Piccalilly is doing something exciting. I really enjoy eating there.

[Thems Good Eatin]

Exciting you say, why? It is a restaurant which only offers a degustation style menu, I find that more limiting than exiting. And please don't tell me there is a huge difference between assiette & degustation, aside of course from a little more flexibility of choice.

And on the IP issue, a number of people share IP's on the site, you two I suspect have alterior motives, I thought it important to shine a light, thus allowing people to make up their own mind.

By the way I gave Piccalilly 4 stars, I fail to see how anyone could give it less than 3!

Aside from the price it's an excellent dining experience. As mentioned earlier up the list however, the failure to offer that one special dish, which once tried, will draw me back again and again is the main reason I probrably won't go back.
_________________
We get suicidal teens and scramble to teach them self-esteem. Well, unfortunately, self-esteem and the ability to like yourself only come after you've done something that makes you likable. You can't bullshit yourself.

[Thems Good Eatin]

There are six votes now, I would be interested to hear what others have to say.

This one could be as divisive as Taco's, even though its in a completely different league.
_________________
We get suicidal teens and scramble to teach them self-esteem. Well, unfortunately, self-esteem and the ability to like yourself only come after you've done something that makes you likable. You can't bullshit yourself.

[Thems Good Eatin]

Anyone else been yet?
_________________
We get suicidal teens and scramble to teach them self-esteem. Well, unfortunately, self-esteem and the ability to like yourself only come after you've done something that makes you likable. You can't bullshit yourself.