As I entered I noted the number of customers. We were quite early, 7pm, and already quite a few people were there. It's a large dining area, there were several big tables laid out for group bookings, with a smattering of customers sitting at them, making me think that bigger group bookings were still to arrive. As the night progressed the customer flow was steady.
Friday night turns out to be the Fish Special night. Two of us decided to order the Picatta Barra, and the third lady ordered a schnitzel. You order at the counter, we were lucky and did not have to line up in a queue.
Our meals were served in less than 10 minutes. We were all quite surprised, and pleased, at their promptness. This started a discussion on what techniques the chef would be using in order to pump meals out quickly. As both the fish and the schnitzel could be cooked quickly we felt safe that our meals hadn't been half cooked previously.
I'd ordered the Picatta Barra as I'd never heard of it before. I was amazed to find my piece of fish wrapped in a batter of egg, making it look like an omelet. It was actually quite tasty. The meal was very small, but in proportion to the price of $13. If I had known how small the meal was going to be I would have ordered an entrée to go with it, but this is more to do with how hungry I was on the evening.
My friend who ordered the schnitzel really enjoyed her meal too. It was pleasant to hear positive comments from all.
The one thing we felt needed improving upon was the accompanying salad. Our salad was served in a very small dish, probably less than a cupful, and we all felt it was inadequate.
The only other thing that I myself thought should be changed was the lack of decaffeinated coffee.
Overall, the Palmerston Tavern was a pleasant experience. Service was prompt, staff were friendly, food was great.
I had the Picatta Barra, advertised as in a parmesan and parsley (I think!!) batter. Iwas most disappointed when it arrived to see the 'batter' was an omelette type affair, I am not a great egg lover and would never have ordered it had I known what it actually was!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed it, to my surprise, it was an unusual way to cook the fish, different, but nice.
I would have liked the salad to have been more, and a little more thought put into its content.
The staff were friendly and helpful, and it was a pleasant, though not terribly filling, evening.
Have had some good and some ordinary meals here. Fortunately the good outweigh the ordinary. Bring back the bread rolls. Less chips and more salad please. Staff always friendly and helpful. Well done guys.
ReplyDeleteThe only bad meals I've had here were Asian meals. I don't think Asian is the Chef's forte.
ReplyDeleteAunty Dot
'When in doubt order the chicken shnitzel' is my motto, so I did. I had it with a tiny salad and chips. I don't know why they have to make the salads so small and serve them in those ramekin sized bowls. I don't think it enhances the presentation of the meal at all if that's their motivation. More salad is definitely needed. Anyway, the meal was tasty but not terribly filling.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I like about the Tavern is that the Specials board allows you to order adult meals for the kids at reasonable prices. When the family goes out for a meal it's a special time so I don't want them ordering the standard oil heavy meals from the Kid's menu. A particular favourite here is the Frog in a Pond. Although this desert looks large it really isn't as the parfait glass is made of thick glass so even the little ones can manage a whole 'pond'.
We go here for lunch and dinner sometimes. We always order off the board because the meals are quite cheap and usually a good size. Frog in a pond is my favourite dessert.
ReplyDeleteWe went to the Tavern last night to celebrate a Birthday; there were 8 of us. Conveniently it was 'half price' night. From the Half Price menu we ordered Spaghetti Bolognese, fish and chips, a Barra Burger, Chicken Parmigana, a medium rump with garlic sauce and a well done rump with pepper sauce. There were only 2 complaints and both of these were about the rump. The medium rump was so rare that it bled all over the plate making it impossible for the diner to eat the rest of his meal and the well done rump was chewy. So much so that this diner only ate half of it.
ReplyDeleteThe desserts ordered included chocolate mousse, Frog in a Pond and pancakes with syrup and icecream. Do not order the pancakes. They are prepackaged and very dry to eat. They are also served cold making them even more difficult to swallow. There needs to be more syrup and icecream with this dish.
As usual the service was prompt and the wait staff friendly. It was a shame that the meals didn't come out together.
i have never been so i had always wanted to go to the tavarn. when i got my chance we had dinner there, very friendly people and nice food, very happy with the night.
ReplyDeletes.t