The Italian Club - NORTH HOBART

I went a fair few months back now and ordered the same thing I did the first two times. It was alright but no where near as great as I remembered. Turns out they had changed chefs at that time. It was an average experience.

Went with 9 friends with a meal and a band (pay $30 and a free band and dance, or $9 just for the dance).I don't know where to start..Got there at 6.30pm, for a 7pm start.We ordered at 6.45 with starters of the garlic bread, mains to follow.7.30...no show...lovely lady who may be owner?? was talking to guests and when told about the delay hurried things up. 15 mins later and after the 'band' started up, the pizza bases with garlic on it showed up. Could have been from Coles frozen section...still we were all very hungry.30 mins later the mains turned up in dribs and drabs, three meals wrong. They had to go back. One of them was meant to be gluten free but wasn't....Keeping positive my over cooked chicken, potato's, carrots and green beans turned up. All very Aunty Mary (you know you antie who cannot cook who invited you around to see her latest doilly collection).Two other mains turn up after that is eaten....veal that tasted like moist cardboard the other a spaghetti total disaster...three prawns at last count in it.....Now, if this was not approx. $25 a meal, it could have been bearable.Now, the band.....:-) two middle aged men trying hard to play recent hits like Chubby Checker, Beatles, Country etc with the use of keyboards with the 'organ' app switch on....Don't know if any Aussies know what I mean, but it was like Butlins, Blackpool and the other 70's holiday resort type music and style.... so bad it was good....The dancing was good however, such a laugh...so on hindsight a good evening :-)The bottom line for me is the price and the quality of the food.Way too expensive and the food was the worst I have ever tasted in Hobart.The staff were friendly and good, one waitress trying to deal with 30 plus people....hard I am sure so no complaints there. Looking at the other reviews...great, but if this is genuine Italian food, thank god I am Scottish....:-)

Four family members were here to eat dinner, not sure what to expect, as one person had told us the food wasn't good. We started our meal with garlic pizza which was perfect, crust fresh, real garlic used. We followed with various choices: chicken parmigiana, chicken gnocchi, veal cotelletta, veal with wine and lemon (for me ) some served with ample salad and chips, mine with vegetables (plus salad and chips, because an error was made and I got both). All meals were deemed excellent; it was real Italian at its best. We even tried the Chianti - wine from the Chianti region in Italy - which was great. The food was a pleasant surprise; it isn't everyday you get authentic Italian food - and plenty of it. It was great value - four of us had meal plus drinks $120 between us which was great value. Oh, and the service was great too. Only one waitress serving but she was so friendly and efficient. I would eat there again any time.

Coming from an Italian family and spending a lot of time in Italy, I have to say this is the best Italian food I've tasted here! In terms of price and quality of food, it outnumbers every Italian joint in Hobart. The gnocchi was so fluffy and light and just melted in the mouth. Mum's risotto was to die for, it was cooked perfectly, and Dad's bolognese was great too. The only thing lacking on the night we went was the atmosphere. We were the only table there, but it was close to closing time on a Saturday night. Plus it was like we had our own private restaurant! The waiter, Ferdinando I think his name was, was a good waiter and came over for a chat and told us about his home town. I will definitely be back time and again. This place should be number one of Hobart's Italian restaurants!

We ate here on two occasions (Wednesday and Thursday), but were too late for Saturday night (wanted to try the veal). Food cooked fresh and the home-made gnocchi was excellent with a fabulous home-made sauce. Wine list not expensive and staff efficient and friendly.