Phoenix Launceston

We had dinner there on a Saturday night after seeing the long list of positive reviews. We were seated but no one came to give us a menu for over 15 minutes and we had to flag down one of the waiters to finally order (we looked at the menu online). There were already a few tables waiting and there were only two staff members taking orders, running food and managing the bar. We ordered the arancini, mushroom risotto and fisherman's basket. The food ended up taking about 40 mins after waiting over 15 minutes for us to order. The arancini was topped with sweet Chilli sauce and basically tasteless. It was probably made with the mushrooms risotto which also lacked any flavour, the menu stated that it will be topped with shaved parmesan which it did not have, we asked the kitchen to put some on and it returned with low quality shredded parmesan and was still flavourless, we had to add salt and pepper to every bite. The fisherman's basket was equally disappointing, it came with mashed potatoes instead of fries and the potatoes were gummy in texture and also not seasoned and tasteless. The seafood tasted like it was cooked from frozen supermarket seafood and not fresh at all. There was also breading and batter so be aware if you're gluten intolerant as the menu stated this was gluten free. Finally when it came time to pay, the manager lost our tables ticket so he had to charge us on the fly and ended up overcharging us (49 instead of 42 for the fisherman's basket) though he did quickly fix this when we realised. We were very hungry so we did end up eating most of the food but definitely would not come back again or recommend. Not a pleasant experience, hoping that this was just a one off.

What a great space! I love funky weird little venues and this space takes the cake! We had a few cocktails and a meal here and were impressed with the service, the friendliness and genuine hospitality as well as the prices. The espresso martinis are delicious, we also had a citrus cocktail which was made specially not too sweet for us and was delicious. We ate the soup of the day, the risotto and the chicken parma and they were all delicious. Really fond of this cute and strange little place!

Stumbled upon this lovely bar by chance. Food was incredible. Booze even better. Staff gave me a wonderful experience, would highly recommend! When we ordered our first drinks upon arrival we were offered to a join a free table of trivia. It was hosted by a funny and inclusive MC and the bar manager and team. We won many rounds and the prizes were surprisingly delicious. The meals and drinks we had were good value and quality 😊