The Pumphouse has been bringing coffee on demand to Hobart’s westenders and three daily meals to those of us who have been thinking Salamanca passé, since changing from the Cupping Room almost a year ago.
The boyz preparing a cheese platter for one.
Apart from biscuits or muffins with coffee, our Friday lunch was the first real meal the Two Girls have eaten at the Pumphouse.
We found the affable Anthony who told us his job was to make sure the place did not burn down but made a well informed and informative maître de.
We did not see the wine list as Anthony recommended the newest edition to Clover Hill’s repertoire, the new Blanc de blanc, crisp and not overly bready (for the record the blanc de blanc is not one of one of the Two Girls’ faves). If you like your bubbles we recommend you do give this one a whirl.
We learnt the Pumphouse has invested in table service design: Wice wine coolers and Dudson and Vera Wang crockery makes for a classy eating experience.
Over the year they have also added a range of dividers to break up the space and that has helped reduce, but not remove, the feeling of being in a barn. This is no intimate dining space. If intimacy is important to you for a dinner out, perhaps better you only consider Pumphouse for lunch (or breakfast).
It is fair to say that the lunch menu did not set our world on fire. It involves about half a dozen light lunches and the same again in things more substantial. But we really like a lunch menu that gives you some price and size options. So the Pumphouse gets a tick for this.
Specials
We chose the duck meatball sub and the smoked trout salad and they made a pass grade. Overall, we enjoyed the experience, but more because of the maître de, the new wine tasting and the pleasure of each other's delightful company. It is more than possible we will try it again though. These guys have plenty of capacity and we reckon their other offerings may improve on the day's choices.
Interesting fact: there are 2,500 milk bottles in the wall design which is the equivalent of around four to six weeks of café milk bottles. And one of the long suffering staff members redesigns it to spell out the bride and groom’s names when they host a wedding. Is is possible wait staff get paid enough to complete tasks like that?
Maybe the Two Girls will try the Pumphouse for dinner next.
We have been there 'after 5' for the odd drink or two and the atmosphere is perfect for relaxing after work!
What has your experience been of the Pumphouse menu?
