Lebrina

A world class fine dining experience. I am so thrilled that I met someone in Hobart who highly recommended Lebrina to me. The entire evening was an amazing experience, from the moment I entered until the moment I finally left. I was the first to arrive and the last to leave. The meal and the presentation was exceptional and the service and attention to detail was impeccable. The restaurant is located in a magnificent old home and every room has a wonderful energy and ambience with a. It was a relaxing and immensely enjoyable and very memorable evening. I am already planning my next visit. Thank you Steve and Scott.

This place was honestly so disappointing. But not just disappointing. Infuriating. First of all, the decor is completely soulless. It looks like something from the front cover of Country Living magazine. Which might be your thing. I found it really lifeless. Then there’s the music. Ambience is a thing. The music playing would have far better suited a public toilet or shopping centre elevator. But far more importantly the food. Honestly I don’t understand the other reviews for this restaurant. We ordered the Lamb Rump and the Duck Fillet mains. Whilst well cooked, neither dish was anything special whatsoever. I would best describe it as glorified upmarket pub food. In fact I’ve had far better meals of the same type in pubs. In reality, the only reasoning I can imagine they might have for the price point ($49.50 main, $35 entree) is that if you serve tiny portions, you can charge extra high prices… right? Anyway, disappointing. Underwhelming. That’s a shame. Now for the infuriating. Having not dined here before, and considering the price point - we aren’t wealthy, but when dining out at a good restaurant, we are more than happy to splash out - we decided to start by ordering two mains to share, with the intention to order more when we got an idea of quality and serving size, etc. Although obviously disappointed and still quite hungry, we asked for the bill. It totalled $120. Now I’m not an outstanding mathematician, but 49.50 x 2 does not equal $120. So where has the $21 come from? It turns out in the fine print at the bottom of the menu, there is small print that claims “GST inclusive minimum price per person of $60”. Now I’ve eaten out at upmarket restaurants a lot, in a number of different cities and countries, and I’ve never seen a minimum spend requirement before. So we ask about it. The reply “Many places do this. We expect that our customers read all of the menu before ordering”. Further justifications included, “Well most places charge for sides, whereas our sides are complimentary.” Two things: The sides were tiny. Literally one potato, half a dozen or so peas and a few beans. Not cooked as well as my grandmother or mother cooks a baked vegetable either, and the matriarchs of my family are no gourmets, I can assure you. Secondly, they’re obviously not complimentary if $21 extra is being added to our bills. Furthermore, the restaurant was empty aside from us. We were the only ones there. To say there was ample opportunity to mention the minimum spend while we ordered well below that would be a considerable understatement. So, feeling cornered and not sure if this minimum spend requirement is even legal, we decide to order dessert rather than pay an extra $21 for nothing at all. The dessert was not anything to speak of either. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great. In fact I can’t even remember what it was. Desserts are $19. To their minuscule credit, they charge us $118 instead of $120. I have to admit, I’m not somebody that would ever go to the effort to review a restaurant online. That is, unless it was either mind blowingly great, or, as this was, so infuriating that 3 months later, I still can’t let it go without finally writing this review.