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Dining / Lunch fun turns to a long wait

LET’S start with the name: Hoi Polloi stands “for the masses, the rabble, and the great unwashed”.

Wendy Johnson
Wendy Johnson.

The restaurant claims it has brought a “new era” to Old Parliament House. It sounded fun, so off we trotted for Saturday lunch.

The décor is all about the building’s history. The restaurant is in what used to be the non-members bar, the only place where the “hoi polloi” could get a drink.

The menu is set up around small dishes (some also available in large size), mains, desserts and items for the “little folk”, including a toastie ($6.50) and penne bolognaise ($8.50).

We shared several small dishes, knowing we could get a couple in main size and confident we’d have plenty to eat. This is how the story unfolded.

The scallops came with chickpeas, toasted pine nuts and raisins (gluten free and $15.50 small; $24 large). They were to be grilled but were stone cold on arrival. We felt they could only have been on the grill for a nanosecond on each side. We explained to the chirpy person serving us that the dish didn’t cut it. She disappeared for a bit. Eventually a senior person emerged and whisked the dish away, promising a better experience second time round.

The second dish was passable. Two of us weren’t convinced about the combo of flavours anyway, but the third person in our party found them interesting.

We were delighted with the melt-in-the-mouth, hot smoked trout (gluten free and $12 small; $16 large). It was a cold dish and the blend of flavours was lovely. It was a generous serve and the trout struck a grand friendship with the crunchy green apple, fennel, red sorrel and creamy yoghurt dip.

We were also delighted with the charred cauliflower salad, served with tart radish, bright red pomegranate seeds that popped in the mouth, labne and a tasty pistachio dukkah ($10 small; $15 large).

The wine list concentrates on local labels, which is rewarding to see. We’re not big sauv blanc drinkers, so our white options started at $49 and topped off at $77. Reds start at $34 for the house wine and top off at $85. We settled on the 2014 Long Rail Gully Rose from Murrumbateman ($52). It was plonked on the table and we were left to crack it open and pour it ourselves (hmmm).

The service started off perky but then slid downwards. We were left for lengthy periods and it would have been nice to have our plates removed much earlier. Then we waited and waited for someone to offer us another glass of wine.

Perhaps that’s just the way the masses are treated.

Hoi Polloi, Old Parliament House. Open for lunch seven days. Call 1300 870433.

 

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Wendy Johnson

Wendy Johnson

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One Response to Dining / Lunch fun turns to a long wait

Pete says: 15 June 2016 at 8:40 pm

I’m finding a lot of places are very poor at service, I’m not sure what is happening. There is not a lot customer engagement – almost like they are afraid to ask if you are ok (no – I’m not one of those “everything is wrong” customers). Some notable exceptions around, but more often than not I’m having to flag down, get up or call out to get service. Is it under staffing? Poor training? An idea that fast in – fast out equals more cash??

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