drunken admiral

loved this place when we visited tassie. we didn't know where to go and we stayed at the grand chancellor and literally walked across the road. love the theme and the decor. i feel like i was on a ship. loved the food. prawns were amazing. best seafood. cocktail was so yummy! thefishwas nice but the rice was a little hard in places but overall so yummmm

great theme, shame about the food and prices. was initially charmed by the warm atmosphere and themed interior of the place, ordered a delicious cocktail, but everything after this sadly went downhill. long wait for service from unsmiling waitress, sad and pointless little salad buffet (cold pasta salad type fare), and although the portion sizes are adequate, they're 50% composed of french fries - except for the mussles, the one dish that is supposed to be served by fries (but which was oddly served with bread).
batteredfishwere slivers offishloaded with batter, seafood platter consisted of a few skewers of oversalty prawns and fish, mussels were a lovely size but served in a chunky tomato broth not unlike pasta sauce. very disappointing considering the prices - you're essentially paying $30 for a $10 meal here. drunken admiral, why so stingy?

...... having heard stories of the ‘kitsch’ interior and nautical theme, the drunken admiral has never quite risen to the top of our ‘must visit’ list of hobart restaurants. it’s not that we haven’t wanted to go, it’s just that there’s always always been something better on offer. there comes a time though, when the stars align. when fate takes over and there’s a palpable cosmic convergence… that’s right folks, not only had we had run out of restaurants, but we also had an entertainment book voucher burning a hole in our pockets!! bring on the dancingfishand saucy wenches! or was it the other way around…? located on the wharf at historic sullivan’s cove,  the drunken admiral  is the old dame of hobart’s restaurant scene, cat

i so wish i did not just google and instead look at the reviews on zomato. a very interesting decor which i would describe as heavy and overbearing. it is this collection of stuff and has hard square tables and uncomfortable chairs. i get they are trying to make it feel like the inside of a ship but honestly. all of that wood paneling makes for a very loud environment and the place was not even full. the staff were nice but the whole process felt like it was rushed they wanted you seated, eating and then out. the chowder was the most uninspired chowder i have had in hobart and thefishand chips were like barnacle bills served on a plate. wine list was quiet good. definitely much better seafood restaurant alternatives available in beautiful hobart.

great seafood restaurant. it's very busy so you'll need to make a booking to dine there. we had the yachtie's seafood mixed grill which comprises of four seafood skewers with chips and salad. also had the admiral'sfishpot which is a pot of mixed seafood curry with rice. thefishpot was a large serving however it was only accompanied with a very small serving of rice. we had to order another portion of rice for $5. the skewers were around $38 and the seafood curry was around $44.

for dessert we shared the one legged tom. vanilla bean icecream and chocolate fudge. very rich so you'll probably need a friend or two to share it with. dessert are around $15.

the restaurant has a maritime themed decor.

overall a very nice dining experience.

for many years i've seen but not eaten at the drunken admiral (for those that are unaware, one of the most famous photos of hobart and its waterfront includes the da in its shot). so on my last trip to hobart i thought it about time to pay a visit.

the main standout when eating in this restaurant is the set up and the decor. some might think it tacky, but there are individual dining areas around the nooks and crannies you would expect to see on a ship. the place exudes hobart: you feel like you're in an old port and shipping town from the late 19th century.

the food itself, it must be said, is expensive. the service is adequate without really reflecting the price you pay (including for drinks), and it is easy to rack up a decent bill here.

that said the food is quite good. the seafood chowder was definitely one of the better that i've had - really creamy and hearty, and not stingy on the seafood. for main i had the yachtie's seafood grill: prawns, scallops andfishthat come out sizzling in front of you. the flavours were quite good - but if i'm picky the seafood cooked at different rates, so i found some a little over and some a little under (my own fault i guess!), but the risk of this happening isn't helped by having such differentfishon the plate.

my partner had old fashionedfishand chips. this was good, as you can't really go wrong withfishand chips (well actually you can, but that shouldn't happen in a quality specialty seafood restaurant).

there are plenty of good restaurants in hobart and this wouldn't be top of the list of you're here on a short stay. but, if you come to hobart semi-regularly, then it is a hobart experience worth doing. 3.5 stars on the old zomato scale.

i am afraid the drunken admiral has changed little in thirty years - same decor and uninspiring seafood. it’s sad to see so many dishes with prawns - they do not come from tasmania - and thefishof the day barramundi, also not a tasmanian fish. i had stripy trumpeter which - while a localfish- was bland and tasteless, so i know it definitely was not fresh. it was served with a small bland salad and a huge bowl of potatoes, $39! the bizarre decor is the same as decades ago - still with skeletons and fake pirates. tasmania has so much fabulous food, i was really disappointed to see so many tourists flooding in, when elsewhere has so much to offer that the locals prefer.

service is very good very polite quick service but the food lots to desire very cold over cooked very dry the butter on the prawns was cooked off scallops were very hard over cooked had no taste smoked salmon as you see in the pictures i added very soggy and dark chips nice and hot but alot of small cramps and dark old oil taste also in the pictures maybe my luck of the draw but wouldn’t go back or recommend .beautifully decorated restaurant and friendly staff quality service but 1 out of 5 food very disappointed take awayfishand chips would’ve been better

omg...right from the entrance we wr amazed at the decor. felt like we were in some pirated ship. it was awesome.
at first kids didnt want to enter.
the man serving us was so kind enough to help us order and understand what we wanted to order. he adviced us the top 5 dishes and it was super. seafood was fresh.fishwas superb. chowder was to die for.
overall...super food and ambience..

busy busy busy! the restaurant had a really cool sailing ship vibe- it’s definitely a must go to restaurant!
we had the entree size of thefishchowder and the serving size was really big! it was packed full of seafood in the chowder and you could definitely taste everything in it! but it was just a tiny bit too salty for me!
for mains we ordered the scallops, squid,fishand chips and the mixed grill. the squids were lovely, nice and tender but the highlight for me was definitely the scallops! the size of one scallop is really big and when you bit into it, it was lovely fresh and juicy! though most of the food were deep fried but you can definitely tell the seafood is fresh!
we ordered a main for each one of us and it was plenty of food! i recommend ordering a couple to share!

interesting decor resembling a ship. was definitely a tourist hotspot with the prices reflecting so. we ordered thefishcurry type stew ($45) to share ($5 each for a small portion of rice), an entree sized serving of salt n pepper squid ($18) of which there were only 5 pieces!! and a side of bread. the stew was very nice. we shared it between 3 of us but needed the extra rice and bread. it had large prawns, soft slices offish(with skin), scallops and other lovely fishy ingredients.
i did enjoy my meal although it was very dear.

great restaurant! we walked in with out a booking and the staff were more than happy to try to fit us in, even though they were busy. 1 x entree, 4 x seafood mains and 2 desserts + beers and cider for all and not a bad review among us. interesting mains to, not just the plain oldfishand chips. highly recommend, friendly and fast service and tasty food.

salad was good. snapper from the fresh sheet was dry and luke warm when it arrived. asked for the plain grilledfishtwice but received the cajun spice grilled instead. wait service was surly. wish i had spent my money on a good seafood dinner elsewhere.

this place is terrific and terrible.
we came here because of their reviews but left disappointed.
the decor, the staff andfishmarket tasting plate skewers were great but other than that it was horrible.

the fries were dry and half cold when they arrived. by the time we were halfway through the meal they were stone cold.
the salad was way worse than what i can prepare on a week night as a quick meal to go with my steak. looked like something you can buy at coles.

the staff was friendly and the decor was fantastic.

the price is an absolute rip off. will never come back to this place.

delicious fresh seafood , mussels are a favourite, get them every time we come here,also the sultan wok is great,fishis cooked how you like it, service is quick and friendly,