Ball & Chain Grill - Salamanca

Really amazing place for dinner. The steak and soup was amazing. Would highly recommend the steak as the potato gratin was really deliciious. We also got oysters which were great as well. We were visiting and decided to stop by because we were attracted to the decor. nice dimly lit atmosphere that made it very intimate and cozy. we went a bit before 6 and it started to get busy.

📍Ball & Chain Grill - Salamanca | Super popular steakhouse in Hobart’s historic district Apart from the soup of the day, which was just okay, everything else was absolutely delicious! The steaks were cooked perfectly, sides were well-balanced, and the flavors were unique and memorable. You can really taste the chef’s effort in every dish. It wasn’t just a good meal — it was a great experience overall. Everyone in our group loved it, and we were so glad we picked this place for dinner! The location is also a big bonus — right next to the famous Salamanca Place. After eating, we took a walk around the area, which is full of cool little shops, artsy vibes, and cute local stores. A perfect way to end the night. Super relaxing and enjoyable! ✅5 star would recommend!

I had the pleasure of dining at Ball & Chain Grill in Hobart and was thoroughly impressed. I ordered the Pure Black Angus porterhouse steak from the specials menu, and it was exceptional — perfectly cooked, tender, and full of flavour. It came with a generous serving of potato gratin and seasonal vegetables, which complemented the dish beautifully. I opted for the mushroom and bacon sauce, which added a rich, savoury touch without overpowering the steak. The atmosphere was delightful — calm, cozy, and ideal for a relaxed dinner. The service was also excellent, with friendly and attentive staff who made the experience all the more enjoyable. Highly recommended if you're after quality steaks and a welcoming dining experience in Hobart.

Visited this restaurant back in 2022. We came here for an early dinner. We were seated inside to this nice long table. We had a steak and a glass of wine. Steak was really good cooked to our preferences and the staff was friendly too. Overall, we had a nice dinner and experience, too.

Arrived 5 o’clock without booking on a Sunday, and after few minutes wait, one staff warmly welcomed us to the seat. Ordered the scallop and soup of the day to start with. Maybe there was some wait before the scallops are served so the melted cheese is cooled down. But overall it was alright and the soup warms us up. The steak is quite well managed at medium rare, juicy with pepper crust on the outside. Chicken is tender but the blue cheese sauce feels a bit too much flour than cheese in it. When we are leaving and saw it turned out to be a very busy night with lots of meat on the grill. Thanks chef for the nice steak. Waitresses are also very helpful and polite.

We usually visit the Ball & Chain whenever we are in Hobart every year (from Brisbane). This time around was not up to the usual standard we expect from this Restaurant. Myself ordered the Porterhouse but received Rump instead (a lesser cut) the sides were very small with the carrots around the same size as beans. Overcooked as well as the couple of bits of potatoes (very small portions to say the least) and the pepper sauce was tasteless and very watery. The wife didn't even want to rate hers. Unfortunately a swing and a miss this time around, disappointing to say the least.

Been to ball and chain a few times now and each time has been great. Shared a tomahawk with the missus the first time and it was cooked perfectly. Second time I asked for 2 x 500g rumps (was hungry) and the chef came out and asked if I’d rather him just cut me a large 1kg piece of rump, which was awesome! Had a couple of 850g dry aged ribeyes with the old man on Sunday night, and again cooked to perfection. Only thing I’d add to the menu is béarnaise sauce and cooking the potatoes in beef fat or duck fat, as I won’t eat them if they’re cooked in seed/vegetable oils. But that’s minor stuff, as long as the steaks are on point you can’t complain at a steakhouse and they deliver on that front every time!

Great steaks, good scallops and good chowder. Service was also good especially considering we were having dinner on a holiday. Great place for families and if you have time, stroll along the waterfront nearby.

Stopped in the other day as it came recommended by the concierge. It was great to see an American as the bar tender. Decided in the scallops and the calamari for appetizers. AMAZING! Perfectly seasoned and not chewy. The service was also impeccable. The owner was actually serving tables as well. I was excited to get the steak as I am a steak lover. I was dissatisfied and disappointed. The steak was NOT seasoned at all. No salt, no pepper no nothing. I got the blue cheese sauce and it was just weird. As you can see from the picture, my steak was not 400g... The beer wasn't any better. I have never not finished my beer. I will probably not go back. The most exciting part of dinner was learning about the heritag

Our tour guide recommended for us to eat here. I'm so glad he recommended this restaurant because the food was delicious. The bartender finally made us a really good margarita. We are from America, he was also from America so he knew exactly how we wanted our margarita. I would recommend coming here.

Once upon a time, you didn't have to make a reservation here, and there was a salad bar that rivalled any buffet salad bar in this hemisphere. Times change, but the one constant here is the dark, outdated interior and meat-centric menu. Yes, it is a steakhouse but almost every other place at least had a few options not involving seared flesh. The menu has shrunk considerably, the grilled fish is only available with a Parmesan crust (not ideal if you don't care for Parmesan) and salmon. The steaks are available on 3 sizes, all come with vegetables. BUT... they charge you for sauce! Seems a bit stingy to charge $50+ for a nice steak and $3.50 for pepper sauce. The steak was fine, overcooked but definitely edible. The veggies? 2 steamed potatoes, a carrot peeled to a millimeter of its life, and one floret of broccoli. Add in an entree of "crusty sourdough bread" that was 2 cold slices and a side of cold butter (for $8). I luckily also ordered an entree of grilled prawns, which were quite nice and cooked soooo well. Perhaps the most egregious part of the meal was the lack of the salad bar! Like the Tazzie winter: Shoved off to the side, cold and dark. Save yourself some $$ and get a steak from someplace else. Plenty of other places do a better meal for a whole lot less. They're just coasting on reputation post Covid it seems.

Absolutely incredible from start to finish. Alicia was a fabulous waitress, and the food was exceptional. The beet salad and the espresso martinis almost stole the spotlight from the peppercorn crusted stake. If you are looking for a great meal with a nice atmosphere, definitely check this place out.

Came here for a special dinner, specifically ooking for steak. To our surprise they had a salad bar for everyone who orders something from the grill menu (the grill is why you would think to come here). The salad bar is a nice option as we haven't seen ond around for some time now, my favourite option at the sakad bar was actually the vermicelli noodles (have they got an asian chef?), i could've had just that as my meal and walked away satisfied. I ordered a scotch fillet, medium sized and cooked medium, it was tasty and a good size (actually too much after i had over did it at the salad bar) but was unfortunately unevenly cooked. I had small portions of it that were rare, this was a little disappointing for a grill place, the other steak at the table was a medium well rump which was cooked perfectly.

This was an overall disappointing visit. We were excited to check this place out given the reviews and promise of great steak. But the steak was undercooked (even the waitress agreed), under seasoned, and was filled with stringy tendons. When we asked about it they told us they don't season the steaks at all prior to cooking or serving (!!). The potatoes served on the side were equally bland, and seemed like they went from a pot of boiling water straight to the plate. Not worth the money, the food was mediocre at best and tasteless if I'm being honest, and the service was just ok. It wasn't the near the quality advertised.

I had my birthday party upstairs - my 38 guests and I were well looked after and the food was lovely. I witnessed friends having the oysters and just loving them, a lot of people had steak and there was no complaining (would they ? yes they would) and the children's meals were well quickly served and very nice apparently. I would like to say I saw the salad bar but I was so busy I only noticed my steak long enough to quickly eat it (eye fillet - medium) yummo - and the CAKE was delicious - people are still raving about it. Thank you Ball & Chain, don't change a thing.

Food is of a decent standard but compared to other grill venues it is probably time the ball and chain refreshed the way they operate. The key ingredients are v good, tasty oysters, Tassie fish and steaks but the salad bar thing is very hokey. It gives the venue a family restaurant feel. They could redo the interior and maintain the olde English hunting Lodge vibe as prices for food are at tjr higher end for Hobart. There is stiff competition for dining esp in salamanca

An old school kind of steakhouse with a self-serve salad bar and some really beautiful cuts of meat. My eye fillet was perfectly rare and one of the loveliest pieces of beef I've had in a long time. Food is expensive for the overall vibe of the place, but if you like a good steak and not leaving hungry, you'll appreciate it.

Food was very good, good quality of beef prepared perfectly. Roasted potatoes that come with the beef meals were excellent. Salad bar is well stocked with fresh vegetables and several selections of pasta salad as well - didn't care for the broccoli & cauliflower offering it tasted weird. Service on the other hand was crap. Took about 5 minutes to be greeted, was seated and drink orders taken (Jeremy) and delivered (someone else) in a reasonable time. Waited about 15 minutes to place our food order and then flagged down another server to be able to order. Food came out in a appropriate time. Prices a little high - maybe 5-10% considering salad came with meal. Jeremy server of record on the ticket. Menu selection varied and sufficient that anyone should be able to find something they would like.

We recently had the pleasure of visiting this place and we highly recommend it to other visitors. We tried the porter house steak which had a bit of fat left on it and it was cooked to perfection. The waiting staff here is just so good, we had a wonderful time here and the food was just absolutely delicious.

Ball and Chain was one of the first meal stops we made on this trip, we felt like a good steak meal, with complimentary salad bar with all meals you shouldn't have a problem feeling well fed when leaving here. Like most establishments on Salamanca Place there is a good range of drinks offered and service is of a good standard, places with poor service in such a premium area would not last long before fixing the problem. If you are after steak this is one of several options in the area, you will be satisfied but if you are after a higher-end option, Rockwell is next-door.

Nice meal. A little bit dark inside. An historic building and the service was good. A little pricey but was enjoyable

Love the ball and chain. The steaks were just a smidge under, but they fixed it quickly. The salad bar was great, but could use a freshen up, the iceberg salad was pretty brown. All you can eat salad and flame grilled steak! Yummy!

Very ordinary and overpriced. My girlfriend ordered the salmon and it was smothered in a thick 1970's style inedible bright yellow sauce. The salmon itself was tasteless. I ordered the eye filet - great cut of meat but also tasteless. Salad bar was straight out of an 80's Sizzler. This meal plumbed the depths of our entire relationship. The actual restaurant decor and ambience retains its 1970's essence in its entirety and I would guess that the patrons in general have been frequenting this place ever since. To be fair though, after complaining to the waitress about the ordinariness and blandness of the food, especially considering the prices, they did comp us the salmon.

Just had one of the worst meals for some time. Disappointed because a friend had given my daughter 2x $100 gold gift coins to use there. We were looking forward to a high quality meal. What we got was a tasteless seafood platter entree. The fries were inedible, so full of fat - it's over an hour since we left and I still can't get the taste out of my mouth. I ordered eye-fillet rare, which was well over-cooked (this is meant to be a steak specialty restaurant). Daughter had eye-fillet with pepper sauce which was so strong, forget about tasting anything else. Wife had a scotch fillet which was full of gristle - remember this is a quality steak restaurant! Bill for 3 was $253. We informed them how bad the meal was and how disappointed we were. Just said next time we come it would be better -but we won't be back.

Seriously old school Steak house. I enjoyed two meals here, one the eye fillet, perfectly cooked mid rare, and the ocean trout, Possibly better! A great example of a traditional steak and seafood restaurant that is some what stuck in a time warp. The menu hasn't changed much since the 70s but then again the quality is still right up there! I would still recommend it but with the 'old school' tag attached.

Can I leave a lower rate than 1 star? I'll be brutally honest. The wait staff were friendly and professional but this was the best part of this restaurant...and the wine. I really wanted to like this place and was in the mood for a good steak, but left disappointed. Entree~ My oysters kilpatrick were drowned in bbq sauce, couldn't taste anything else... My wife's prawns were ok, probably the best dish we ordered, but still nothing to write home about. Mains~ 500g Rib eye on the bone served rare, was more blue than rare. That didn't bother me as much as half the steak being fat! This was an awful cut of beef that was at least 50% fat, and at $40+ was a fat rip off! Jamaican chicken was marinated in rum, but tasted more like it had been fed rum it's whole life and then drowned in rum. Overpowering alcohol taste that didn't work on the plate. The last time I saw a salad bar was a Sizzler! As if your not paying enough for this, you have the added bonus of being your own wait staff and getting it yourself, which was ok for Sizzler but not what I expected at a decent restaurant. Didn't bother with dessert. Wine was reasonably priced and was the best thing we ordered the whole meal. I don't usually savage a restaurant but felt pretty pissed off with the quality of the food here. If your wondering why this review is so long, it because I've been sitting on the toilet the whole time writing it.

We ate here in September 2012 and had a quality dinner. It's hard to walk away from this place unsatisfied, as a "salad bar" was included with the meal. This was not simply an array of greens and dressings, but included prepared salads as well as plenty of other side-dish options. Everything tasted fresh and was well prepared. For the main course, I chose the lamb shank and have no complaints. It swam in a rich sauce, falling apart at the mere hint of fork, and was served with mashed potatoes. Partner had wallaby sausage, which resembled a somewhat richer version of beef sausage. Further, got to top this off with local brews. The atmosphere is dark, but not uninviting and service was perfectly on point. Prices were generally moderate and in line with other options in the Salamanca district.

Bit expensive but super delicious and super friendly, very impressed with the wine pairing knowledge. I had the prawns for entree, possibly the best prawns I've had.

It took one hour to serve - for the grilled beef. How long can that get prepared? No apology, not a single sign of saying sorry. A medium size mug of beer costs AUD 10. The quality is just so so. Not recommended at all! So disappointed.

The concept of the restaurant is good, the salad bar is a nice touch. But all the food lacked seasoning (especially salt!) I have never used my salt shaker so much! Disappointing cause otherwise everything was great