Riverview inn - Clarence

We decided to visit this restaurant after driving past and realising we hadn't called in since their new menu was made available with the $16.90 main meals. This was in my view a mistake, the service was very basic and not very welcoming, we felt a bit "off" and not really made to feel at home, as you should be in this kind of establishment. The cutlery was not cleaned to a high standard and neither was the glassware. The handling of the glassware by the staff was also not desirable. Even in a pub or inn, under no circumstances should a bar persons fingertips touch the top 1/3 of a drinking glass. The entree's were oily and not impressive, however out of all our meals, this meal had the most flavour! Just a big shame you needed serviettes to mop up the dripping oil.The mains, which were from the $16.90 menu, were oily and not desirable. None of us completely finished our meals. The chips had a "oil" flavour to them and were not up to standard.This venue has the potential to be so much more, but the service and food lets it down. I hope the operators can take note of not just this review, but the ones previous, and step up a bit with the service, cleanliness and meal standard to make this restaurant be worthy of it's great location.

Thought we would stop in as we drive past each day on our way to the city Was unimpressed. Was very quiet and even though it wasn't late (730pm) the rather sulky older lady was cleaning up around us while we were eating which was rather awkward. The decor was quite plain and i recall the food was also disappointing. Shame as this is such a cute place in a lovely spot overlooking the bay.

I expected something better when I ordered the scallop and bacon skewers. The scallops were crumbed (yuck) and were obviously re-heated. The bacon was also re-heated. Chips were average and the salad forgettable. This inn sits in a nice locale, the service was reasonable but that's about all I can say really. They should lift their game if they want return customers.

My wife and felt like a change of venue and decided to avoid the city and suburbia and visit thetranquility of the Riverview inn which is on the outskirts of Sandy bay. On arrival we were showna table for two which was well positioned to observe the public bar area which was not very busy at all. The dining areas were busy but not over flowing. One of the specials of the day was roast pork and seasonal veggies.As Tassie pork is so tasty we both chose this dish at $16.95 per helping. It was a hot day so instead of ordering wine we both ordered 10oz lagers which were swiftly delivered. Unfortunately the food did not arrive with the same alacrity. We never were told nor could we work it out how 2 plates of roast could take so long to be dished up and served with no apology or explaination.. Further more when excelent Tassie spuds are available at $6 per 10kg pocket why not serve up a decent portion instead of the minute seving we received. It was not just potatoes which were lacking but none of the veggies were overflowing and the pork meat [also one of the cheaper cuts] was raggedly carved and also lacked substance. To make matters worse no crackling was evident and this is inexcusable. All in all the meal was minimalistic and very average in presentation; amount and taste. Within a week my wife and i found ourselves in Hobart city at lunch time and popped into the Shramrockfor two plates of roast pork. I reccommend that the owners of the Riverview Inn visit the Shamrock incognito and sample their roast pork. Our experience was that the city venue served us double the amount of pork with more varied veggies and more and better roast spuds and added to this we got excellent crackling which was served in a fraction of the time for $10 per plate. So for 60% less money we got a very satisfying lunch in a busier pub.The only draw backis the hassle of paying for parking in the city.

Please read the other reviews as they pretty much sum up our experience. I only wish I had checked with tripadvisor before venturing into this place. The meals were sent back as we could smell the fish was off before tasting. The manner of the woman serving us made the whole experience most uncomfortable.... never again.