The Woolshed Pub opened a couple of years ago in docklands as part of the ongoing renewal of this area. Operator, Atlantic group is known to be great at what they do, sadly the Woolshed doesn't live up to the group's standard. To be honest, we really wanted to like this place, it's handy and the team have always been great at events.
Weirdly for a pub this place has staff with a snooty attitude, this was noticeable on entry. Everybody seemed to think serving customers was beneath them, a case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians sadly.
On arrival we weren't welcomed, the security guard seemed uninterested and the host was watching the AFL. When we approached we were asked to wait while they checked to see if a table was available, rest assured Melbournians, the restaurant was empty, on a freezing cold night we had absolutely zero interest in sitting outside but, as became the standard for the night we waited.
The venue is a beautiful, modern and well styled restaurant with an open plan kitchen. This is the first time that any of our group have seen an open plan kitchen work against the restaurant as one of the chefs had a temper tantrum.
The entrees came out and were mixed, the Mushroom Croquettes and Pork were delicious. Unfortunately the crispy pork while tasty was most definitely not crispy, the fried chicken ribs were lacklustre at best.
We had great hopes for the mains, the burger was delicious and the veal Parma also very tasty. The Gnocchi was barely cooked, chewy and uneatable. We accepted things sometimes go wrong and just expected the staff to resolve the issue, sadly the attitude of the staff left us underwhelmed at best. Thankfully the waitresses Gnocchi was lovely at lunchtime, we were so pleased to hear that, and even more pleased to be told that the gnocchi was made out of potato, yes earth moving information and in no way explaining why it was chewy. To our surprise we were told it would be taken to the chef to see if he agrees, wonderful, if nothing else he may enjoy our meal. It was easier to move onto dessert than argue these points, sadly we were hoping for a good night and it was starting to turn.
The sticky date pudding was delicious as was the tiramisu, well recommended. Overall we were left under serviced and underwhelmed, for a venue with such potential its let down by poor management within the venue and shows a staffing style more suited to a nightclub than a pub experience.
With so many options in Melbourne we hope this venue lifts its game, the owners deserve the opportunity to make this restaurant the star of docklands, an opportunity it's missing at present. read more