Tasmanian restaurants

[Princess Fiona]

Well the Henry Jones is one hotel mrsdrron wont ever stay at again.Definite noise problem.
And I would never eat at their restaurant again.Had a dish which came with"home made"tomato sauce.Found a plastic lid sealer in the meal and they accused me of putting it in.Not only very rude but their sauce obviously came from a commercial bottle.

:shock: :shock:
Strikes it off my list

 

[smatho10]

Well the Henry Jones is one hotel mrsdrron wont ever stay at again.Definite noise problem.
And I would never eat at their restaurant again.Had a dish which came with"home made"tomato sauce.Found a plastic lid sealer in the meal and they accused me of putting it in.Not only very rude but their sauce obviously came from a commercial bottle.

How long ago was this? We (wrest point) have the exec chef from HJH now employed with us and came with a great reputation.

 

[diningdecadence]

any reviews of Franklin folks?

 

[RooFlyer]

any reviews of Franklin folks?

The quiet little town on the Huon River?

 

[diningdecadence]

The quiet little town on the Huon River?

believe there's a new restaurant

Franklin | Hobart restaurant | Restaurant news :: Gourmet Traveller

 

[RooFlyer]

believe there's a new restaurant

Franklin | Hobart restaurant | Restaurant news :: Gourmet Traveller

Beg your pardon. Very new.

At 30 Argyle Street, the web landing page strikes me as a bit odd .. maybe inspired by the small town on the Huon river

 

[TheRealTMA]

We had booked the Source at MOMA fior a friend's birthday and there was a mixup. They recommended a number of restaurants in Hobart but being Sat night it was difficult to find places at last minute. One of them which was Welcome to Me Wah Restaurant.

We had not heard if it and but we thought it was going to be a good Chinese restaurant after their recommendation. we were quite amazed. Not only was the good fabulous, on a par if not better than Flower Drum, but the sommelier used to work at The Source. Awarded Best Tasmanian wine list anumber if years running and in top lists of Australia. Truely fab food and wines.

Highly recommended.

 

[drron]

How long ago was this? We (wrest point) have the exec chef from HJH now employed with us and came with a great reputation.

3 years.........

 

[scaredeycat]

Franklin is excellent and is probably Hobart's hottest new restaurant. Our current favourite is Ethos, but it won't be to everyone's taste. The menu is degustation, but rather than be presented with a list of dishes, the waiter presents you with a list of ingredients from which the chef will create your meal. Obviously you can veto any ingredient you would rather not have. The menu changes daily.

 

[Steady]

So another restaurant to reccomend which may come as a surprise to 2impulsiv and kalboy.This one is between Penguin and Sulphur creek at Preservation Bay in the Penguin surf club building.Called Casablanca.Run by an ex Queenslander from Bundy who had the Baltimore restaurant at the port there.He then had the Baltimore in Burnie and is now here.Really friendly staff,efficient and the food is good and not too expensive.
We went there for Sunday lunch.Mrsdrron had the fish and chips-large serve of flathead just perfectly cooked.I had their Casablanca plate-a sort of meze extravaganza.Amazing tastes.
We went back for dinner last Thusday night and shared the Casablanca plate for entree.She the had the entree lambs brains as she had her eyes on dessert.The brains were good.I had an eye fillet-large steak,cooked to perfection,juicy,moist and great taste.One of the best steaks I have had in a restaurant.
Over those meals we have sampled 3 of their desserts-applemisu-a take on tiramisu.I really liked this.Persian almond cake-really nice taste and a lovely sticky chocolate pudding just right for a cold night.
The owner promised he would sit down and share a red with me if i go back this week.I am definitely taking up the offer.

If anyone is reading through this thread before a trip to the NW coast of Tas you should be aware that Casablanca is under new management....

A restaurant I would recommend if visiting or entering/departing Tas by the passenger ferry is Mrs Jones on the bluff in Devonport (Owners of Wild Café ex Penguin relocated)

 

[Flying mermaid]

Ate at Franklin's tonight. Quite a casual restaurant - some tables plus seats at a bar overlooking the kitchen. It was very interesting watching the food being prepared. Service was friendly and efficient. Menu is quite small, but the food was excellent. Good quality and not overpowered by the preparation. We shared an excellent char grilled squid and then shared a snapper that just melted in the mouth and some beef. I finished with a very light and not too sweet almond honey cake while Mr FM had a goat cheese sorbet, with berries and poached peach. Mr FM did take some photos which I will try and put up at some stage. Henry Jones so far has been a beautiful hotel - there is construction going on across the road, but when we got back to the hotel around 4:30 it was all packed up and it is totally quiet.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Tuesday we had breakfast at Zum - very pleasant although all the cafes in that area looked nice. We chose the "Posh Pit" option for the ferry to MONA which came with wine and nibbles. Really enjoyed that and MONA was fantastic as well - loved some stuff, hated others but the building is incredible.

In the evening we chose Monty's on Montpellier - another success. A more traditional style than Franklin's with the emphasis on sharing dishes, but very pleasant.

We had planned Wednesday breakfast to be at Daci and Daci bakery, but the rain deterred us, so we went to the hotel atrium - totally busy so wandered across the atrium to an independent cafe- Timeless. Nothing wrong with it but pretty average.

Spent the the rest of the day on a wine tour with "the long lunch co". Terrific - Brad is interesting and knowledgeable and we had a great day eating and drinking. Decided after that we need something simple for dinner so opted for the Ivory Cafe. It is a Thai cafe (with a bit of Chinese). Really beautiful food and the owner is delightful. A bit of patience is needed as it was incredibly busy and the owner was totally stressed. We were lucky to get a table, as after we arrived she stopped serving take away and turned away customers until things were under control again!

 

[Flying mermaid]

So final food wrap up.

We we were collecting a car to drive to Bruny from Hertz in Bathurst St, so decided to eat at Raspberry Fool Cafe near there. It had a high vote on Trip Advisor, and it was good food for what you paid, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Bruny Island was a foodie delight. Superb oysters from Get Shucked (we went back on multiple days) and wonderful cheese from Bruny Island Cheese Co. Bruny Island Hotel was a surprise - looked like a cheap pub, but excellent seafood. Other things as well, but we couldn't go past the seafood. It has a new owner (about 3 years) and he is putting a lot of effort into sourcing local top quality produce. (We did actually do more than eat, including tracking down White wallabies and penguins).

Back to Hobart where we dined at Smolt - really liked the food (although second to Franklins) - service quite patchy, but they were busy.

We concluded our eating tour, by taking a Gourmania tour of Hobart. 4 hours of walking in a small group around Hobart, being filled in on local history and tasting at various places. Almost like a Degustation - found some absolute gems.

We were planning to eat at Henry's tonight, but absolutely cannot fit another scrap in, so are planning on giving dinner a miss. Back to Canberra tomorrow and a strict diet to counteract the last week

 

[drron]

So a standby for Launceston.Not all that many restaurants open for Good Friday.Many of those that were open were booked out so went to an old standby-Fish and Chips at the Seaport.Was jumping but orders came out quick,tables cleared immediately and good quality seafood.A bit more expensive than your normal fish and chipper but the quality was worth it.Ate twice over the Easter weekend.A 10% surcharge and the food came to just over $50.The first time was 2 serves of crumbed scallops,tempura whiting an salad plus small chips.Second time 2 orders scallops,salt and pepper octopus and flathead-this was really good.
So pictures of the first visit-

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Washed down with a local drop-

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[drron]

Saturday night and we were not feeling very hungry.So had dinner downstairs at the Sebel-The Marketplace.Mrsdrron had the King Prawn entrée on a mashed pea pancake-she approved.I had the beef cheek in master stock on mash.meat very tender but a bland dish-

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We both had the citrus curd with sour apple sorbet and raspberry sauce-this cut the tartness of the tart and sour apple-

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[JessicaTam]

I enjoyed dinner with friends at Saxon's Bar and Grill (King St) in Devonport a couple of week's ago. One of the best parmas I have ever had*. Other meals were equally as impressive.

The only downside was that the acoustics were atrocious. No soft furnishings so every sound echoed. There was a rowdy birthday party going on, so as soon as we could, we moved to the small room at the front which helped.

*A big call, I know.

 

[drron]

On the day before mrsdrron flew home we went to another of our favourites for lunch-Hellyers in Burnie.Even better if you like whisky.But we started with another of our favourites-

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Mrsdrron had a pastie with Asian salad.The meat inside was perfect-

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I went with the seafood pie-scallops,mussels,oysters,salmon and ling.Very nice but a spoon would have been nice-

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A good place for lunch but best to book as the locals like it a lot.

 

[Infreq]

Back to Hobart...a few more votes for Smolt, Zum, and Mee Wah. Smolt is great any time of day - a little quieter in the rear section. By the way, Garagiste is gone now.

Cornelian Bay Boat House has always been great - located, on Cornelian Bay - just upriver from the Tasman Bridge. Nice river view too.

We're also regulars at Ivory Cafe on Elizabeth St.

If you're touring towards Port Arthur, the restaurant at the Dunally jetty/slipway is wonderful.

 

[RooFlyer]

Well, just wow. I have just returned from one of the best restaurant meals I can remember. Now I'm not a great visitor to big name restaurants and don't think I have ever knowingly darkened the door of a Michelin starred place but I have had my share of decent culinary experiences.

I decided to take a friend to Frogmore Creek Winery (near Cambridge, just out of Hobart, on the road to Richmond) for her 60th birthday. She said she had heard it was nice.

Understatement of the year. It was a spectacular lunch. Not cheap, but worth every penny.

Its about 20 mins from down-town Hobart and about 10 mins from the airport . It used to be Meadowbank Wines. First appearances are quaint and views are over the vineyards towards the UTAS radio telescope.




When you enter, you go through the tasting area and gift shop (Lark Whiskey available! ). We were booked into the main restaurant, so went past the deck area to the right. That would be a great spot on a summers afternoon, but its still a bit fresh outside for me.




This is the kitchen and the edge of the restaurant seating area. I didn't photograph the main part, but most tables are against a wide wall of windows overlooking the vineyards.




Here are the menu(s) (the deck has more casual fare). There are two choices. You can go the multi dish (4, 5 or 6 dishes, with a set of matching wines) or a la carte individual dishes which were described as being between an entrée and main course in size. If you choose the multi-dish option, you don't know what's going to come out and it needn't be a dish on the a la carte menu. We chose the 4 dish option and as it happens all of them were on the a la carte menu. You can specify 'I don't want ....' from the dishes you get (and not just allergen type). So you shouldn't get any nasty surprises.




So lets start. On the left, an amuse bouche. The left hand was described as 'a cheese sandwich' (wafers of cheese crisp on a foam with some bread at the base and a small flower of pureed cauliflower).

On the right the first dish proper. Wow! Described as 'Smell the Roses' it was a rosette of cured salmon and accompanied by red cabbage, crisp soy glass etc. Also a small spray of rose scent into the air. It was a sensationally appealing start (it actually all looked better than the pics showed - the light wasn't kind and it was only an iPhone camera).



More to come!

 

[drron]

When it was Meadowbank didn't they have some accommodation there as well.I think though it was operated by someone other than the winery.
If so might go there in December.