Top Eats of Tasmania

On a recent trip to Tasmania I got to sample some of the best food the place had to offer. I can hands down say it was one of my favourite places to go for food and I could not fault any meal I had there.
Even a simple pub dinner in the small town of Swansea served an amazing chicken schnitzel with chips, salad and a deliciously thick gravy.

I want to keep this short and simple so i'll only list the top places I enjoyed the most.

Stillwater

Launceston has very few fine dining establishments since it's a quiet, relaxing town but you can still find places such as Stillwater. Sister restaurant to established steak restaurant; Black Cow Bistro, Stillwater serves modern Australian cuisine with fresh, quality Tasmanian ingredients.

Entree of fresh oysters

For starters we had oysters, hiramasa kingfish sashimi and grilled Tasmanian octopus. The oysters were very fresh and tasty with the saltiness from the sea still there. The kingfish was cut beautifully and had burnt orange shoyu, black caviar and cucumber on top; a very refreshing dish. The octopus was quite tender and had a delicious parsley and garlic puree underneath it.

Heirloom tomatoes with ricotta, baked trevalla and gnocchi

We shared two large plates of house gnocchi and baked market fish which was trevalla and also a side dish of heirloom tomatoes with house made ricotta. The gnocchi was cooked very well with brown butter, mint and goats curd. Not overly packed with punchy flavours but the burnt butter and goats curd went well with the smooth gnocchi pieces. The fish was absolutely amazing. Cooked just right so that it flaked apart with a fork and was accompanied by lemon potato, smoked almond, broccoli and furikake. The standout dish of the night for me. I do have to mention that the side dish of heirloom tomatoes and feta was a case of simple ingredients bursting with flavour. The tomatoes were juicy and ripe and the ricotta was creamy and smooth.

Faro

Faro is a restaurant located in MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in Hobart and is a section attached to the gallery. As soon as you step into the restaurant you are faced with a gigantic ball or eye which is an exhibit you can enter for an extra cost. We did not pay for this however so the inside is still a mystery to me.

Monagroni

The food at Faro is meant for sharing consisting of small and large plates. It has European influence with fresh Australian ingredients.

We started with the jamon iberico with peppers, olives and breadsticks. A light start to the meal, the jamon was thinly sliced and was a great way to open up the palette.

Jamon iberico with peppers and olives

We then had small plates of grilled quail and charred king oyster mushrooms. Both quite large for "small" plates which we weren't complaining about because they both tasted amazing. The mushrooms were cooked with cashew koji cream, onion miso, pickles and saltbush furikake. The grilled quail was in a garlic puree with zucchini, grapes, grappa, pickled basil and green wheat. For our large plates we ordered sweet corn and mascarpone risotto and sherry master stock poached chicken. The sweet corn risotto was covered in charred kale leaves and had a very sweet taste due to the corn. It reminded me of sweet corn soup. The chicken was tender and moist from the poaching in sherry and it sat on fennel cream and green olive and came with a skewered grilled prawn.

Grilled quail

Charred king oyster mushrooms

Sweet corn and mascarpone risotto

Sherry poached chicken

An amazing restaurant surrounded by an equally amazing view of the water and of the art gallery itself. Just a tip, you can't book this place for lunch (walk ins only) however dinner reservations can be made through their website.

Franklin

Another restaurant situated in Hobart, Franklin serves modern Australian cuisine with an ever-changing menu dependent on what's fresh and in season.

Scotch quail egg with sobrasada

We started with a small snack of scotch quail egg with sobrasada. These were bit sized soft boiled quail eggs covered in sobrasada and gently fried until crispy. The outside was crisp whilst the yolk inside stayed runny.

Close up of scotch egg

Sticking to the theme of share plates, we shared small plates of dry aged air beef tartare and blacklip abalone with cold ginger chawan mushi. Both dishes again outstanding and so full of flavours. Being asian, I hadn't eaten abalone outside of Chinese restaurants where it's usually steamed with soy and shallots. However at Franklin it was cooked in a pressure cooker until tender and then thinly sliced. It was a new experience for me and was damn tasty. It went well with the chawan mushi it was served on.

Beef tartare

Blacklip abalone

Our large plates were wood roasted littlewood lamb and roasted potato galette. The lamb was very cooked well being pink in the centre but charred on the outside and the potato galette was a stunning dish to look at. Layers of potato stacked on top of one another and cooked until it was super crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. A potato stack dreams are made of.

Roasted Littlewood lamb

Potato galette

We had a little bit of room for dessert for once so we ordered a cherry kernel custard with fresh cherries, plums and fig leaf granita. A refreshing end to another fantastic meal.

Tinnies

Just a short ten minutes drive away from Launceston airport is Tinnies! A no fuss pie shop selling all sorts of pies from chunky steak and mushroom to scallop pies to sweet pies such as apple. It was our first stop after a morning flight and were craving the famous Tasmanian scallop pie.

Assortment of pies

More pies!

As soon as we walked in we could smell the pies being cooked and the staff were also folding and filling fresh pies ready to be made into golden pastry goodness.

We ordered to a scallop mornay, scallop curried and Guinness steak and mushroom pie to share.

The scallop pie both mornay and curried were amazing. The curried pie had a mild curry sauce taste with plenty of juicy scallops throughout. The mornay was similar but with a cheesy sauce throughout. Very rich in flavour and texture and definitely a heavy meal considering it was our breakfast.

The Guinness steak and mushroom was equally as delicious. Chunky pieces of steak with a delicious gravy and thinly sliced mushrooms filled the flakey pastry.

Tinnies had so many options of pastries but not enough stomach space to consume them all. I'm glad my first scallop pie was at this place and can definitely say I'm a fan of the scallop pie. It's such a great little shop and if you're landing in Launceston you should definitely make the short trip to eat in or takeaway!

Czegs

We visited Richmond to check out the famous old bridge and explore the little shops in the area and decided to eat Czegs for lunch. We didn't know what to expect at first but after walking in it felt like a cosy little home which was filled with antique teapots and tea sets.

The nice thing about this place is that there is a backyard area where you can eat your meal out in the garden if the sun is out.

We ordered the mushroom, fennel and artichoke pasta, smoked salmon melt and seafood salad.

Seafood salad, mushroom, artichoke and fennel pasta, smoked salmon melt

All dishes were wonderfully made with beautiful ingredients. The pasta was so simple yet so flavourful. The mushroom, artichokes and fennel were lightly sautéed and the pasta tossed through it with a little salt and pepper.

The smoked salmon melt had smoked salmon, onions, capers, with brie cheese melted on top. The seafood salad had smoked salmon and grilled scallops on top of a mixed leaf salad and a creamy dressing.

There was also a variety of desserts and teas but we were all way too full to fit in an afternoon tea.

If you're visiting Richmond I would recommend Czegs for either a lunchtime meal or afternoon tea. Lovely service in a cosy homelike setting.

Tasmania was a beautiful place with an amazing food scene. Over time it will only grow larger and I will definitely be back for more great eats!