No longer a ’20 something chick who likes to eat out in and around Cairns’ I recently celebrated my 30th birthday and MS who knows the way to my heart (food and travel) took me to Tasmania a couple of weeks ago to celebrate.  Having travelled to Tassie a few times to attend the Maritime College in Launceston and Beauty Point for various work courses I hadn’t actually had the opportunity to spend any ‘leisurely’ time down there until now.

With jaw dropping scenery, a thriving food culture built on a diverse range of produce, a plethora of vineyards selling some of the finest drops of pinot noir you’re likely to ever taste, excellent roads and sh*tloads of native roadkill it’s easy to see why Tasmania has been named in Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Regions to travel to in 2015.  For such a small state there is much to see and do in Tasmania and in an ideal world two weeks would be a perfect amount of time to spend there however due to work schedules and upcoming surgical procedures (no I am not getting a boob job) five days in Tassie was all we could muster.

We flew in and out of Hobart via Melbourne on Jetstar, somehow managed to bypass the Jetstar baggage Nazi’s for the entire trip down and back to Cairns.  I must have just been lucky because my carry on was 8.5kg before I even left home – slightly above the 7kg allowance.  We picked up our rental and headed into the city to our room at the Travelodge on Macquarie Street.  Clean simple rooms around the $120 a night mark within good walking distance to pretty much everything and most importantly Salamanca Place is only about a 10 minute walk.

That night I had booked us in for dinner at lovacore restaurant Ethos, a place I picked after reading about in a recent issue of Gourmet Traveller.  For those of you wondering what a ‘lovacore’ restaurant is according to Wikipedia it’s a ‘person that’s interested in eating food that is locally produced, not moved long distances to market’ with the term being ‘spawned as a result of interest in sustainability’.  From the sounds of it we were certainly in the right place because there’s no shortage of this type of thing in Tasmania.

The restaurant itself is housed in a space over 190 years old and illustrates an important part of Hobart’s history.  We were impressed from the moment we entered the arched laneway to Ethos, walking through the thriving veggie garden and onwards into the main part of the restaurant.

The menu at Ethos is determined by the seasonal produce and offerings that arrive that day therefore each day it is different.  MS and I chose the 6 courses for AU$85 without wine ($160 with a wine pairing) and instead chose our own drinks from the menu.  I chose a Pinot Noir from the Huon Valley while MS ever the non wine drinker chose the locally made Pagan Apple Cider.

Huon Valley Pinot, don’t mind if I do

Over the 6 courses we dined on dehydrated kingfish, rats tail radish, Bruny Island goat and bonito just to name a few things but my personal favourite was without a doubt the Egg, Asparagus, Kombu (kelp), Magentaspreen (some weird leafy vegetable) and Chickweed (another plant) dish.  I know it sounds complicated but it really wasn’t.  The flavour combination of the of the egg yolk, tempura asparagus and seaweed was exquisite.

Egg, Asparagus, Kombu, Magentaspreen and Chickweed (the reason it doesn’t look like much is because I took this photo after I had already eaten some, whoops)

Bonito, Spring Onion, Apple and Lime

Bruny Island Goat with Smoked Eggplant, Beetroot and Cucumber

The entire meal was excellent with exceptionally knowledgeable, albeit seemingly nervous staff to boot but more importantly I love eating somewhere with such an emphasis on fresh, local ingredients.  It really excites me and by excited I mean the ‘gosh what’s going to happen next’ kind rather than the piss your pants kind.  Before I move on I must give a mention to the house made sourdough with butter that is churned in house for a week before serving.  Yes typical me, I go to an expensive restaurant and the most memorable thing for me is the bread.

House made butter that takes a week to make with red sauerkraut salt

Homemade sour dough bread slathered in that homemade butter

The next day we headed up the road to highly recommended café Ginger Brown.  I must admit we were both a little disappointed when we arrived.  To put it bluntly it was an unassuming café on a random backstreet of Hobart.

Random Hobart backstreets on our way to Ginger Brown but look at that Mt Wellington back drop!

I was kind of hoping to have some delightful harbour views while sipping my morning flat white but the predominantly brown vintage décor would have to do.  I chose the House baked crumpets with whipped vanilla bean butter, caramelised nectarines and honey whilst MS chose the Red wine braised beef cheek omelette with sweet chilli, avocado, fried shallots and bean shoots (with a side of bacon of course).

Red wine braised beef cheek omelette with sweet chilli, avocado, fried shallots and bean shoots (with a side of bacon).  This photo just doesn’t do it justice.

Despite the immense ‘heaviness’ of his breakfast MS enjoyed it but couldn’t finish it, I however nearly licked my plate clean.  My breakfast of House baked crumpets was in fact one of the best breakfasts I have ever had the pleasure of eating.

House baked crumpets with whipped vanilla bean butter, caramelised nectarines and honey. Pretty sure that’s the perfect breakfast right there.

Next up we headed to Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) which houses the largest privately owned art collection in Australia and without going into it too much because no doubt it’s either somewhere you have already been or heard of, neither of MS or I particularly enjoyed it.  Call me uneducated, call me ignorant, call me what you like but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.  According to the lady at the front counter apparently peoples views on MONA are few and far between – some love it, some hate and some just leave confused.  Having said that I highly recommend that anyone visiting Hobart takes a trip to MONA to see it for themselves.

One of the more controversial exhibits at MONA… ‘The wall of vaginas’ which features over 70 real plaster vaginas

Beyond the art the museum itself is very impressive having cost over $70 million to build, including a winery, a brewery and a restaurant as well as a sweet a** outdoor area where you can sit on bean bags whilst drinking wine and eating cheese.  Pretty sure that right there is my lifelong dream.

This photo doesn’t really capture how sweet a** this place actually is but you get the gist

At the MONA’s above ground Wine Bar (yes there is a below ground one also) MS ordered a Lemon Tart that he didn’t realise was a Lemon Tart (he sure is special sometimes) while I ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and some cheese and biccies to ‘nibble on’.

My morning tea of Shropshire Blue Cheese (not from Tassie) with Lavosh, Quince Paste and Fig (AU$10). Don’t you wish all morning teas were like this?

After our MONA visit we headed up to the top of Mt Wellington for stunning 360 degree views and if it wasn’t for little bit of cloud cover to the north I am pretty sure we could have almost seen Melbourne the views are that vast.  Before we made the two hour drive to Launceston where we were booked in for the next night we drove in completely the other direction (stupidly at my request) to Peppermint Bay for a bite to eat.

The Peppermint Bay restaurant in Woodbridge was also suggested by one of my readers (thanks Bernard) as somewhere to visit and after having a look at it online I decided it was a must-do.  The food there was great with an exciting lunch menu and a few specials on the board but the best part was probably the location.

Woodbridge cold smoked trout, labneh, sourdough and lemon (AU$18)

The former resting place for Tassie favourite ‘The Stackings’ Peppermint Bay looks out over the pristine Tasmanian waterway towards Bruny Island where you can watch the barges making their way in and out of Hobart whilst enjoying a glass of wine and lifes simple pleasures.

Peppermint Bay would also be a fantastic place to go for dinner and drinks during winter.  With the fire crackling in the background and the cold chill of the outside air pressing up against the floor to ceiling glass windows I think it would be absolute magic.  Yes it’s a tough life but someone’s got to do it.

Stay tuned for my next post about Launceston and the Tamar Valley Wine Region xox

To plan your own trip to Tasmania check out the Discover Tasmania website here