Food and Drink

Dark MOFO

The Dark MoFo Winter Feast is a food (and light) festival hosted by MONA, down at the wharf near Salamanca, Hobart. This year it is on from Thursday 19th June - Saturday 21st June, with the official Dark MoFo events being on in the weeks that lead up to this. The Winter Feast plays host to a surreal and eclectic mix of food stands in Princes Wharf No 1 and has a mix of smaller 'attractions' interspersed within this zone.

When I say smaller attractions, I mean smaller light installations, people in bizarre costumes and a morbidly decked out Ferris Wheel of Death scattered around amongst the food stalls, inside and out. If I'm honest, I don't understand some of the 'art' or even the 'artistic styling' of the performers. 2013 saw a haggedly dressed 1800's, Downton-like woman, lying in the walkway cursing people. Pretty odd. The cost this year is $10, despite it being a free event in 2013. We haven't been down the event yet this year but are heading down there on Saturday for our fill of delicious, often local cuisine.

Speaking from experience last year, Princes Wharf No 1 is lined with food stalls and the central areas of the space are taken up with impossibly long tables and chairs in order to seat the eating hoards. There WILL be lots of people down there and the queues tend to get pretty long, if you are really after something in particular then you will likely have to wait in line a long time, otherwise you could do as I do and take the opportunity to try foods from the less popular stalls. 

There is a good selection of beverages also available and outside areas make the most of the event by having heaters and seating areas for you to socialise and keep warm on the winters eve. The Ferris Wheel of Death is a new addition this year that will host 30 singers, twice nightly singing a commissioned piece of music to fit the occasion.

Its a good night of eating, and despite it being cold out, if you are prepared for that, a great chance to savour the winter season whilst having some Glu-wein (Mulled Wine) by a roaring firepit and friends.

Please note, pictures below here are from Dark MoFo 2013.

Fish 349

Fish 349 is a modern styled seafood restaurant in North Hobart. It is on Elizabeth St in the thick of the eateries and cafes in the area. It has a modern but casual atmosphere. It is counter-order, so there is no waitress taking orders. Check out the menu and decide from a good selection of food, ranging from mixed platters and burgers to starters and good old fish and chips. It's the kind of menu that you might find at many similar places, that's not to say it wasn't a good menu, it's just part of the amazing local fayre of Tasmania.

You get to choose how you want your fish, i.e. breaded, battered, crumbed etc and it has the usual range of fish that you might find anywhere in Tasmania. My wife would have like half of her scallops breaded and half battered but unfortunately they couldn't accommodate this. 

Service was quick and the staff were friendly. The food was good but a little pricey for what you might find in comparable places. Therefore, as usual, we were carrying our Entertainment book so got 25% off the bill so we cant complain too much.

Fish 349 Website

Sapa Rose

We decided to head out to Sapa Rose a Vietnamese restaurant this weekend. I’ve never had Vietnamese cuisine before, or at least never when eating out, and it was a great experience. The ambiance was relaxed and modern, it wasn't overly busy on the day we went but i believe that we went mid week and I imagine that peak time, peak season it would be humming nicely.

The menu at Sapa Rose is extensive, seemingly massive and we had real trouble choosing as there were loads of things that we liked the sound of. We did as I believe all first timers should and looked straight at the buffet menu. The prices were very reasonable seeing as you always get more than you need in these kinds of multi-course meals and the prices were about the same as a starter and main per person, except that we got a much larger variety of food and a good range of it too. We began with a kind of meatball wrapped in leaves that were to be dipped in a sauce. Second, we had the pancakes shown below.

The pre-main course was the pork in a fantastic sauce which was to be included with other things and wrapped in a lettuce leaf and eaten. 

Finally, we had a seafood combo (shown) and another beef dish. These were served with both rice and Vietnamese noodles.

As you can see the food was based around wraps and leaves. Vietnamese mint and regular mint being the particular stars. The helpful staff asked us if we’d had these kinds of dishes before and explained how to best incorporate all of the elements to make the perfect authentic Vietnamese mouthful. Generally speaking, we wrapped a bit of everything together in a lettuce leaf, but the pancake was delicious to finish off just on its own. By the end of the giant pancake and pork course we didn't want to fill up on mint leaves and waste all the delicious food to come.

We ended up with more food than we could eat but as they do a lot of take-aways, they were more than happy to box up our leftovers so we could take it home. We, again, used an Entertainment book voucher, saving 25% in total and feeling pretty good about the meal and the deal. I think we'd like to come back with a bigger group and have one of the even bigger banquets so that we get to try even more different dishes as part of the experience.

Sapa Rose Website

Cascade First Harvest

After reviewing the Cascade Brewery, Hobart, Tasmania, I really did have to follow up with one for something that I really look forward to. Last year I had a few of the select First Harvest beers. This year a got a carton!

Cascade First Harvest is a limited edition beer, consisting of only 5000 cartons that go Australia wide. It is based on the principal of picking the early 'first' harvest of hops from local vines at Bushy Park, Tasmania. The fresh green super hops is then added to the brewing process. The concept of the first harvest is based on picking just enough on one day to produce one single day of brew. The beer and its particular use of hops is seems to be a bit of a trial at creating a craft style beer, bringing it more to the mainstream, if only for a limited release. The hops included appear to be new varieties, named after the main roads in Hobart, MacQuarie, Brooker and Argyle, and don't seem to feature in any other beer-hops list.

The First harvest this year is 5.5% and as Cascade's own First Harvest tasting notes suggest it exhibits definite flavours of toffee and citrus. Being fresh and early hops (and the blend of the 3 they use), the beer is particularly hoppy, something that I really enjoy in a beer. Normally hops are dried and kept cold, to prevent oxidisation and strange flavours ending up in the beer, or god forbid, losing flavour too. The special thing about this hops is that it is green. The tender, fresh, full of life cones are used to make the beer instead of pre-drying and storing it.  Going back to the tasting notes for a second, I don't notice much of the stone-fruit, i'd say its a hint of, as is the aniseed bitterness.

It's pretty well balanced, if not slightly over fizzy, it whips up a real head when poured, even when done carefully. Then again, i was pretty excited to be drinking it again, so i'd probably given it a stir-up by accident. Cascade First Harvest costs ave. $20/4 or $99 for a full carton of 24. Its not cheap but for a once a year treat, please, do yourself a favour and give it a try.

The Cascade Pale Ale is a great second to this beer, and is a good all year round drink to enjoy. This beer arrives mid May each year, this year I got mine on 15th May but it may have been out for a few days prior to this as its not at all well advertised. In many bottle shops it seems practically hidden away, you wont likely see exterior signs saying they have it but you might see it actually on the counter once you're inside.

There is a promotional video on their website, also shared here:



See their Facebook page for more information. There are some classic old pictures of previous editions, the Brewery itself and their brew.

Henry Jones Art Hotel

Last weekend my wife and I wanted to head out for a meal, something nice, that wouldn't cost the Earth. The Henry Jones Art Hotel can be found on Hunter St, Hobart, down by the wharf here. It has a great vibe when you walk in, you can stay there for the night if you want to splash the cash, but from what i gather it isn't a cheap option. However, there is close parking, and for a free parking option, that we took, you can park over the road in the museum carpark after 6pm for no charge.

We walked in and the mood was sophisticated, with the dimly lit vibe. As the hotel is named, its full of art, most of it for sale and it ranges from photographic, to paint on canvass, to silks....its varied! It also included a load of old posters and signs that harped back to it's days gone by as a jam factory. We wanted to have a pre-dinner drink so headed right towards the IXL long bar. There was a live singer and a pianist (who also appears to be the accordion player at Daci & Daci bakery - another post). The mood was chilled out, but somewhat refined. Its getting a little wintery here at the time of writing this post and there was mulled wine wafting around but the bar tenders clearly knew their stuff as they were mixing a whole range of cocktails. Pouring, shaking, pinches of this, fire, the whole works. It was a really great start and we were really looking forward to our food - we weren't disappointed.

The menu includes two 'style' options, Classic or Evolution. If i'm honest, we didn't particularly spot the classic or radically contemporary aspects of our dishes, they were both fine dining, both included veg etc and were equally good in appearance. I'm sure there were nuances that we, mere mortals, wouldn't notice.

We started with oysters 3 ways, fresh, local, delicious. Complimentary hand made breads with an amazing salted caramel butter. That was such a surprise, delicious. I think if we see it anywhere, we'd have to but a pot. I chose braised pork with rhubarb compote and wafer veg and my wife had salted beef with all of the usual trimmings, 'done in an arty way' as we'd call it. Both fantastic, fall off the bone, excellent.

There was a palate cleanser included, which had a panna cotta and a tangy sorbet. Finally my wife had a malt souffle, which the maitre'd described as being like a Malteaser as it came with a side jug of hot chocolate sauce. It appears, that if my wife could only eat one thing ever again, it would be this and only this. The people on the next table even asked for a review as they were in awe of what she'd chosen. Warning, its a pretty big portion, so I shared it to go along with my coffee.

- I apologise for the quality of picture, I didn't major in food photography.

Overall, it was a great dining experience and whilst we'd had a drink or two in the bar, we'd brought them through to the dining area. If we had let ourselves go, I imagine we could easily have added another $50 on drinks to our bill and the rooms are reportedly $350 a night, so not a particularly cheap stay. Even though a meal here could be reasonably expensive, it was excellent value for money and we left with a bill of approx $90, not so bad after all.

If i'm honest, the Henry Jones Art Hotel  would normally not be a price option for us. It's not at all a criticism, it's a really nice place and one that we'd normally have to save for a special occasion, but the fact is, it's included in the 'Entertainment' discount book. When you'd normally spend $50 on the book for a years worth of discount options, you get close to that saving in one go here. I actually checked to see if the Henry Jones Art Hotel would be in the next, 2014-2015 edition, and it is! So if you have the Entertainment book, or are planning to get one, head here for sure. 

N.b. Pictures from Henry Jones Art Hotel website.

Daci & Daci

Daci & Daci is a fine Parisian style bakery - cafe. It is situated down towards the wharf end of the city at 9-11 Murray St, Hobart 7000. Daci & Daci (or Daci Daci for short) has a shred of mystery about it's name as everyone I speak to has a completely different pronunciation of its name. Day-see day-see, Da-key da-key or Da-chi da-chi, who knows?

Daci & Daci (Da-chi, da-chi to me) is owned by a couple who I’m sure could shed some light on their own name's pronunciation. If you're out there, please fill me in and I can endeavour to end the confusion.

The bakery has a delightful Parisian feel that is complimented on Sundays by a small 'street style' band including accordion, drum and double bass. Even when the band aren't in, there is gentle music filling the air. The feel is casual, yet upmarket and this place gets busy! Be prepared for a few minutes wait for a table, or take away to the park at the bottom of the road. There is a newly done out seating area on the path that features rain/sun shades for any normal 'Hobartian' weather.

The tables are tightly packed and add to the small street café feel. Needless to say, this place smells delicious and whether you're in for a loaf of bread or a cake, it's a nice experience.

The produce available is baked on-site and the delicate creations taste as good as they look, there is something on offer for everyone. A large counter featuring an old carved church pew stretches the length of the building and displays a fine array of cakes and pastries, whilst at the other end of the counter (near the till) you can find pies, sausage rolls and other savouries.

If you’re feeling the need, you can even buy an entire, stylishly decorated cake from the display fridge. These cakes are priced around $40 and the average eat in cake or pastry is priced at around $7.50. There is a very nice salmon and egg brioche which is more of a lunch meal. On a previous occasion we had the lemon curd tarts and some macarons, both something that I could easily enjoy again. The macarons are very reasonably priced for a quick, light snack at only $3. The pies ($12) look fantastic but I haven't sampled those yet! My wife now fancies the 'super macaron' as she named it, more formally know as the 'Strawberries and cream macaron tart' shown above. Maybe next time!

The coffee is good, with a rich creamer, and my wife reports that the hot chocolate is one of the best in Hobart. Of course, when you arrive water is brought over free of charge. It is table service, although you have to order yourself at the till, but that just gives you a chance to stare through the glass cabinets and try to whittle down your cake choice from 30 to 1.