Eat Like Ushi

After the initial scallop pie at Smith's in Salamanca Market (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/salamanca-market-and-smiths-specialty-pies-hobart-01-2016) and then earlier that morning at Jackman & McRoss (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/jackman-and-mcross-hobart-01-2016), I couldn't decide whether to remain happily full or go the full hog and try the final scallop pie on my list.

I walked through Salamanca Place and past the Bakehouse back and forth deciding. In the end I decided to reign down my greed and in the name of food research just do it.

The $7.50 had good thick scallops, similar to Smith's. The inside was very creamy curry but the pastry was a little soft unfortunately.

For the convenience I'd be happy to have the pie here especially considering the place is open 24/7?? On a Saturday, Smith's is so close that I'd go there inside. For a slightly more sophisticated pie with vegetables and good pastry I'd consider the detour to J&M. But let's face it, I'd eat any of them that was available.

One of the things I anticipated most about the trip to Hobart was the market, specifically the Saturday Salamanca Market. I'm always a fan of the local markets, to see and smell the cooking foods, the noises and bustle of people (hopefully not too many) and to look at the local produce available. I'm less inclined by trinkets and wares but I suppose you need something for everybody.

There were some nice truffle products, a stand that sold fresh wasabi paste (they wouldn't sell the actual root to the public unfortunately), but I most was looking forward to the Tasmanian scallop pie. This would be my first, and Smith's seemed a great start.

I thought a $7 pie was a little much, but scallops aren't cheap, they are the local delicacy, and now it's probably partially a tourist thing also. After eating them elsewhere, I realised this was actually cheaper than the others (given it's a food van I'm not surprised).

The pie contains 3 thick scallops, really meaty and impressive and a mild curry sauce with (what I think is) a light sprinkle of curry powder on top of the pie to engrave the name. It was a fine start especially straight after breakfast at Pigeon Hole.

Right at the end of the market, a mother and her two young children sold ginger beer. Extra zingy and gingery was the way to go and washed things down nicely.

Walking from the harbour up towards the other restaurant front along Elizabeth Street, you'll come across Mako Fresh Fish. Apparently it's quite well known for its fresh seafood and the Chinese tourists seem to like it. Not sure about the second part, but the first seems to be true.

There are two counters within the same store - a fresh seafood spot and a cooking area where fish and chips etc. can be purchased. Given it was around 4pm and I just needed something to tide me over until dinner, it was mainly a snack I was after. Of the fresh counter, the oysters seemed best.

When reading menus online, Hobart restaurants charge about $35-40 for a dozen oysters, even natural. By contrast, the same ones are around $14 at Mako. I sat down, paid $1 for a lemon (which was unnecessary in hindsight) and enjoyed the large, creamy, moderate strength delicacies at the central table. I also bought an arancini ball with cooked salmon inside. They were kind enough to microwave it for me but unfortunately the outside was hot but inside still cold. I won't make that mistake again.

It'd be a great spot for a full lunch (or dinner) - oysters from the counter, fish and chips (which is a bit pricey) from the cooked area.

In Hobart there is Pigeon Hole Cafe and Pigeon Whole Bakers. It is a little confusing but I suppose the silver lining (if there is one for the more confused persons out there) is that both are well rated and so ending up at either is probably ok. They are in quite different locations (perhaps 20mins walk) so it's not the biggest deal if you are supposed to meet someone at the other.

Because I was looking for a full brunch, Pigeon Hole seemed to be more appropriate and better rated for this. It was an early morning exercise walking across town to get there, but meant it was an easy and scenic descent straight to the parks and to Salamanca Market.

The menu is actually very small. Considering the cafe is too this is probably not a bad thing. Funnily enough Pigeon Hole serve Pigeon Whole bread. I wonder if they are linked somehow...

Chai tea was served with soy milk. There were visible spices in the pot but even after steeping the flavours weren't very strong. It tasted quite similar to black tea with milk in the end.

- Pigeon Hole slow baked beans, raclette & sourdough $13 - a warming dish of beans, cheese and bread. The dish could have used some kind of vegetable or other element to contrast;
- Soft baked eggs with jamon, smoked paprika, greens, grana & toast $12.9 - a good mix of ingredients with softer than usual baked eggs. The greens were quite distinctive in flavour. I couldn't really tell much paprika.

On both dishes the bread was actually very nice. Very nice crust, good centres and enriched with butter. I may not visit Pigeon Hole next visit (as there isn't really anything else on the menu I particularly want to try) but I'll have to make a bread journey to Pigeon Whole Bakers. For a cafe experience, I'm keen to try Machine Laundry Cafe which is in Salamanca Plaza and a much busier piece of real estate.

After the disappointment of having to sell my Friday MOFO ticket and fly out, I had a good couple of hours to spare before the airport bus came. After looking at my Google map starred locations, I decided the way to end the trip was with a scavenge for scallop pies. I'd only had one so far at the Salamanca Market and considering how little information there is about places in Hobart to get these, had to scrounge to every little piece I could find.

With my backpack and roller hand luggage, I walked through Salamanca, up some stairs, and uphill to the large corner building of Jackman & McRoss. Walking toward the place you can smell the bakery aromas out on the streets. Once inside I had a difficult time controlling myself as to order only things I could realistically take with me. It's a shame I didn't get to order some of their loaves.

The Scallop & Wakame Pie $8.2 had smaller scallops, mild curry, carrot, potato and corn, and encased in very good pastry. The Duck, Cranberry & Walnut sausage roll $5.9 was an excellent mix of less common fillings with a multitude of textures.

I also impulse bought their chai tea mix as well as a takeaway chai with soy. Their version was probably the most complex I've had. Thankfully not too sweet with a fennel/aniseed aftertaste I couldn't quite put my finger on and a hint of chilli spice. Unfortunately when I've tried to brew from their mix, the taste was quite plain and not nearly as exciting. I'll have to keep trying.

They have sit down space but I'm not sure if they serve more than their outstanding bakery fare.

It's a real shame I didn't get to sit down and eat at Daci & Daci. I visited on two separate occasions for takeaway and the range and quality were impressive. Honestly the main reason I sought it out was after reading that they have a fantastic rocky road (which is sitting waiting for me in the pantry).

I do think that charging an extra $5 for a sandwich to be eaten in rather than taken away is a little excessive. Maybe that's a good reason to get takeaway and go sit in a very nearby park or down by the harbour.

The first item I had was a sandwich (with smoked free range ham, Tasmanian smoked cheddar, rocket & spiced pear chutney). Because of the takeaway, I had it a day later after the bread had become stale. But nonetheless the serve was large, ingredients and flavours were nice and quite satisfying overall.

The second takeaway adventure was for a pissaladiere (with caramelised onion, roast tomatoes, black olives, feta & basil) and a tart (roast pumpkin, thyme, caramelised onion, goat's cheese & walnut). Both were sensational with the pissaladiere having strong flavours, the tart plenty of textures, and both good pastry.

It's quite a pricey place but the quality is excellent. I'll definitely be back, particularly to try some sweets (like a black cherry and pistachio tart).

03-2016

Unfortunately my rocky road went mouldy. I opened it around March 3rd (and the "best before" date was March 31, not a "use by" date) which was greatly disappointing. The mould was on a few surfaces as well as filling the crevasses made by the chocolate. I still cut a few samples just to try (which were fine but nothing overwhelming) but had to throw out a good 90% of it.

I emailed to provide feedback and it was suggested I should have put it in the fridge. Considering chocolate isn't typically refrigerated, the rocky road in store isn't refrigerated and nothing written on it suggests so, I thought that was an odd justification. In any case without my asking I was offered a replacement, and when I replied it was unnecessary as I live interstate, they offered to mail out. After a few weeks I received a Belgian cocoa hazelnut brownie which is sensational warmed and eaten with ice-cream. Thanks a lot!

After an evening of seafood dining at Drunken Admiral, the walk home up Elizabeth Street was briefly interrupted. Dessert? I don't mind a good dessert these days much more than I used to, although it's usually a pretty specific set of things that appeal to me such that I'll order it.

Gelato is one of those, rarely from a restaurant, almost always from an artisan. In Europe, the word artiginale means homemade and interpreted as more likely to be good.

Despite looking like a standard fluoro gelato place, Pel seriously impressed me. My baseline standard of pistachio was at a very high level. The gelato is extremely nutty and strong with much less sweetness than other versions. The servers also fill the cone such that gelato goodness is edible all the way to the bottom.

The other flavours are good and I can't be more specific, but the pistachio is fantastic for a connoisseur. I went back a few days later and this confirmed my memories.

I was really tempted to make a booking at Aloft. It was relatively new and recommended/anticipated in a few online readings. The location at the end of a pier and the Asian-inspired menu appealed, but it seemed to not have much in the way of one thing I was looking for - Tasmanian seafood.

Looking for specialty seafood restaurants in Hobart was surprisingly difficult. Other than a few Chinese restaurants, a load of fish and chips and Mako fresh fish store, not much really showed up. Drunken Admiral was recommended to me by the hairdresser at Just Cuts (of all places) and I'm glad she did, because I was at a loss up until that point.

The reviews were a bit mixed, but generally positive and the menu was enticing. Unfortunately I called to make a booking and was told they had nothing available that night. Damn. The default was going to be Fish Frenzy down by the pier but enroute walking down Elizabeth Street, I called again just to make sure. They had two seats at the bar for walk-ins, but it couldn't be reserved. After arriving 10mins later the bar seats had been taken, but a table had become free - the condition was it had to be vacated in 45mins.

I couldn't quite work out why the 45min limit. When the time was up and we departed at 2045, there were a heap of vacant tables all throughout the back seating area. Maybe they had a large number of tables being filled at 9pm but surely that wouldn't be usual, even for a Saturday night...

- Fish Market Chowder $15.9 - very creamy and rich rendition, one of my favourites probably only behind that from Boudin in San Francisco;
- Sydney to Hobart $116 - chilled Queensland tiger prawns (quite nice and sweet), freshly shucked oysters (beautiful, large and creamy like all I had in Hobart), fresh mussels (decent size and flavour), smoked Southern ocean trout (mildly smoked), chilled marinated peninsula octopus (quite soft and not chewy), with a fisherman's selection of fried scallops, prawns, squid, fish of the day (overall decent with the scallops being the best) & shoestring fries (quite good but served unsalted). Served with caper mayo, cocktail sauce, lemon wedges;

It was a lot of food and certainly too much for 2 people to eat within 45mins.

The food quality was overall very good (as you'd expect for a seafood place attempting to utilise local produce). I guess when the ingredients are that good, you don't need to do a lot with it. 

Next time I would order quite happily some different a la carte options first confirming which were local: more Southern Tasmanian oysters natural and dressed up, fried scallops, chipotle calamari, or the Admiral's Fresh Fish Pot.

I've always grown up taught that high-end Cantonese food is a waste of money considering you can get much cheaper and basically as good. I suppose the major difference tends to be the setting, the service and otherwise the quality ingredients. I haven't been to Flower Drum despite the accolades, even since it had the dip and was reinstated recently again near the top by AGFG.

My dining experiences in London showed me that high-end Chinese may be worth it. I never made it to Hakkasan (as noone I knew would do the £120 per head banquets with me) but the exceptional two meals at HKK (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hkk-london-04-2013) made me understand a potential difference between standard and fine.

Hobart seemed to have a surprisingly low number of highly recommended restaurants. Me Wah has a large number of accolades - multiple top Chinese or Asian restaurant and wine list in Hobart and Australia over the years. My airbnb happened to coincidentally be down the road and after 4 days in the bush and not being able to fork out $685 for the Tasmania Seafood Seduction cruise meant I wanted to look forward to the best of Tasmania's seafood.

I limited myself to Tasmanian seafood. The option was for either lobster or the scallops and squid. What would I do...

- Jellyfish and seafood salad

I can't see the cold dish on the menu, so perhaps it was on the specials list. Unless the usual crunchy cold dish salads I'm used to, this jellyfish was so soft my teeth slid through it. I didn't understand why this was - I'm sure what I like better but I'm definitely used to the crunch texture. The scallops, prawns and vegetables came together very nicely in a mildly acidic dressing.

- South Cape Tasmanian Crayfish 2.1kg at $25/100grams 

Do the maths. Yes it was ridiculously expensive for 2 people. I wanted a 600-800gram lobster (always taught those are the sweetest flavour from Japanese restaurants) but this was their smallest. After some deliberation, I said yes. YOLO... They sold it as not being too much by splitting into 2 courses (at an extra $25 expense which they didn't tell me about). Most of the time restaurants will show you (and maybe weigh) the live beast before taking it away to the kitchen.

1st course  was sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi. Unlike previous places (eg. Shoya in Melbourne) the lobster wasn't moving on the table. The soy accentuated the lovely sweet flesh which was a little less crunchy and firm and more soft than I've had previously.

2nd course was sauteed with ginger & spring onion, Shao Xing rice wine and two serves of e-fu noodles. This was the typical Cantonese style and the flavour was standard and perhaps a touch dilute, but the difference was the huge chunks of meat in the tail and claws. The e-fu noodles were a change from the standard egg noodles (both good in their own right).

- Double Braised Tasmanian Greenlip Abalone (served whole with braised flower mushroom, steamed seasonal vegetables, ormer reduction) $95

Beautiful abalone (which looked a tiny bit small in the shell) with a soft sliding texture that was lovely. My previous abalone experiences tend to be chewier or crunchier but this was remarkably soft. The flavour accented the mushrooms to form a nice juice.

We couldn't finish the lobster so took away the de-shelled remainder with noodles. Microwaved for breakfast at least the cost was split over 2 meals. Dare I say the flavour was better and more intense the next day?

The service was nice and sometimes a little over-attentive. There's only so many times a few mls of tea need to be refilled. But I suppose that happens when two people order a $525 lobster...

Next time I would order the local seafood but not the abalone or lobster (as I can't help partially agreeing with a review I read about Tasmanian seafood restaurants - the quality of produce is so excellent that the quality of cooking doesn't need to be standout). The XO sea scallops and spicy salt Bass Strait squid would be a must. I'd possibly finish it with local fish or meat (lamb, chicken, pork, beef) or a vegetarian main (such as tofu or eggplant).

Looking back now, it does strike me as slightly inconsistent that this place is rated TA 4.5/5 and FB 4.7/5 but on Zomato 2.9/5. There's always expected to be some discrepancy and I tend to opt for the Zomato ratings more (even though I don't quite understand how they are calculated sometimes since the change from Urbanspoon).

Anyway the travel companions were TA enthusiasts and to be fair I thought the name of the place showed some promise.

After a 4-day hike to Frenchman's Cap which included battering of my knees, most foods would've gone down quite well. For a cafe, the menu is rather limited. Pies, toasties and burgers with really not much other offerings that the word cafe springs into my mind (sure I've been coloured by the cafes in Melbourne, Canberra and even Hobart just prior).

Pies can be served with a few different options. Being calorie-unconscious, I selected the Mountaineer. The pies that day were limited to only plain beef and beef with onion unfortunately. My beef with onion pie came topped with rasher bacon and thick cheese sauce and served with reasonable sweet potato fries. The pie was quite average with all mince and no chunks of meat that I much prefer.

The Wombat toastie had eggplant, roast capsicum, semi dried tomato, rocket, feta, pesto and basil and topped with a couple of onion rings. I've been spoilt by cafe breads and sourdoughs and so white loaf seemed a bit of a letdown. But the ingredients inside were a nice typical vegetable combination.

Next time I'd probably look harder (and myself) to see what other options are around. If I ended up here again I'd certainly opt for the burger and see how that goes down.