Another perfect meal at Restaurant Tasman, Hotel Grand Chancellor. A single oyster with chilli and lemon to whet our appetites was followed by gorgeous poached rainbow trout with a crab remoulade and gazpacho sauce.
My extreme favourite followed – the crayfish cannelloni with a burnt orange sauce, which has to be THE best dish there, then pork belly topped with pan fried duck breast and served with baby peas.
Organic clover country lamb with a besan fritter, baby beets and cucumber served on a minted yoghurt sauce finished the savoury dishes. A quenelle of rich dark chocolate mousse combined with a quenelle of with beautifully citrus-y mandarin sorbet on aniseed soil completed what was, for us, a splendid 5 course degustation.
The 5 course tasting menu costs $70, and is excellent value. Once again, I was desolated to observe that we were the only locals in a restaurant with three tables occupied. The Atrium Bar was buzzing, as was the Concert Hall. I would have loved some of those punters to join us in the restaurant.
This restaurant joins other top class places in Hobart
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17 comments:
Looks great Rita, but you won't find me there (did I hear you go phew with relief).
I wish it well but these arty little plates do not do it for me.
Give me a starter and a Proper main course of meat and two or three veg and I'm your man.
Baboomba!
Looks like Steve has been bullied into removing his post
Sir Grumpy - your back! Booyah! Nothing to do with this flash restaurant but do you have any experience of the "wood-fired" pizza joint at Margate? Are they any good? The pizzas I mean.
Looks and sounds beautiful Rita. Was the degustation from the menu or was it offered like last time? I'd love to try it.
Sir G - I echo Fringe Dweller's comment on your returning to comment! Coincidentally, my next post was going to be simply "Please come back Sir Grumpy"!! I have missed your commentary on my blog.
Anon - Steve wasn't bullied into removing the post. He posed a general question to anyone who might know the answer, on his blog, then copped a lot of fallout, which he didn't have the inclination to respond to, given that he didn't know anything about the subject, which led him to ask the original question.
Christina - I don't think it's on the menu but anyone who requests a dego can have it, I am told. It really was lovely but as I had so recently reviewed it, there wasn't much more I could add to my last review. Five of us lunched yesterday at Meadowbank. I have absolutely raved about my lunch there in the month that has passed since I last ate there. Yesterday I found the entrees and mains very bland, and was quite upset to not enjoy my food as much as last time. It presented beautifully, but was unspectacular in taste. The desserts more than redeemed the meal (we ordered one of each, so we could sample a full cross-section!) but the damage was done by then.
I thought it was just me, but our table consisted of two chefs and two hospitality workers, and everyone agreed on their summation of the food.
In hindsight, I enjoyed the Wednesday meal at HGC more than Sunday's Meadowbank feast.
Hello Fringe Dweller,
I've been there and our pizza was very nice, thankyou. However, it wasn't the one we ordered.
A customer walked out with about three and we got one of his. It was still very nice.
Hello Rita, I always read your blog and love it. Keeps one in touch, don't you know!
My comments about Tasman look a bit churlish in hindsight...the stuff looks world class.
But you probably know I go for the soup and main course approach rather than little plates.
Although, the latter can be relaxed and nice as you sip a bottle or three of something nice with great friends.
It must be tough on a hotel in little old Hobart. They have the skills here, obviously but getting support is a struggle, day in, day out.
I shall say a litttle prayer to the god of bounty, or Lt Spock...
I hope Tasman lives long and prospers...and all of us too!
PS Fringe Dweller, it was a little while back I had a wood-fired at Margate, so I hope the cook's the same.
It's a rollercoaster ride in staff around the place these days!
PS Rita, hope you're well.
By the way, me and Lady Fair had bonzer pois on our meanderings today.
A little bakery tucked away in the commercial hub of Huntingfield.
It's just called The Bakery and Strudel Place, or something, and looks like a wholesale business that just throws open its door to passing trade.
As we were just along a couple of doors at The Hunt recycling, we decided to bog in.
Very, very nice chunky beef pie and good chicken curry one too warm from their pie oven.
I'm sure Steve from RVL, who loves his pies, would enjoy these.
They also do soups and family meal thingos.... and have blackboard specials. We'll be back.
I hope they live long and prosper too!
Thanks for the feedback on Margate Lord Grump. What is "pois"? I Googled it and am presuming it is something other than "post orgasmic illness syndrome" but none of the other definitions seem apt either (that is soooo grammatically sh1t I can't believe I just wrote that). Anyway, leaving that aside I am off to Huntingdale post haste. Can't beat a good chunky beef.
Here's another one for a learned Kingborough gourmand - how is Dom's in its new guise?
Fringe Dweller - I think Sir G was meaning 'pies' when he wrote 'pois'. He was just writing it the way it is usually pronounced!
Doh!
Yes, Pois - as in Magpois.
The new Dom's is its own man. We've been and the menu is not as long and varied as Dom's was ....but it is early days.
No rendang, alas, but lots of stir-fries. Very reasonable price-wise and very friendly and helpful staff.
The usual black bean, chilli dishes etc.
I might go in again on Friday. They are not open for lunch... just 5pm onwards.
Let's support them.
PPS
Believe new Dom (!) is a chef who worked at Written On Tea.
Never eaten there but that place seems popular.
taste of tasmania...I'm glad that pizza in a cone is not included this year...so what...its a novelty item only...not representive of the wonderful food available here and an embarrassment if you ask me....
By the way, Rita, we were down in Cygnet on Friday and popped in to have a look at Lotus Eaters.
I have to say the blackboard menu is a bloody mess.
It's written all squashed up and it takes you a while to realise there is a star or asterisk to denote a new dish.
Considering every bloody ingredient is itemised in a dish...
spinach leaves. olive oil, cheese, chicken with this and that and this and that, they seem all to run into one another. (that list of mine was not the real one, there was so much I couldn't remember anything now).
It is just such a squashed-up eating experience too, we just walked off. There were people in the front hovering and people in the ``narrows'' hovering and people hovering in the narrows waiting for coffee etc, that we just moved on, despite the warm greeting.
We felt guilty, but......
Wonder if Sir G will be labelled as a Lotus Hater now by those senstitve types?
No, now, be good. It's called constructive criticism.
In a busy restaurant with people milling about everywhere, it was hard to get a chance to look at the blackboard lunch menu and the absolute landslide of listed ingredients made it almost impossibe to weigh up the five or so starred dishes.
It's a bad trend, some places even go on to list where the meat, fish, veggies etc are sourced from!
Keep it simple, I says. After all, I'm a bit simple myself.
If I had a magic wand I'd conjure up a far better premises for them but I don't have one.
Still applaud their work though and their friendly welcome. So there.
Speaking of Cygnet, the whole town was busy due to the Health and Herb expo including the RVL they couldn't even fit us in!!!
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