Alana Lowes top foodie tips: Hobart

Its pristine clean air, rich soils and enthusiastic producers have created a restaurant and café scene to rival the best on the mainland.  Here are just a few of my favourite spots:
 
1. Wander into the Battery Point bakery-café of Jackman & McRoss and gawk at the display cabinet full of delectable pies, tarts, baguettes and pastries.  Treat yourself to creamy, flaky quiches and pick up a jar of the house made raspberry jam and the spicy chilli jam to take home. 

Jackman & McRoss
57-59 Hampden Road, Battery Point
 

2. Sample the freshest Tasmanian salmon at the Tassal Salmon Shop.  Situated in the heart of Salamanca Square, the deli is stocked with all things salmon and check their website for any upcoming salmon cooking classes.
 
Tassal Salmon Shop
2 Salamanca Square, Hobart
www.tassal.com.au/the-salmon-shop
 
3. Right next to the Tassal Salmon Shop you will find Smolt Restaurant.  Here you will indulge in Italian and Spanish influenced dining.  Think jamon serano with local pickled pear, pappardelle lamb ragu and house made bread.  My pick from the menu are the shucked-to-order Pacific Oysters sourced from Great Bay, Bruny Island.  A simple dessert of fig leaf gelato is also a must have.
 
Smolt Restaurant
2 Salamanca Square, Hobart
www.smolt.com.au
 
4. A surprising find was the New Sydney Hotel.  Don’t be fooled by the country style traditional pub façade, from the kitchen comes fun and packed-with-flavour dishes.  Nibble on lamb ribs with smoked yoghurt, preserved lemon gel and dukkah or dive in and uncover your adventurous side and order wallaby shanks with house made HP sauce and dill pickles.
 
New Sydney Hotel
87 Bathurst St, Hobart
www.newsydneyhotel.com.au
 
5. Tucked away near the Hobart waterfront, The Black Footed Pig Tapas Bar & Kitchen is casual dining at its best.  Delicious cocktails and a Spanish inspired menu filled with share plates.  The cured tuna, goat’s cheese with broad beans and peas simply melts in your mouth.
 
The Black Footed Pig
8 Brooke St, Hobart
www.theblackfootedpig.com.au
 
6. The most exciting addition to the Hobart dining scene is Aloft Restaurant.  A menu filled with exciting dishes of 5-spice crispy pigs ear, shitake mushroom dumplings and one of my favourite dishes on my trip to Hobart – Dashi broth with slow cooked Robins Island wagyu, burnished custard and native herbs.  Take a casual seat at the bar and admire the chef’s at work with the open kitchen or soak up the view of Sullivan’s Cove from a table against the floor to ceiling window.  This place is one to remember.
 
Aloft Restaurant
Brooke Street Pier, Hobart
www.aloftrestaurant.com
 
7. Peacock and Jones Restaurant and Wine Bar is tucked away in the historic sandstone warehouse of the Henry Jones Art Hotel.  Celebrating dishes so local they are named “Jeff’s vet’s drunk mulberries” and are literally that, Jeff, the executive chef, took his dog to the vet where he spied a tree laden with mulberries – they are now on the menu at Peacock and Jones.  The menu is constantly changing because the dishes are always driven by what Tasmania grows.
 
Peacock and Jones
33 Hunter Street, Hobart
www.peacockandjones.com.au