Last week, DS and I had the pleasure of hanging out in Hobart, Tasmania. Tasmania is a place we’ve been wanting to go to for ages, so it felt a bit surreal to finally be there and doing that trip. We jammed a lot of things into our days in Hobart, most notably always starting with a great breakfast. I’ve put this post together to share the breakfasts we had and hopefully give you some ideas for what to eat if you’re ever in Hobart!
(For those who are interested, we stayed in this incredible Airbnb in West Hobart. It’s even better than the photos and the hosts have designed this little space for maximum comfort, storage and ‘coolness’. Highly recommend!)
Born in Brunswick
On our first morning we headed to BORN IN BRUNSWICK as it was very highly recommended by our dear friend AKB. The minute you step into the space you feel like you’re in Melbourne – I guess the name makes sense! It’s a huge open space with big open window, lots of white and greenery and interesting light features dangling from the ceiling. The menu is also very creative.
DS had the Fig & coconut millet porridge, rhubarb, poached quince, compressed pear, walnut ($16). No joke, he said it’s the best porridge he’s ever had! I had to look up what millet was (it’s a cereal crop), but the texture of this dish is irresistibly smooth. The rhubarb, pear and quince was also the perfect combination of sweetness as to not overpower the dish and make it sickly sweet. And the flowers and pomegranate seeds do make it look very pretty!
I had the Pine smoked mushrooms, braised sunchoke, slow egg, silverbeet, wild rice crisps, kunzea cured yolk ($24). It was our waiter’s favourite dish! It kind of looks like the forest floor, don’t you think? I love the crunchy textures contrasting the smooth mushrooms. So it turns out sunchokes are Jerusalem artichokes. I always think they look like potatoes! The cured yolk added an interesting, almost sweet and sour flavour to this dish which I grew tired of after a while. I think DS was definitely the winner for this breakfast!
Pollen Tea Room
On one of our days in Hobart we decided to wander around and discover Battery Point. There’s lots of cute cafes and shops in the area! There was a particularly large group of people at JACKMAN AND MCROSS (further down this post), but this time we opted for the more low-key POLLEN TEA ROOM. It’s a gorgeous little cafe in a small, sandstone house. There’s a cute garden out the back as well, which I imagine would be great in summer. We took our seats on wooden benches and both ordered a hearty, wintry breakfast.
DS had the Pesto Eggs – two baked eggs with pesto, feta, herbs & sourdough toast ($15.50). At first he was confused about how to eat it as he didn’t have a spoon, but he soon settled into dipping the bread into the runny egg and pesto mixture. This dish was really warming and hearty, perfect for a winter’s morning. After being jealous of DS’s porridge yesterday, I ordered the Winter Porridge – oats & chia soaked in vanilla almond milk, stewed fruit, almond praline, cinnamon & house-made coconut yoghurt ($17). It was definitely a more traditional definition of porridge, but I loved it nonetheless. The almond praline was a great little crunchy addition, and I love that it was a healthy, dairy-free breakfast option.
I also had an interesting drink! (I know, I never talk about drinks on this blog…food first!) I’m not a coffee drinker so I usually order a tea or chai latte. The Teatribe Wattleseed Chai – Wattle seed chai brewed with milk ($6) sparked my interest. Interestingly, you can really taste the wattleseed! Wonder if you can get this anywhere in Sydney?!
Jackman & McRoss
On the day we went back to Battery Point to check out JACKMAN & MCROSS, Hobart gave us another beautiful winter’s day. We loved this clear view of Mount Wellington from just down the road!
You’re immediately confronted by the huge array of pastries the moment you walk into JACKMAN & MCROSS. They do have a huge breakfast and lunch menu though, written up on a chalkboard in the dining area. I didn’t take down exactly what we had unfortunately so here’s what I remember. DS had the Potato rosti with smoked salmon, avocado and horseradish, which sounds epic and looked epic as well. Unfortunately this dish was just so-so. The potato rosti tasted a little bland – it really wasn’t anything special.
I felt much the same about my breakfast: Eggs benedict with ham on brioche. Sure, the brioche was delicious. But it made me think that JACKMAN & MCROSS’s strong point were really the baked goods. The ham was a tad flavourless and the bearnaise sauce was very citrusy which was not to my liking. I ordered a croissant on the side as well. First up, I’m suspicious of round croissants…they should be long! It also wasn’t very crunchy, just kind of soft all round. I’m not an expert on croissants but this is not how I like them!
We ended up getting some takeaway pastries as well, which were delicious. My opinion is: go for the pastries and get stuff takeaway, but I wouldn’t necessarily eat in. I’m sure others have had different experiences. Maybe we just went on a off day? I’d love to hear from you!
And there you have it: our breakfasts in Hobart. Stay tuned for some more Tassie meals that we had!
BORN IN BRUNSWICK
410 ELIZABETH ST
NORTH HOBART
http://www.borninbrunswick.com.au/
57 HAMPDEN ROAD
BATTERY POINT, HOBART
https://www.facebook.com/Jackman-and-McRoss-139201119459938/
