TasWeekend: Old Bank on the money in Geeveston

STEVE CUMPER: IT seems that every few years in the Huon Valley, a new food place pops up like a hidden daffodil waiting for spring.

Home-baked treats at The Old Bank cafe in Geeveston.

IT seems that every few years in the Huon Valley, a new food place pops up like a hidden daffodil waiting for spring. For Geeveston, an easy hour’s drive south of Hobart, that newish bloom is the Old Bank.

Geeveston is also home to celebrated sushi temple Masaki, which has put the small town on the culinary map for several years.

For a wider local population of 1500, Geeveston boasts a butcher of renown, a baker, an award-winning pie roadhouse, a wonderfully eclectic Turkish bazaar of a take-away, Masaki, the Naked Bike Cafe and now the revamped Old Bank.

Just down the road is venerable Port Huon institution Ros’s Trading Post, where the burgers and breakfasts are legendary, as well as the refurbished Kermandie Hotel.

With this concentration of eateries in such a small area, I would say Geeveston has a shot at title of “food capital of the Huon”, and in the Old Bank I’d say it has a contender for best cafe.

The building, a former bank, had been incarnated as a cafe several times, but in this model the new owners have pulled everything into sharp register.

The space is light and contemporary, with black-and- white photos on the walls and mixed taxidermy, assorted ephemera and, the leitmotif of any good country cafe, heaps of housecooked goodies on the counter.

On my visit, a cold and blowy Tuesday morning, the cafe was warm and welcoming, the co-owner Dianna Cruz greeting all who escaped the street with a cheerful smile and genuine hospitality. Nice touches such as kangaroo skins on the seats act as cushions or lap blankets depending on your whim.

The warm and welcoming interior of the Old Bank Cafe in Geeveston. Picture: STEVE CUMPER

The brekkie and lunch menus are both on the smallish side, which is often an indication of an assured hand in the kitchen. Judging by my hearty and delicious breakfast, my views were pleasantly confirmed.

House-baked beans, so often undercooked and flavourless in lesser hands, were amped up to 11 with the addition of some spiced chorizo.

Perfectly poached eggs on toasted Summer Kitchen sourdough and some Nicholls Butchery bacon completed the dish. My only quibble was only having one slice of the toast to do the mopping up, and some relish or sauce would have made a lovely breakfast even better.

The coffee by Oomph was excellent — not too hot and with that reassuring raft of foam one expects with a properly made latte.

As I paid my $17.50 bill at the counter, I wrestled with the temptation to buy one of the exquisitely fresh fruit and custard tarts on display. When so many other places simply buy in their sweets from the big catering suppliers, finding goods made in-house is a rare treat not to be missed.

It is inspiring to witness such an effort being made at the Old Bank, from the design of the room to the simplicity of the menu, the butcher’s twine-wrapped sandwiches and the assorted baked treats on the counter.

This capacious place deserves to be busy and the Huon Valley has unearthed another gem of a place.

The Old Bank

13 Church St, Geeveston, 7116

03 6297 9922

Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 3pm

Our regular reviewer, Graeme Phillips, is on leave.

The exterior of the Old Bank Cafe in Geeveston.

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Originally published as TasWeekend: Old Bank on the money in Geeveston