New menu at hip Hobart eatery is streets ahead
Come to Dana for the food, stay for the excellent service and laid-back atmosphere with a menu that has something to please everybody, writes TasWeekend food reviewer Alix Davis
Food and Wine
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There was a nice buzz in the dining room at Dana Eating House on a recent weekend evening. To one side of us, a table of older couples, to the other a pair who seem to be in the very early stages of their relationship (I’m thinking second date and their first at a restaurant). Me? Eavesdropping? No! Just paying close attention to my fellow diners.
While the temperature outside is a long way from the humid climes of South-East Asia, there’s definitely a tropical vibe inside thanks to the raw brick walls draped with plants and a menu that draws inspiration from cuisines including Thailand, China and Japan. Dana Eating House has been serving up sophisticated Asian-inspired dishes to Hobart for bang on three years now and the most recent menu, introduced a few weeks ago, keeps some old favourites while adding some tasty new dishes.
The first new dish we try are the san choy bao spring rolls ($9 each), which deliver exactly what it says on the packet – all the flavour of classic san choy bao wrapped up neatly in a crisp spring roll wrapper. This is usually a dish that requires a clean-up crew as fragrant mince escapes its lettuce cup, but this iteration is much easier to eat and the dipping sauce is positively drinkable.
Wallaby dumplings ($14 for four) are another new addition and silky dumpling wrappers envelope dense wallaby filling. The sauce puddled around them is a rich blend of red vinegar and lip-tingling Szechuan pepper – slurp it if you like!
Sweet and sour crispy eggplant has long been a customer favourite and it’s still on the menu – serving up meltingly soft eggplant in a crispy batter with an almond-based satay sauce.
Brothers Dan and Ollie Lancaster own Dana Eating House and, together with general manager Louis Edwards and head chef Joe Davis, have a long history in hospitality and South-Asian restaurants in particular. The menu is more about “a style of dining, than particular dishes,” Edwards tells me. “Dishes are designed for sharing, hawker-style. South-East Asian is pretty special cuisine and we use that as a point of inspiration. While some dishes are a straight up and down version of an original, others offer a different take.”
Also inspiring is the team’s commitment to charity. ‘Dana’ means “the practising of generosity” in Sanskrit and a portion of every bill goes towards a pool that is distributed to charity. Beneficiaries have included Hamlet, Hobart City Mission Food Drive, Lifeline Tasmania and Share the Dignity. “We’ve all been fortunate,” says Edwards,” and we want to give back to those who’ve aided us along the way or who need some help.” Guests also have the option to add a donation to their bill.
My husband is a fan of massaman curry with beef ($46) – a rich and flavourful Thai curry that draws ingredients from Persia, the Indian subcontinent and the Malay Archipelago (such as cardamom, cinnamon and cloves) and then combines them with classic Thai ingredients (such as lemongrass, galangal and shrimp paste). The resulting dish is full of chunks of fall-apart beef, comforting potato and crisp-tender green beans. There’s rice to mop up the plentiful sauce and a sprinkling of fried shallots on top for crunch.
It’s been a while since I raved about Brussels sprouts here (too long, in my opinion), but the wok-tossed Brussels sprouts ($21) here are worth writing about. It’s an Asian spin on my favourite sprouts with bacon combo – they’ve replaced the bacon with lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and topped it with fish floss. The sprouts have plenty of bite left in them, a bit of char and plenty of flavour. Dare I say that the leftovers were even better for lunch the next day?
Our final main was the bang bang chicken salad ($25). Thought to have originated from China’s Szechuan province in the early 20th century, the name of this dish comes from the Chinese word ‘bang’ meaning stick and a reference to the stick that was used to tenderise the meat. I love the fresh crunch and flavours of this salad, that comes with a szechuan dressing – it’s definitely one I’ll be eating over summer and next time I’ll be adding the house-made chilli oil as well.
Come to Dana for the food, stay for the excellent service and laid-back atmosphere with a menu that has something to please everybody.
Dana Eating House
131 Murray St, Hobart
Opening hours: Wed-Thurs, 5pm - late; Fri - Sun, 12pm-late
On the menu
Wallaby dumplings, $14; san choy bao spring rolls, $9 each; sweet and sour crispy eggplant, $24; Bang Bang salad, $25; massaman curry with beef, $46; wok-tossed Brussels sprouts, $21.
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