Tasmania’s 24 best new cafes, bars and restaurants of 2023
Tasmania jealously guards its hard-earned reputation as a hotbed of rich produce, wine and spirits. These are the new kids on the block that helped our state push that reputation further this year.
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Tasmania punches well above its weight in burnishing Australia’s reputation as one of the great foodbowls of the world, and it's a reputation Tasmanians jealously guard.
Scottsdale pork, Smithton dairy, Coal River and Tamar Valley wine, Huon Valley apples – in each of the state’s four corners there is produce so fine that the region’s name becomes a signifier of its quality.
With such delicacies abounding, it is little surprise that a diverse community of restaurants, cafes and bars renowned for their imagination and dedication have sprung up to turn the uncut diamonds of Tasmania’s produce into the polished gems of gastronomy.
Here are 24 of the best newcomers that helped further our state’s reputation as the jewel in Australia’s food crown.
MARLA SINGER, 34-36 CAMBRIDGE RD, BELLERIVE
Introducing itself in July, Marla Singer is named for Helena Bonham Carter’s character in the classic 1999 film, Fight Club.
Housed in a freshly refurbished shopfront, with views out to the marina, this neighbourhood eatery offers a simple but chic brunch and lunch menu by day then morphs into a must-visit wine bar-cum-restaurant in the evenings, Mercury food writer Alix Davis previously reported.
Diners can expect a tight menu that spins locally sourced produce into dishes of marvellous creativity and flair, whether it be house-made tortellini with scallop mousse, taleggio custard profiteroles, or basil ice cream with candied rhubarb.
LITTLE V, 68 ST JOHN ST, LAUNCESTON
The misconception that vegan food must be stodgy and unappealing to those raised with meat and dairy has been blown out of the water by Little V, which is owned by long-time purveyor of plant-based foods, Eliza Allan, and her partner Tom Willis.
The pair are disciples of plant-based athlete Rich Roll, who advocates a “rainbow on a plate” – every colour must be represented.
“We’ll look down on our plate and say, oh, we’re missing red, we’ll go get some pickled ginger,” Mr Willis previously told the Mercury.
Little V’s menu is tight in the extreme – just three or four options per night – but each dish is packed with flavour, care and, yes, colour.
Recent creations have included ginger spiced dal with basmati rice, housemade masala pickled vegetables and pappadums, and ‘meatballs’ with fresh dill, pickled onion, pan roasted garlic and sesame green beans, and salsa verde.
FELLINI THE ITALIAN RESTAURANT, 8/18 HUNTER ST, HOBART
Fellini, which joined the MACq 01 stables just a few months ago, boasts a trio of heavyweights at the helm, former Sydney Swans player Shane Fell, owner of Hobart’s Fellini Fashion, Dino Mione, and Italian chef Daniele Cavallucci, a 30-year veteran of kitchens.
Diners can expect a traditional Italian menu done right, with dishes and techniques lifted from right across the peninsula.
“We want to introduce those Italian small bites and dishes from regions around Italy to show the other side of Italian food,” Mr Mione previously told the Mercury.
Expect dishes such as lasagne del contadino (traditional lasagne with cauliflower, broccoli, pesto, bechamel and parmesan), bufalini pizza (mozzarella, tomato, prosciutto, garnished basil and olive oil) and pappardelle ossobuco ragu.
THAMEL HOUSE, 146–148 CHARLES ST, LAUNCESTON
Thamel House, which fuses Nepalese cuisine with contemporary Australian classics, is named for Kathmandu’s famous night-life district.
The restaurant is owned by four brothers who have fulfilled a long-held dream by going into business together.
Momos, chicken shapale (meat-stuffed pastry) and chicken choyla (spiced and marinated meat) sit alongside surf ‘n’ turf, souvlaki and marinara linguine at the Lama family’s eatery, which also hosts regular live music.
LOST CAPTAIN, 2–4 SHORT ST, HUONVILLE
Lost Captain oozes homely comfort, with a roaring fireplace inside for winter and a shady deck rimmed with greenery and a white picket fence for summer.
Sharing strong links with Hobart’s beloved New Sydney Hotel, several menu items have been transported down the Southern Outlet to their new home nestled beside the Huon River.
The sky is the limit at Lost Captain, with small dishes such as octopus carpaccio and pulled pork fritter sitting alongside items that would have been served to a medieval feudal lord.
Banquet style roast suckling pig with all the trimmings anyone?
The cassoulet, meanwhile, is to die for.
In addition to its food menu, Lost Captain takes its booze seriously, with a range of creative cocktails and 15 beers and ciders on tap.
SWEETBREW COFFEE HOUSE, 88 HIGH STREET, CAMPBELL TOWN
The third outpost in crafty cafe duo Archana and Tim Brammall’s Sweetbrew empire, the new venue on the Midlands Hwy is everything we’ve come to expect from Sweetbrew.
Freshly baked muffins, toasties and grab ‘n’ go options are complemented by the brand’s famous coffee, roasted in-house at Launceston’s Tatler Lane by Sweetbrew, ensuring bleary-eyed travellers traversing the state have a new favourite place to get their caffeine buzz on.
BAR URBANE, 26 SEAPORT BLVD, LAUNCESTON
Bar Urbane is everything you want in a cocktail bar: sexy, moody, hidden.
Owned by the duo behind adjoining restaurant Levee Food Co, Bar Urbane was for many years an empty concrete room before Alex Britton and Jordan Luck decided expansion was on the cards.
Urbane’s extensive drinks list focuses on classic cocktails and Tasmanian wine, whisky and gin, but it is also not to be outdone on the food stakes.
Patrons have a choice of oysters from four different leases around the state, some of the finest local cheeses on offer (Coal River, Elgaar Farm, Grandvewe), Robbins Island signature tartare and peking Tasmanian octopus, to name a few.
TROPHY ROOM, 342 ARGYLE ST NORTH HOBART
Rose Tweeddale and James Latham are not just in the doughnut game anymore.
After making their name with Trophy Doughnuts, the pair now boast a small, charming restaurant that will resonate with fans of Ogee and Sonny.
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, dough and pastry continues to play an important role at this ambitious newcomer: think cruller with mortadella and cacio e pepe, and pizzettas with zucchini and ricotta or egg and guanciale.
It’s not just the food where Trophy Room excels – the vibes are impeccable, thanks in part to a turntable in the corner spinning choice vinyl cuts.
FRANKIE’S COFFEE HOUSE, 42 GEORGE ST, LAUNCESTON
Frankie’s Coffee House is a cafe that is true to its roots.
The chequered table cloths, the exposed brick walls, the breakfast pizzas – they all call to mind a trattoria clinging to the cliffs of the Amalfi coast.
Why should a Launceston cafe serving Australian coffee nod so heavily to Italy?
Well, Frankie’s is located within the former Franco’s Italian Restaurant site, operated by Francesco Macri and his family for more than four decades, and new owners Chris Bamber and his wife Lara Ashworth wanted to pay appropriate homage.
Come for the vibes, stay for the Villino coffee and breakfast pizza. Rotating flavours include brie, pear, truffle and honey, and blackberry, lemon curd and mascarpone.
RUPERT AVENUE, 431 ELIZABETH ST, NORTH HOBART
Originally known as Dune Espresso, Rupert Avenue adorns the ground-level tenancy of S Group’s boutique apartment development FOUR31.
Rimmed with large windows that bring the morning sun streaming into the white, minimalist cafe, Rupert Avenue is a straight shooter that is the perfect morning pit stop for white collar workers making the weekday journey from Hobart’s northern suburbs into the CBD.
It slings Single O coffee from Surry Hills, Sydney’s hipster ground-zero, orders in fresh pastries each day, and serves up gourmet toasted sandwiches made using Storm River & Stone sourdough.
Rupert Avenue is owned by Opossum Bay ex-chippie Toby Burgess, who is closely advised by his partner’s brother and his wife, the owners of Sisterhood at Sandy Bay and Centrepoint’s Mazbah.
NORTHERN PUBLIC HOUSE, 124 GEORGE ST, LAUNCESTON
A no-frills pub with a great neighbourhood vibe and rooftop perfect for boozy summer Sunday afternoons, Northern Public House replaced doomed venture Caledonian Wine Vaults earlier this month.
Northern Public House, owned by the duo behind another favoured Launceston watering hole, Sports Garden Hotel, mixes classic pub fare like chicken parmigiana, caesar salad and cheeseburger with Asian inspired dishes such as beef tartare yukhoe, bao buns, tempura mushrooms and sticky beef short rib.
The pub itself has a rich history stretching back to 1836.
It has previously been known as O’Keefe’s Hotel, the Union Club Hotel, and Belfast Hotel, among other monikers.
MANKY SALLY’S, 25 SALAMANCA PLACE, BATTERY POINT
Moo Brew is one of the biggest names in Tasmanian brewing and Manky Sally’s (a riff on Salamanca) is its first taphouse, joining Hobart’s most celebrated dining and night-life district.
The entrance off Salamanca Place is low-key and discreet but inside the vibe is laid-back and welcoming, with Moo Brew’s full range on tap and an in-house brewer on hand to direct questions too.
True to Moo Brew founder David Walsh’s (of Mona fame) roots, inside is an eclectic mix of style and ephemera: witness the 70s-style leather chairs, veined marble table, an alcove lined with 2698 Moo Brew bottles, and knick knacks salvaged from Facebook Marketplace.
Chef Sam Bray has created the menu specifically to pair well with beer, so everything is going to be packed with flavour as well as soak up a little alcohol.
The line-up of Asian-leaning bar snacks range from easy-to-nibble tapioca crisps to more substantial offerings such as okonomiyaki.
TAS BURGERS, 79 INVERMAY RD, INVERMAY
Taking over the tenancy formerly held by Launceston favourite Schnitty Bar, which relocated to Yorktown Square, Tas Burgers is a welcome addition to a dining strip that also includes Me Wah, Blue Cafe Inc and The Park on Invermay.
St Helens duo Bibi Rajahodi and Anton Wiesmann, who formerly owned a hotel in Break o’ Day, stock Tas Burgers with gourmet produce grown on their 42ha property, Alandale Farm.
The new burger restaurant features American-style burgers made with local Tasmanian produce and has 15 creations for punters to wrap their mouths around.
They include pork belly, sweet potato and sour cream, soft-shelled crab, spicy buffalo chicken and Swiss melt, as well as a kids’ menu and fried chicken.
LIVERPOOL KEBABS, 135 LIVERPOOL ST, HOBART
The favoured cuisine of revellers stumbling home at two in the morning, Turkish has not been revolutionised but rather refined at Hobart CBD’s newest kebab house, Liverpool Kebabs.
The restaurant, operated by Seher and Murat Akyuz, who also run the popular dessert stall Lokmanca at the Salamanca Market, is small and efficient.
Expect Turkish classics done well – halal snack packs buried under charry lamb or chicken, kebabs bursting at the seams with fresh tabouli, and baklava crowned with the green dust of pistachio.
HIMALAYAN HUB, 5/126 CHARLES ST, LAUNCESTON
Himalayan Hub is the second Nepalese restaurant on Launceston’s Charles St to feature on this list, a signifier of the thriving migrant community that calls Tasmania’s northern capital home.
The debut from Himalayan Australian chef owner Mitra Gurung, who is a veteran of local kitchens including Indian Empire and Pickled Evenings, Himalayan Hub has bedded down a tenancy that had previously seen several short-lived food ventures.
True to its name, the restaurant blends both Indian and Nepalese dishes at an affordable price points for the casual diner.
THE KILN EATERY, 2 LOUISA ST, RANELAGH
Easily one of the most visually arresting restaurants in Tasmania, The Kiln is located within a restored oast house that looks like something out of a Brothers Grimm fairytale.
The menu is constantly changing and evolving based on the availability of fresh, local produce, which is crafted into a staggering array of creative dishes under the stewardship of head chef Jo Amanatidis, formerly of Pumphouse Point.
Huon Valley explorers can sup on a mixture of the traditional and unconventional, with European and Asian influences permeating the protean menu.
Current menu items include croque monsieur, agedashi tofu, mushroom san choy bao, chilli scramble, and Puglian burratino.
LOCK SHOP CAFE, 1973 MAIN RD, LILYDALE
Lilydale’s Lock Shop Cafe could not have come at a better time, with the North-East town losing the cafe component of Bread + Butter, as well as The Bean Barrow this year.
Lock Shop Cafe is owned by Kate and Rudy Valentino, who own adjoining business Valentino Safe Co.
Punters can expect the same kooky style that has made Valentino Safe Co, which hosts monthly gigs and stand-up comedy, such a surprise hit with locals.
“It’s a beautiful space, we love creating funky interesting spaces and vibes,” Ms Valentino previously told the Mercury.
While coffee is the main order of the day at Lock Shop Cafe, the venue stocks an array of sweet treats, pre-made salads, and other bites such as toasted sandwiches and avocado on toast, made with Bread + Butter’s outstanding sourdough.
MARINA CAFE, 20 BENDER DR, DERWENT PARK
The industrial backblocks of Derwent Park are hardly where one expects to find an ambitious cafe as suitable for tradies as it is for business executives, but thanks to chef owner Dom Fowler, that is exactly what you will find.
Fowler, who Hobartians may know as the owner of food truck favourite Fried & Loaded, opened his cafe at the “champagne end” of Derwent Park – home to Incat, Spotty Dog Brewery & Taphouse and the Royal Danish Consulate – on June 19.
Marina Cafe boasts a Hamptons-style fit-out, plant-lined benches and windowsills, vertical join feature walls coated in white and a central, 4m-long communal table.
Food-wise, gourmet toasties such as salami and pickle, and ham, pineapple and gruyere mingle with half a dozen burgers including spiced mushroom and smash cheeseburgers, and soup of the day.
BRIDPORT TAKEAWAY, 109 MAIN ST, BRIDPORT
Ordinarily, a humble fish and chippery would not make a list such as this, but when Bridport Takeaway was shuttered by previous management earlier this year, there was uproar within the community that they had lost a noshery that had operated for about 50 years.
Enter Bridport locals Jodie Faulkner, owner of Water/House Real Estate, and her husband James Nichols, co-owner of Bridport Auto Works, who have not only revived the business but pushed it further with a couple of smart additions.
In addition to classic fish and chips, Bridport Takeaway now offers gourmet jacket potatoes, a full hot dog menu, milkshakes, and salads.
TATLER LANE BY SWEETBREW, 5/74–82 ST JOHN ST, LAUNCESTON
The Brammalls’ signature venue was opened in January and now acts as the central hub for their other two cafes, Sweetbrew (on George St) and Sweetbrew Coffee House at Campbell Town.
Part of the Tatler Arcade precinct that finally took shape late last year after a long gestational period, Tatler Lane oozes sophistication, with a soaring roof and a Tasmanian timber feature that looks like the ribcage of a whale.
By morning, it hums and heaves with a mix of students and businessmen, and by night it transforms into a dim, moody bar.
The seasonal menu features items such as oatmeal and rapadura pancake with toffee bananas and date butter, and rice bowl with tikka paneer, pickled onions and popcorn cauliflower.
All coffee roasting is done in house and on site.
SAINT HUGO’S, 491 MAIN RD, MONTROSE
Saint Hugo’s is owned by hospitality veterans Chris and Ange Fidden, who also own Lauderdale’s Angie Sue, so it’s no surprise that this venue has hit the ground running with a well-considered menu and well-trained staff, Mercury food writer Alix Davis wrote earlier this year.
Inside a lovingly restored church – yet another visually stunning restaurant to make this list – brunch is the God to be worshipped by residents of the Eastern Shore.
The food is in the best style of Australian brunch: intricate but not pretentious, brave but not arrogant, colourful and precise.
Mushroom on toast is not just mushroom on toast. It’s sauteed mixed field mushrooms with spinach, cashew cream, poached egg, truffle oil and shaved pecorino.
Lamb shoulder is not just lamb shoulder. It’s lamb shoulder with fried egg, pickled onions, spiced cauliflower, dukkah, red wine demi glaze and fresh herbs.
And so on.
ANABEL’S THAI, 46 KING ST, SCOTTSDALE
Scottsdale’s only Thai restaurant, Anabel’s is the second venue on this list owned by Bibi Rajahodi and Anton Wiesmann, the St Helens pair behind Invermay’s Tas Burgers.
Anabel’s is located within a heritage-listed homestead built in 1895, ensuring a level of sophistication that is matched by the dishes leaving the kitchen, which is headed up by renowned Thai chefs Wasu Rattanawiset and Rotcharek Prateepwattananon.
Like Tas Burgers, a significant portion of the produce coming into the kitchen is grown on Alandale Farm, with traditional Thai abounding: pad krapao, pad kee mao, penang and massaman curry are just some of the dishes that adorn the menu.
HOT POT 2023, 346 ELIZABETH ST, NORTH HOBART
Hot Pot 2023 is the ultimate chameleon, with as many combinations as there are possible moves in a game of chess.
Diners can choose from 10 different soup bases, including curry, miso, tom yum and pickled cabbage, and match them with dozens and dozens of ingredients, which are infused with flavour and character via being boiled in your hot pot.
The menu items are almost limitless: razor clam, wagyu, chestnut, bamboo, crab stick, fish ball. You think of it, it will be on the menu.
Hot Pot 2023 is the latest venture by the indefatigable Eric Yang, who counts among his stable the Hokkaido Sushi chain and all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant Osaki, which is also in North Hobart.
ANJU, 112 MURRAY ST, HOBART
What started last year as a food truck quickly morphed into semipermanent digs at Hobart’s favourite playground, In the Hanging Garden.
Anju is the brainchild of chef Dong Chul Lim, who cooks food strongly influenced by the sort of fare his mother would serve him during his childhood.
According to Mercury food writer Alix Davis, Anju literally means ‘main and side dishes traditionally enjoyed with alcohol’ in Korean, so everything on the menu pairs with their selection of Korean beer, soju-based cocktails, soju (a grain-based spirit with about half the alcohol of vodka) and sassy soft drinks like Chilsung Cider (Korean lemonade).
Menu items include the three-cheese kimchi melt (apparently a favourite of Mona founder David Walsh), Korean fried chicken burger, bibimbap, and corn fritters.
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