‘Farmy’ is great spot for helping you forget your winter blues
Whether you’re after a cheeky brunch or a late lunch Hobart’s Farm Gate Market is the ideal spot to pick up a freshly made, sweet or savoury snack, writes Alix Davis
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There was a stiff breeze blowing up from Antarctica when we visited the Farm Gate Market on a recent Sunday morning. So my husband felt that the best preparation for this outing was a quick dip in the Derwent sans wetsuit and then forgetting to bring a puffy jacket. Yep, he was cold! Luckily, there was plenty of food on hand to help him warm up and forget his winter woes.
While this weekly farmers’ market is an excellent place to shop for fresh vegetables, bread, cheese and meat, it’s also a chance to sample a wide variety of freshly made savoury and sweet breakfast and brunch options. Before I can even get my bearings in the Grub Hub – where there’s a rotating line-up of 10 food vendors – my husband has devoured a lamb rotti ($8) from Lucky Sri Lankan Kitchen, declaring it delicious but a little too spicy for his delicate palate. It’s a neatly wrapped packet of crisp pastry stuffed with spiced lamb and acts as a much-needed hand warmer while we’re waiting for some other options.
The Farm Gate Market began in 2009 with just 12 producers and a philosophy that if you couldn’t eat it, drink it or grow it then you wouldn’t find it here. Fifteen years later and Farmy is now a regular fixture on many Hobartians weekly calendar and one of the top-five farmers’ markets in the country.
Our next bite is a breakfast bun ($14) from The Wood Fiery Redhead. This handful of a meal is a soft bun stuffed full of smoked Scottsdale pork topped with a fried egg, lettuce, cheese and their own Kansas City barbecue sauce. It’s a bacon and egg roll with big dreams and it works – easy to eat and full of flavour, this is definitely a good way to power up for a produce-driven shopping spree.
Of course, we don’t stop there and a classic banh mi ($14) from Banh mi n’ Grill takes us from the frigid streets of Hobart to the humidity and hustle of Ho Chi Minh City, where this distinctly Vietnamese sandwich originated in the 1950s. I skip the extra chilli option but there’s still a decent kick here along with all the traditional fillings of pork, pate, pickled carrot, coriander and sweet soy sauce. If pork’s not your thing, there are also chicken and mushroom versions available. The baguette is a key element of any banh mi, and this one is good – fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside without being so sharp you cut yourself.
Time for something sweet and a classic choc chip cookie ($5.50) from the Nectar Eater is a good start – it’s thin and just the right amount of soft with an impressively high ratio of chocolate to dough. A sprinkle of sea salt takes just enough edge off the sweetness and the whole thing gets devoured on our way to the next sweet pit stop. My husband is partial to a bit of custard, so was thrilled when I presented him with a baked apple and custard tart ($10) from Gemdale Farm. I’d like to tell you a bit more about this one, but looked away for an instant and by the time I turned back it had all been eaten. So let’s assume that it was very, very good.
Mother of Pearl’s cookies are worth making room for, so I let my belt out a notch and try to choose just one from their line-up that includes want-to-eat varieties including red velvet cheesecake, s’mores and fairy. I decide on a lemon meringue ($7.50) that’s made up of a vanilla and white choc-chip cookie topped with lemon curd and torched meringue. It’s decadent and wonderful and I’d happily serve this as a dinner party dessert.
We’re on the home stretch now and our final sweet treat is an apple and pear fritter from Carb Diem ($5). Chunks of apple and pear stud this sweet fritter that has definite doughnut qualities, including a slather of tooth-achingly sweet glaze. As a bonus, it’s vegan, meaning everyone can enjoy this little taste of Tasmanian produce.
Even if you don’t need to stock your kitchen this weekend, head to Farmy one weekend soon to taste Tasmania in the offerings of the skilled cooks and makers we’re lucky enough to have here.
FARM GATE MARKET
Bathurst St, Hobart
Opening hours: Sunday 8am-1pm
ON THE MENU
Lamb rotti, $8; breakfast bun, $14; banh mi, $14; choc-chip cookie, $5.50; apple and custard tart, 10; lemon meringue cookie, $7.50; apple fritter, $5
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The residents of South Hobart are indeed fortunate to have this bustling cafe as their local and, after this brunch, I’m vowing not to leave it too long before my next visit, writes Alix Davis