Eating and drinking in Tasmania
Take a remote, fertile island in the Southern Ocean and add the world’s purest air and water for flavours found nowhere else on Earth.
It's not that the ingredients are necessarily unique – although some are, such as pepperberries and leatherwood honey. Food just tastes better here.
Go forage
Cruise along the D'Entrecasteaux Channel for crayfish and abalone plucked straight from the sea, or forage for wild asparagus, edible mushrooms and more to fuel a six-course lunch with matching wines.
Surprise packages
In New Norfolk there’s a two-hat restaurant in a former asylum. A farm wedged between the rainforest and Bass Strait offers authentic kimchi-making workshops. On King Island, you’ll find a restaurant with no food.
Water views
In Launceston, a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, savour highly seasonal and regional fare in an old flour mill set serenely by a river. Stroll to a wharfside eatery on Hobart’s waterfront or indulge in creative cuisine while suspended over the river at Mona.
Farm fresh
For field-fresh produce, plot a course on a tasting trail and stop often at farm-gate honesty boxes. Taste honey from the pristine Takayna / Tarkine wilderness or pick your own fresh berries. Or simply front up at regular markets in Hobart, Launceston and beyond, where the farmers come to town.
Beer and cider
Tasmanians are tribal about beer. Boag’s has been king of the north for 140 years. Southerners proudly lay claim to Australia’s oldest brewery, Cascade. In between is a raft of craft breweries and, given the abundance of orchards, no shortage of cider and perry makers.
Cider at Willie Smith's Apple Shed
From the sea
Shuck and slurp oysters beside the sea they grew in. Buy fish, scallops and octopus from the back of the boat. Dine on the freshest fare at one of Australia’s best seafood restaurants. From Flinders Island to the deep south, Tasmania serves its seafood straight from the ocean.
