In Tasmania for my honeymoon, the first stop has been Hobart; the quaint fisherman’s capital of the apple isle. Kathy, the welcoming host at Hotel Islington (more on this later) advised my man and I to go and drive around and get acquainted with Battery Point. She said there would be small streets, beautiful timber cottages and in the day on foot, it is an area to get purposefully lost in. So driving around just as it was getting dark we came across a little village reminiscent of Bath with street names like Cheltenham Place, Hampden Street and Dewitt Lane. Backing onto the famous Saturday-special-Salamanca-Place, Hampden Street is the high street in this little pocket of Hobart.

As it was dark, I looked from side to side as we drove passing intricate antique stores, the popular Picalilly restaurant and a brightly lit lolly shop that I needed to re-visit however it was a corner place with large bay windows and a navy and white sign of Jackman & McRoss that caught my eye and I immediately said “slow down”. I recall bakery also helped the instant halt and I penned in my mind that we would be back.

Pushing the door open of Jackman & McRoss, my eyes were immediately met with rows of sourdough, baguettes, a blackboard of today’s pies, strawberry tarts, chocolate ganache pies and bap rolls. Not only a bakery, I saw there was also table service and feeling famished I sat down initially salivating over the thought of a cider beef pie. Hearing the familiar unspoken language that this place served good tucker as it was still busy with people eating all sorts of bits and pieces at 2.30pm, I looked up at the specials board and pondered…and ordered Ocean Trout stuffed with boccocini on a bed of black rice with buttered leeks and a cloudy apple juice. Not really the usual bakery fare…

Late lunch was delicious. The black rice was slightly sticky and a great accompaniment to the subtle trout flavours and the buttered leeks added to the caramelised aftertaste. The apple juice was smooth and opaque in colour and had the right amount of tartness and sweetness to wash down lunch.

As a well-known food-lover amongst friends and now post bride-diet, I am satisfyingly in foodie heaven and have not held back sampling my way through warmed spiced apple mead, fresh sheep’s milk porcini pecorino and warm porridge with braised rhubarb. So far I have only seen and tasted the freshest ingredients possible and have witnessed first-hand the abundance of good food available to use in cooking and to eat. The lunch I ate today at Jackman & McRoss was superb, a blend of complex ingredients plated simply in a bakery cafe and it was only $9.80. And that is the icing on the cake consistent with other Tasmanian restaurants and providores. In Hobart I have suprisingly seen that you don’t have to pay for the name here but just for the quality of food and the returns on flavour received inevitably have you paying more and more until you just can’t get enough!

So, here’s to more discoveries of fresh flavours tomorrow!

Jackman & McRoss @ 57 Hampden Road, Battery Point Hobart TAS 7004