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.

Best eating and drinking

Go forage

Cruise south along the D’Entrecasteaux Channel for crayfish and abalone plucked straight from the sea, or forage for wild asparagus, mushrooms and more to fuel a six-course lunch with matching wines.

Surprise packages

In the Huon Valley, a sushi chef fuses Japnese know-how with Tasmanian ingredients at Masaaki's Sushi. In New Norfolk there’s a two-hat restaurant in a former asylum. And gather for a farmhouse feast cooked by one of Australia’s favourite foodies.

Water views

In Launceston, newly crowned 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. And settle into a rammed-earth room above Marion Bay for a 14-course menu of island ingredients cooked over fire.

Farm fresh

For field-fresh produce, plot a course on a tasting trail and stop often at farm-gate honesty boxes. Or simply front up at regular farmers’ 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.

Casting distance

Shuck and sup oysters beside the sea they grew in. Buy fish, scallops and octopus from the back of the boat. From Flinders Island to the deep south, Tasmania serves its seafood straight from the ocean.