Having Maastricht so close to Antwerp really is a treat when I come visit. On this occasion we went there to visit a bookstore.
Morning over Maastricht was very lovely.
It’s inside an old church. Used to be independent but now is Polare which is a chain we have in Belgium too.
Isn’t that just amazing? Such a great use of a really magic space.
They also have a really impressive selection, second hand upstairs had some great gems – almost everything in Dutch though!
There are few lovelier places for a cup of coffee & a piece of cake than the Bourla. It’s almost hidden in that there is no signage downstairs except for the theatre. Just keep going inside & up the stairs, you won’t regret it.
They also do a buffet brunch on the weekends which looks like a lovely way to celebrate something..
European Christmas season brings a whole bunch of things in their real forms that we don’t have in Oz – here’s my first mistletoe for instance..
This year I had requests from my little brother & others for the good chocolate slices for sandwiches for the market – a kilo of chocolate later..
Then the perfect early lunch – did someone say oyster degustation?
Waiting to be shucked.
What a gorgeous sight on heirloom oyster plates with a glass of cava. All their liquor intact, the Speciale Gillardeau was definitely the stand out. This place also does wonderful homemade shrimp croquettes.
We recently spent the weekend in the Southern Highlands for a wedding and stayed at the lovely Links House. Apparently it’s the first hotel in Australia that had ensuite bathrooms. Fancy! We stayed in the Garden Studio which is this hella cute little cottage. It also has a bath.
It’s a B&B so breakfast is included, but not basket of stale viennoiserie to be found here thank heck. Quite a long set of choices..
The Boy had moroccan eggs which were served with dukkah and hommous.
I couldn’t pass up the eggs with roasted vegetables, Turkish toast, and onion jam. Not a bad way to start the day.
Hella cute little fit out at this lovely little cafe. Only open weekdays though, a trap for rookie Hobart visitors.
The menu is hiding inside these books.
Great coffee, black as night, rich but unburned and served with souvenir spoons.
The boyo loved his latte too.
Scrambled eggs with rhubarb relish. Love the idea of savoury rhubarb options, gorgeous tart contrast.
Mushroom brothers – seasoned with garlic and dark soy. Delicious and sweet.
Next time would come back for lunch – menu looks wonderful!
It’s pretty special when visiting a new town to get the chance, without obscene amounts of forward planning, to eat at one of their loveliest restaurants. We were lucky with Garagistes, popped by around 6.30 and got on the list for a 9pm table – perfect timing in my opinion.
Lovely little nibbles to start, herby yoghurt, pickled beet greens, radish and heirloom carrot.
They do either a 3 or a 5 course menu. We asked for the vegetarian menu (obviously) and then had a long debate over how to deal with the fact I wanted the 3 course and he wanted the 5. Thankfully we asked the wonderful service staff and it was no problem to meet halfway and get four courses each – making it possible to try everything on both menus – score!
poached duck egg with brassicas, fried saltbush and chrysanthemum. The guts of serving raw cauli and broccoli convinced me this was a place for me.
tartare of jerusalem artichoke with stinging nettles, pinenut emulsion and golden garlic. Those are fried pieces of jerusachoke skin on top there, wonderful.
florence fennel with cacioricotta and perpetual spinach. This was the boys favourite, fennel done perfectly with great complementary flavours and textures.
braised poitou leeks, buckwheat lettuce sauce and chrysanthemums. Tiny sweet leeks offset with creamy sauce and slightly wilted gently bitter lettuce. This was my favourite course.
kunzea parfait, sunchoke butterscotch, puffed buckwheat, black garlic and chocolate. This was the least sweet dessert I have had, not bad though – the restraint on the sweetness let the depth of flavour really come through. Surprising but lovely.
salt and vinegar mille feuille, forced rhubarb, strawberry sorbet – a more traditional dessert, if you can really say that of anything at this place. The citrus tang of the rhubarb was great, very in favour of more sour or savoury options for rhubarb.
Where Salamanca Market was a bit blah, the Farmers Gate Market ticked all the boxes and then some. It’s a pretty good reason to move to Hobart actually, and the local clearly love it.
The edible flower posies were on a stall where every plant was edible. Saw staff from Garagistes having a look, clearly this is where the top people shop.
It’s a proper farmers market with strict rules about who can sell there. Really good guarantee of quality and guard against the generic stuff places like Salamanca end up selling.
Nice vibe at the markets with plenty of eating places and seating for Taswegians to enjoy a relaxed brunch whilst getting their vegies.
I don’t eat this of course but can imagine how much my dad would like the idea of buying good quality dripping like this.
This honey was spectacular, produced just outside Hobart and sold raw. Creamy and floral and rich.
Baby leeks! My favourite.
And this is the real reason we came – to try some of Masaki’s famous hand rolls (temaki).
Easy choice for me. The regular gave the option of adding in fresh prawns, salmon, spicy tuna or regular tuna amongst other things.
You definitely want some fresh wasabi.
Beautiful hand roll with particularly fantastic rice. This and some inari and miso made a lovely brunch.
Then time for my first scallop pie! There were none in the warmer, but we waited and waited and then – jackpot!
There’s no point talking about a scallop pie unless you’ve had one. I thought that scallops and Keen’s curry powder in a pie was an idiotic idea but have to say I was very wrong. What a treat.
Coffee and an apple pie for dessert. These guys take their coffee seriously, the long black was 50c more than the milky coffees which is rather unusual but was absolutely worth it. This pic is obvs a cap though because long blacks ain’t so photogenic.
Apple pie for afters. What a lovely brunch!
We went to Hobart mainly to see MONA, but it was it’s acronymous friend TMAG that was the real surprise find. It’s down towards the water, and it’s free (though donations on entry are requested). 
It has an art gallery section which was relatively ordinary, unless you like your art traditional, Australian or representative or all three – I don’t. The best bits though were the other bits. The natural history displays were truly lovely, particularly the presentation of stuffed animals in recreations of their national habitat.
Look at this display. Compelling and informative (different circles were different kinds of beetle.)
Great display of protest materials from Tasmania’s political past up to the present.
Loved this installation too. Though why the suit of armour has a pet bird of paradise is anyone’s guess. Reminds me of my favourite museum in the world: the Museo Fortuny in Venice.
Big touristy markets aren’t really my thing. They tend to be full of knick knacks, expensive ‘antiques’ & dodgy cheap clothes where I prefer fresh foods, books and proper old junk for someone’s grandad’s basement..
Salamanca does however have some charming sides.
Lots of lovely apples – these Brazils for instance which are apparently related to Fujis. Crisp and sweet.
I read about the Hmong vegetable stalls in the wonderful Hobart that I read while there. Nice to see some great veggies even in a touristy market. Particularly enjoyed all the herbs & greens presented root side up – looked like it kept them very fresh, nifty!
These lovely semi-hemispheres of natural fruit rollups were pretty great too. Bought one for camping later in the week and it was lovely.
Mmm scallop pizza. At $8 a slice a bit steep but still looked great.
And finally and a bit surprisingly oliebollen! Last time I had these was in Antwerp at the Sinksenfoor in July 2012. Unlike those ones however these had fruit in them, apples and sultanas and more.
Delicious little snack!
This place came recommended by twitter buddies and had some interesting spots on Foodspotting. It’s also perfectly located for a brunch before visiting Salamanca Markets (which I will discuss in a future post – suffice to say that though it had some lovely things, it is definitely not Hobart’s best market).
Started with a table menu supplemented with this impressive list of specials – some of which I believe are on the menu most of the time, others which come and go). 
First things first though – cappuccino. Good coffee. 
Green tea for me, always nice to have leaf tea rather than bags.
And this is why we came here – scrambled eggs wrapped in smoked salmon served on a Danish. Possibly not super healthy but boy what a combo! The Danish maintained structure and provided pleasing flakiness.
These were pre-prepared in the cabinet, them heated up for orders. Mercifully (miraculously even) the eggs were still nicely oozy and moist.
Breakfast was a large brioche bun filled till bursting with crème pâtisserie and topped with fresh raspberries. Decadent and delicious as you can maybe tell by my face here.
A visit to the toilets takes you past this gorgeous old industrial mixer and the other machine below whose function I couldn’t quite work out..
The cabinet had other gorgeous things too which would definitely call me back for a lunchtime visit next time!
Particularly this one – how good does this sound?
Little Belgian Waffle 