Saturday 17 August 2019

The Source Restaurant, MONA

One of the restaurants in Hobart that I have wanted to visit for a while now is The Source Restaurant at MONA. As it was my birthday last weekend, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try this special venue, so I booked in a table for lunch last Saturday.

Arriving at 1:30pm, it was quite a challenge trying to find a park among all the Saturday museum-goers, however we did manage to snap up a spot after circling for a short time. After wandering up to the museum, we located The Source Restaurant just to the left of the museum's main entrance (but in a separate building). We were taken to our seats, and after having a browse of the drinks menu (and a brief discussion about what the strange purple object situated under the glass in the table could be), I ordered a birthday cocktail while Dave started with a beer.

The menu is al a carte, however as our waiter explained, the starters are designed to share. So, for the entree we decided to share the fried chicken and scallops dish, as well as the mixed mushrooms with crispy puffed rice. I am not usually one to order a fried chicken dish, but the chicken was very tender and balanced well with the light scallops and crunchy pine nuts, while the mixed mushroom dish was extremely flavoursome with the mushrooms soaking up the accompanying tangy sauce.


For mains, I ordered the pan-fried blue eye trevalla with cannellini beans and greens, while Dave had the roasted lamb dish with finely shredded red cabbage and a beautiful creamy sauce. We also ordered a side of miso-glazed brussel sprouts, which were possibly my favourite aspect of the whole meal. The crispiness of the roasted brussel sprouts really soaked up the salty miso paste, making them an excellent side to the lighter blue eye trevalla and slightly richer lamb.



When dessert time rolled around, I have to say, I was slightly disappointed that there was no milk or dark chocolate dessert option, but I went for the closest thing - a caramelised white chocolate mousse with crumbled oat and raspberry sorbet, while Dave went for the baked apple dish with a creamy, brown butter ice cream. The whipped mousse did pair nicely with the oat mixture on top and the tart raspberry sorbet, however I think Dave won on the dessert front, with the cobbler-style apple crumble and caramelised ice cream. I also had a coffee to accompany my dessert, which was excellent.



If you ever find yourself at MONA (which is highly likely if you are visiting Hobart) and are looking for more of a fine dining experience in comparison to the more casual cafes and restaurants within the museum, it is worth taking a visit to The Source Restaurant. They also offer breakfast if you feel like indulging in a delicious meal before exploring the museum.

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