The Source is a hatted modern Australian restaurant located on top of MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) in Hobart, Tasmania. This was one of the best farm to table restaurants we had dined at, and truly a display of magnificent cooking skills and creativity using local native ingredients.
Entrée
Started off with a dozen oysters for $50. This was pacific oysters with apple, bay oil, wasabi mayo and seaweed vinegar. It was so fresh and creamy, elevated by the sweet apple and spicy wasabi 🤤.
Our first dish was the cauliflower for $28. This was fried buttermilk cauliflower, almond cream, tahini dressing, pomegranate burnt honey, puffed wild rice & garlic crisps. It was an incredibly delicious cauliflower. The cauliflower was soft, with a creamy, earthy sauce, enhanced by the savoury garlic and sweet pomegranate and honey.
This was the wallaby for $34. The seared Bennet’s wallaby was very interesting, similar to the taste of kangaroo but not as gamey. The chefs did a great job cooking this lean meat, making it a tender bite. The accompanied goat feta and baby ghanoush was creamy. And the surrounding salad of warm green wheat preserve lemon and olive vinaigrette, bay, walnut, wattle seed, salt bush and victory herbs balanced the savouriness with earthy and citric tones. It’s unfortunate wallaby is not as readily available on the main island.
This was the souffle for $28. It was tongola goat curd and Comté cheese, with walnut, green olive lemon dressing on a seasonal herb salad. It was fantastic. There was a mild goat flavour, that was balanced by the sweet and refreshing salad and cut through by the lemon dressing. It was a perfect combination, and we were taken by surprise by the deliciousness of this 🤤!
Main Course
For the mains, we ordered eat the problem for $52. This was a beautifully presented pan roast Tasmania wild venison, with rhubarb and PX chutney, roast Jerusalem artichoke, baby beets, bresaola spiced beetroot, beluga lentil, black garlic, caramelized eschalot, and red wine game jus. Again, absolutely delicious 🤤🤤 Tender meat, sweet and tart flavours, and an impeccable sauce.
Next was a risotto for $42. This was carnaroli and crème fraîche risotto, with taleggio cheese, Browns and Towns mushroom, stout ragout (beef stout), nut brown butter, English spinach, salt bush and fried leeks. It was a rich and savoury dish, with carnaroli grain having distinct texture amongst the smooth consistency. The brown butter deepened the flavours and made it taste sooo good.
Lastly, we ordered the mosaic of Spain for $54. This was a roast line caught local fish, with seared scallop, Spanish XO, smoked tomato, squid ink, saffron fennel, roast peppers, confit tomatoes, green olive, pickled basil and guindilla. The white fish was fresh and soft, and the other elements brought umami, savouriness and sweetness to the bite.
Quirk
They had microscopic slides underneath our glass table to showcase the life of food, like an egg. They also used plates with drawings from the local primary schools, which we thought was amazing! Some of the dishes were adorable and others were… hilarious (when you remember an 8 year old drew it LOL). It made dining fun.
Service
The service was perfect; friendly and attentive staff who had to put up with our obnoxious, loud asses (we were a lil tipsy, sorry!)
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We highly recommend dining at the Source if you ever visit MONA. We loved the food here.
Thanks for reading! Happy eating!
Thanks for reading! Happy eating!
