2016 Dogs Lovers Show

Lately we've been so focused on some major life events that we forgot to take some time out to enjoy ourselves and appreciate each others company.

So a last minute decision influenced by the weather and the need to go out saw us booking last minute tickets to the 2016 Dog Lovers show at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne this weekend. I've actually never been to one of these before and I have to say that is was a great experience. I didn't actually take that many photos of the show surrounds, mainly because I became obsessed with patting all the show dogs. They all had such beautiful personalities! There was also some sort of vibe that made everyone who attended super friendly and approachable. I guess it was already established that we're all there because of dogs, pretty obvious. Haha.

Now please sit back and enjoy dog pictures!

Eating: Drunken Admiral

Our visit to the Drunken Admiral was a last minute family dinner where an impromptu pre-wedding council was held over a seafood feast.

The interior of the Drunken Admiral is decked out in excessive quantities of pirate paraphernalia. Since we were all asian tourists we loved it, especially all the attention to detail. Many great family group selfies were had. The layout of the restaurant is a little cramped with all the decorations, but the atmosphere was great.

I’ve been obsessed with mussels since I’ve eaten them at Preserve Kitchen in Glen Iris (VIC). If cooked correctly they’re tender, chewy with so much flavour, but the sauce is always the best part. The Drunken Admiral’s Steamed Southern Mussels are a generous portion size with a delicious broth of white wine, tomato, garlic and shallots. Here’s a tip, anytime you see white wine and garlic in a mussel dish, bets are it’s probably pretty decent. The best part of this dish was soaking up all that broth with that bread.

The ocean trout salad was a hit with the parents. They loved the generous smoked trout that was mixed well throughout the rocket.

The sea salt and pink peppercorn squid was a hit with myself and The Better Half. It’s cooked perfectly, soft with a slight crunch from the crumb.

Yachtie’s seafood mixed grill, came out exceeding my expectations. I was expecting the fish skewers to be overdone, but it seemed like Yachtie (whoever they are) had pulled through and all the seafood was perfectly cooked with nothing overdone. Those tender scallops, firm prawns and that slightly flaking fish, all well charred on the grill.

For dessert we shared “The Whisperings of Tuscany” and “The Captain’s Tart”. These are respectively the lemon syrup cake served with limoncello mascarpone and vanilla custard, and the almond milk pannacotta served with blackberries and turkish fairy floss. Both were delish, but my favourite was the pannacotta. I’ll always have a sweet spot (hohoho, pardon the pun) for that silky refreshing dessert.

In conclusion:

If you’re visiting here, you must keep in mind that it’s catered for the tourist and therefore you must adopt a similar silly attitude of coming here to have fun. I cannot fault the food, as we ordered quite a quantity of dishes, but they all came within a reasonable time frame and cooked well.

The personal favourites were the steamed mussels and salt and pepper squid, but all other dishes were just as tasty. Service was a little slow, but taking into account the peak time we arrived and the full occupancy, what they lacked in promptness they made up for in friendliness.

Drunken Admiral

17 Hunter St

Hobart, Tasmania

03 6234 1903

Eating: Providore, Hobart

We started the day out with the excellent intentions of exploring the areas around Hobart, but the reality was brunch, shopping, just-for-fun scratchies and an amazing late lunch at Providore.

By the time we had decided we were ready for lunch most of the lunch places had closed. We were lucky to find Providore open and headed in for something quick. The decor is completed with beautiful elements giving it a rustic Australian kitchen farmhouse feel. The cafe also doubles as a pantry with it’s shelves stocked full with beautiful produce. As you enter you are greeted with an open salad bar that’s self serve and sold by weight (100g increments). The sandwiches are made to order and wonderfully fresh.

At its core this place is a sandwich shop, but then there is so much more. They do sandwiches in a way that is greater than the invention of sliced bread.

The roast chicken sandwich is a little parcel of perfection with an accompaniment of salad, encompassed by one of the best brioche buns I’ve ever had. The brioche is soft yet chewy with sustenance, and not too oily or buttery. The grilled capsicum is slightly sweet, and together with the parsley are great fresh elements. The pickled onions hit the sour vinegar spot, but its the paprika mayo that ties everything together with its creamy texture.

The bolar steak sandwich is in itself a snapshot of the flavours from a Thai or Vietnamese beef salad. Everything in it does nothing by halves. The slight bite of heat from the charred chilli, the crisp wombok salad, the fresh coriander, and that zesty punchy chilli lime mayo sauce. I don’t know what else they mixed into that mayo but there is just so much flavour. Great strong flavours throughout this whole sandwich. Even writing this now, I’m counting the days till when I can head back for another bite. This sandwich was that good.

The prices for the sandwich are a little steep for an everyday lunch but you can be assured you’re paying for the very best in ingredients. Portion sizes aren’t huge, but I left feeling content.

With our sandwiches we enjoyed two local ciders. Pagan apple cider was crisp, fizzy and delicious. Willie smiths organic pear cider from Huon valley is a cloudy beverage, and has a more fermented taste.

In conclusion:

Make sure you stop here for a lunch, or a breakfast, or a snack sandwich. I promise that you will not regret it. To enjoy the food here you do need to be someone who likes bread, and salad, and flavour. If you’re any sort of decent person who enjoys eating, then you have to try a sandwich from here. We felt so good after eating this that we didn’t even want to sully the aftertaste by getting frozen yoghurt. My favourite was the bolar steak sandwich since I’m asian and I like asian flavours, but the roast chicken was still pretty amazing.

Providore

100 Elizabeth St

Hobart, Tasmania

0456 780 224