Degustation at The Source, Hobart

Date attended: 6 February 2014 Style: Restaurant Cuisine: Contemporary French, Modern Australian What to look out for: Pan Fried Scallop Gnocchi and the Mille Feuille

“Whether you’re there for à la carte or for degustation, it’s worth checking out The Source. If you go for degustation, be sure to have an appetite as each of their courses are the size of mains!”

In early 2014, my best friend and I decided to travel to Tasmania for a week. We’ve never been and just needed a well deserved break. For us, it was a given that in our week in Tasmania, we would hit up a handful of restaurants to see what Tasmania has to offer. First, we went to visit two-hatted restaurant, Garagistes. The next day, we found ourselves visiting The Source Restaurant within the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart.

We were quite ambitious, and decided to try go for their 9-course desgustation - 3-hours long. In actual fact, it felt much more than just 9 courses… You’ll see what I mean as you scroll along.

Amuse-Bouche: Pizza. Tomato Mousse on Olive Toast

Bread and Butter: the 'bread and butter' of any degustation

Artichoke Gazpacho with Mustard Ice Cream

Carrots, Beetroot and Rhubarb in Red Wine Sauce

Peas, Grapefruit, Mint and Ginger

Beans, Potato, Nuts

Pan Fried Scallop Gnocchi, Perpetual Spinach, Yuzu Purée, Ponzu Foam

John Dory, Silverbeet

A Field of Mushrooms – an alternative dish to the John Dory, Silverbeat

Pigeon, Mushroom Consommé, Silverbeet

Duck, Mango Sprinkled Liquorice Powder

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Mille Feuille

Coffee Floating Island, Lemongrass Anglaise, Bitter Chocolate

Berries, Sorbet, Ice Cream

What Lexxie Says: Going through this degustation was that it was a complete marathon to get through. This sentiment also resonated with my friend. Towards the end, we couldn’t finish the degustation. Not because it was 9-course, but because each of the serving sizes plated up were like mains! Quite unusual sized servings for a degustation - especially a 9-course.

So, to me that was quite a negative. You may not see it that way so each to their own. One other negative was the Pigeon, Mushroom Consommé, Silverbeet dish. In terms of technique, there was nothing wrong with the way it tasted or how it was cooked. However, my personal palate clearly does not like Pigeon. Plus, by the time we got to that dish, we were pretty full from the previous mains courses. Did I mention that the servings were the size of mains?

In the beginning, you see a lot of vegetable dishes. This was quite beautiful in the sense of how it looked and how it tasted. Though I would’ve liked my vegetables with my meat. Despite the dishes being size of mains (are you guys counting time amount of times I’ve said this?), the vegetable dishes were quite filling as well.

The Berries, Sorbet and Ice Cream at the end of our degustation we could’ve done without. At that point, it was just a waste that we couldn’t finish it.

Ok, the positives. The Duck, Mango Sprinkled Liquorice Powder dish was quite memorable. The flavours were harmonious and despite the duck cooked perfectly in terms of French technique, the mango and liquorice flavours definitely felt Asian-inspired.

The stand out dishes for me were their signature Pan Fried Scallop Gnocchi, Perpetual Spinach, Yuzu Purée, Ponzu Foam and Mille Feuille. The Pan Fried Scallop Gnocchi, Perpetual Spinach, Yuzu Purée, Ponzu Foam was just so soft and full of texture that it melted in your mouth. I could’ve had a whole plate of that and be completely satisfied that night.

As for the Mille Feuille, it was the best Mille Feuille I’ve ever had. Usually when I get Mille Feuille, the puff pastry is soggy, the crème pâtissière is dense and it just feels heavy to eat. The Source’s Mille Feuille puff pastry was flaky, the crème was just so light like air and so flavoursome. I believe it had a hint of hazelnut through it, and that just lifted the dish up for gold.

Whether you’re there for à la carte or for degustation, it’s worth checking out The Source. If you go for degustation, be sure to have an appetite as each of their courses are the size of mains!