The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery Revisited

We drive from my house to our local town of New Norfolk. Snow has dusted the peaks. The main difference is the addition of my best friend Dizzle, who has blessed me with her presence on a visit from Brisbane. Another blessing: she is taking me on a belated birthday lunch to one of my favourite restaurants.

She has let me choose the venue, the wonderful Agrarian Kitchen Eatery. I first visited the year before for my birthday. I promise her it will be a lovely time. I think she trusts me.

The menu, as always is a set lunch menu. All food is locally sourced and/or grown or made on site. 

Dizz selects a local sparkling Rose. I say I am feeling like something tart and refreshing and without ado they make me a gin fizz cocktail.

Before long, our first, beautifully presented morsels arrive: Oyster sandwich, little potato cubes, fresh veg with an umtious mayo and the most pretty Danish you'll ever see.

turnip, kohrabi and burnt onion

Vegetables are garden fresh and the mayonnaise is velvety. 

Danish, broad bean flowers and cured egg

Buttery flaky pastry. Rich cured egg yolk.

potato, lamb salt and thyme | angasi oyster sandwich 

The oyster sandwich has a lovely tempura style oyster, mayo in white bread. There is a Japanese essence and something very comforting about this little mouthful. The potato is layer upon layer of paper-thin potato which I think was confit and was simple and elegant and went beautifully with a smear of mayo.

Next round is burrata, sourdough and cured cold cut made from the pig's head.

burrata and smoked paprika

Beautiful mild mozzarella style cheese with a cream filling.

coppa di testa, blood orange and parsley

The coppa di testa is beautiful, however I thought the dressing of blood orange was slightly too strong for the very delcate flabour of the meat. However the love and respect shown for this animal is clear.

kefir butter

I love when butter is presented as a work of art.

mushrooms, fermented parsnip and egg yolk

Our main plates are brought out one at a time, the mushroom and parsnip, broad beans and asparagus and pork, garlic and corn and initially we question this.
However we realise that each one of these dishes is exceptional. I've heard people express their love for in-season asparagus and thought to myself, how can someone love a vegetable so much. But now I know. Each one of these dishes could have been an amazing main by itself and it they all came out together I don't feel that I could have appreciated the perfection of each individual element on each plate.

broad beans, asparagus and hot sauce

braised pork, green garlic and corn

Rich, tender, juicy pork with an sumtuous fattiness. The corn was a bit surreal. It had been dried and then rehydrated and the texture was something else.

yoghurt and honey tart

Beautiful creamy tart with a sharp honey sauce.

coffee liqueur

elderflower pate de fruit

Jubes!

buttermilk gelato and rhubarb

Creamy, lovely finish to a gorgeous meal.

 

I just love the unpretentiousness of this restaurant, locally sourced, made with love fine dining.

This post is dedicated to my best friend, Carly (Dizzle)

New Norfolk Hotel: Pub Lunch

It was cold today. Cold and rainy, 8 degrees in fact. In tow, my gorgeous best friend from hot and sunny Queensland. 

We had been exploring the wonderful antique and homewares stores of New Norfolk when lunch time made itself aware. 

Miss Arthur Home Goods, Drill Hall Emporium

Carly suggested she felt like hot and hearty pub food and I mentioned the New Norfolk always looked packed at lunchtime and should we give it a go? She said yes.

We step inside and back in time to before pubs became gentrified. Classic. Country. Pub.

THEN

photo courtesy of newnorfolknews.com

NOW

photo courtesy of newnorfolk.org

There's no mood lighting or stainless steel here.  Keno screens on the wall next to the food menu, patterned carpet instead of polished concrete floors.  I love it.

As I had previously noticed, at 1.30pm Friday, there is a score of people jovially sat around tables with huge plates of hearty food in front of them.

We are daunted by the vast menu, but Carly opts for the lamb shank and I, after an internal battle, go for the daily special of surf and turf over the BBQ pork ribs. Both at $25. I go rare with chips and salad. While waiting for our meals,  I notice a serve of the ribs being taken to another table: they look spectacular and hope I didn't make a mistake.

courtesy of New Norfolk Hotel facebook page

After a very short time, our meals are brought to the table and both look excellent.

don't be fooled, that steak under the chips takes up half the plate

Carly indicates with gasps how falling-off-the-bone her lamb is. Also mentions the gravy is delicious.

I am impressed with the amount of prawns and the size and texture of them.

The chips are cooked and seasoned to perfection.  And the steak (rump) is tender, delicious and cooked exactly how it should be.  I order steak rare when I eat out owing to the fact that I find more often than not a medium-rare (my preference) is over-cooked to a medium or beyond. I do like a rare steak very much but medium-rare is my favourite. It is a nice piece of meat as well, advertised at 250g but I feel it may have been a bit bigger, well rested and delicious flavour. The white sauce is lovely and with the meal being the size it is, I didn't even have the room for a salad.

This is exactly the kind of pub you need on those nights that you can't be bothered cooking or like us, when you are in need of a big hearty meal.

Thank you New Norfolk Hotel, you did a cracking job.

edit 10/11/21. I went back last night with a group of 6, 5 of the meals were very warmly received,  however I had to send my med-rare t-bone back.  It was not even a cm thick and was grey as in, cooked to leather well done.  The girls at the counter looked at the steak and happily replaced it, however the replacement was not much better.  At $36 I find this unacceptable. I will be returning, however will not be ordering steak again.  

New Norfolk Hotel

79 High St, New Norfolk TAS 7140

https://www.newnorfolkhotel.net.au/

Pauly's Pizza New Norfolk

I did a Google search of our local pizza place, Pauly's Pizza and discovered two interesting things: firstly in 2020, Pauly's won best pizza in Hobart. Impressive, no? The other wonderful thing I discovered was an amazing dude who goes by the name of Tas Daz Down Under. Tas Daz is a Tasmanian chap who I assume lives not far from me and does YouTube food reviews.

Courtesy of New Norfolk and Derwent Valley News:

Tas Daz, who was featured in the article, rated Pauly's very highly (he goes on to review several of Pauly's Pizzas). I think he's hilarious and also a metal head for bonus points. I also love that he reviews local restaurants. Not just fancy schmancy ones (like a certain blogger *loosens collar*) and it has inspired me. Now that I live in the small community of the Derwent Valley I want to support local and if my blog gets another customer through the door of a locally owned business than it will have been worth it, and thank you Tas Daz, as you have gotten me through two doors already and more to follow. (Burger review coming soon).

I'm going to link his video below, however be careful, I started watching and ended up still watching four hours later.

Pauly's Pizza - Lamb Souvlaki & Mega Meat Lover's Pizzas : Tas Daz Down Under

Let's get down to business... Pizza business!

So Gudge and I make the drive into New Norfolk to try a couple of Pauly's Pizzas.

It's very handy that they have the pizza sizes on the front windows, and with eyes as big as our stomachs we decide on a family each. I go for a Supreme (bacon, onion, pineapple, capsicum, mushroom, cheese) and Gudge opts for a Pepperoni (salami, pepperoni, capsicum, cheese) at $18 each or 2 for $35).

The store is clean, anything-but-fancy, however the staff are lovely and attentive. We place our order and are told it will be around fifteen minutes so go for a little wander through New Norfolk.

On our return an older gentleman is leaving the restaurant and holds the door for me. "Thank you, enjoy your pizza" I remark, "I will, and you will too, trust me" he responds.

We collect the two heavy boxes and take them down to the park for Pizza Picnic.

...I hope we do

I start with a piece of my Supreme, the very large, very hefty Supreme. It is absolutely delightful. The base is excellent, great crunch on the bottom and crust. Fantastic amount of toppings, and perfect balance of flavour. Overall a very excellent pizza.

I also try Gudge's Pepperoni. All the fantastic elements of mine with the punchy, spicy flavour of cured sausage.

It's so big it doesn't fit into a photo!

Okay, so I love Pauly's Pizza. They're not trying to be anything else, they're just doing pizza the way Domino's wishes it could do pizza and I enjoyed it a lot.

We have almost a whole pizza for leftovers (edit, I ate a cold piece while writing this and it was STILL amazing) so I think these are great value for money. Judging by the amount of people in the store early evening Wednesday, I believe Pauly's has proven themselves to the local community and has an obvious following. I applaud their award of Best Pizza and can certainly say these are the best pizzas I have had in some time.

Address: 34A Burnett St, New Norfolk TAS 7140

Phone: 1800 728 597

Bushy Park Roadhouse Burger

So, you know there's those times you just want a burger reminiscent of those your parents used to get you as a kid? Or is that just me?

I have lovely memories of a accompanying my parents to a market or auction and after being very good, getting to share a burger.

This is not your gourmet $25 burger that has become the norm and don't get me wrong, there is a very special place in my heart for a gourmet burger, however sometime I just want a burger a plain old burger.

Our local store, post office (where we collect our mail) and petrol is the Bushy Park Roadhouse and the girls there have just been so welcoming to us since we've moved here, they are the heart of the community they also go a great little take away and today I just felt like a good old burger.

photo courtesy of realestate.com.au

I order a burger with the lot and a small chips.

Although the burger has been in the warmer is still tastes lovely and fresh. I like the way that the burger bun gets soft almost line a bao when it's been in a warmer for a bit. The 'lot' includes a beef patty, cheese, bacon,. egg and BBQ (or tomato as an option) sauce but no salad. It's just... good! It made me very happy. I had the option of chicken salt on my epic crinkle cut chips and I happily took that option. These chips are perfect, just perfect. I had these sitting out on my patio as it the first day of spring and the weather was wonderful.

The craziest part... old fashioned prices... burg and chips, 11.50!

Nice to have a good takeaway so close to home.

Bushy Park Roadhouse

525 Gordon River Rd, Bushy Park TAS 7140

take a left at this sign and head about 500m down the road

Gretna Green Hotel: Our New Local

So, we moved to the country. 

Well in fact we bought a house in the country. I almost can't believe it myself. It's simply wonderful. It's peaceful and quiet, friendly and quirky.

We are quite a way away from, well anything, except the local shop, the local market I work at on Wednesdays and a lovely little pub. Quite a historic wee pub actually, built in 1849 that's EIGHTEEN FORTY NINE and licensed continually since 1862, holy smokes, that's 159 years, (thanks Microsoft calculator).

image courtesy of homely.com.au

The pub has recently been purchased by new owners, and we thought we'd go down and have a meal and support the new owners.

As we pull up to the carpark (90 second drive from home to be accurate) we are surprised by the amount of cars in the driveway, it looks packed. We pull in, wander past the utes full of fire wood and interestingly, deer carcasses, and make our way to the bar.

The place is indeed packed. We had only been once before and it was well, there may have been tumbleweeds, so it was a joy to see the place filled with jovial locals.

We are informed that food may have a little wait, but we are not bothered, but instead grab a couple of drinks (I have a Sav Blanc and a Cascade Draught for G $12) and a menu to decide. We mosey roadside which has recently been revamped with extra tables, chair and firepits and of course the beautiful surrounding countryside.

The menu reads like a classic pub menu with most of the things you'd expect but are never disappointed to see. 

We decide on a garlic bread to share $5.50, Parmigiana for G $23 and the seafood basket for myself $30.

Warning aside, the food didn't take too long to come out at all.

I believe it was an epic amount of garlic bread for the price. Great flavour on lovely crisply toasted bread.

It is really difficult to show the sheer size of Gudge's Parmi... it had some serious girth. He reckons it was one of "the better ones I have tried in his life" and that "the chicken was very juicy", he loved the tomato sauce.

My seafood basket was all perfectly cooked and came with I believe was flathead (?), calamari, scallop, prawn cutlet and seafood bite.

The chips were very very good. I am a chip snob and these were without fault (please feel free to click 'chips' in the labels to hear me whinge about or praise chips). I have to say it, the retro curry pasta and egg salad was awesome, I absolutely loved the nostalgia of it. The home made slaw and green salad were both super fresh.

Do you know what? This is honest, real, in no way pretentious pub grub. From a doozy of a country pub.

We'll absolutely be going back, and if we're ever allowed visitors back to Tassie we'll take them too. 

We didn't get a chance to meet the owners, but I hope to very soon, and I wish them all the best.

Agrarian Kitchen Eatery

The year is 2020. 

It's been 9 whole years since I started writing this blog while living in Edinburgh, Scotland. 

Truth be told, I actually read this blog quite frequently. I still show it to people, mostly in reference to my travels. But to this day, I am still so proud I did this blog. It has become a decade long diary.

I have actually had a few requests to keep the blog going. I am touched. I did not know anyone read nor cared. Thank you.

So back to the food. 

The year is 2020. I now live in Southern Tasmania. The Covid virus runs rampant around the world, but here our restrictions have eased and with businesses opening again and my birthday looming I tell Gudge we're going to be having a lovely lunch.

The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery is located in New Norfolk, a quaint little town north of Hobart and has won a plethora of awards including Australia's Best Regional Restaurant.

We book in for a set lunch on a cool Saturday in July. 

The setting for the restaurant is a historic building which once was home to an Insane Asylum. Most of the surrounding buildings remain unused. I have to wonder how soon they will all be developed into apartments and pigeon holes for sushi franchises and gyms. But for now, it is simply charming.

We make our way in. The room is bright and open, a fireplace along one wall crackles away allowing us to defrost our fingers.

We are introduced to our beautiful waitress Millie, who explains how important the use of local and seasonal produce is, with everything served either being grown on site, or from the local area.

We start with an apricot and elder-flower gin cocktail and for Gudge a Bruny Island Lighthouse Session Ale.

The restaurant no longer provides an a la carte menu but instead offers a set menu which changes weekly based on supply of produce. We sip our drinks and peruse the menu.

I am very excited to try the Burrata as well as the potato cakes. 

A note: in Tasmania potato scallops are called potato cakes.

Before too long, Millie delivers our first offerings, home made sourdough with home made butter (maybe I should omit 'home made'- lets just assume everything from here on out is home made), beautiful Burrata with dried peppers and oil and amarillo carrots with albacore pate. 

The bread and butter is absolutely sumptuous and I can assure you, I wish they had left the loaf on the table. The Burrata which is a mozzarella cheese with a cream centre is soft yet chewy with such a subtlety which is sensational on the bread with oil.

However my favourite was the albacore pate. We are informed that the albacore tuna is caught off Eaglehawk Neck and is a combination of the flesh of the tuna combined with tuna "sardines" meat that they have salted and preserved. It is absolutely rich and incredible but not fishy just, indulgent.

To add to the spread comes a charcuterie of pickles, prosciutto, salami and terrine. Both of the cold meats were sensational (and made onsite) but the terrine was absolute bliss and on the sourdough with the pickle was just something else all together.

And then, out come the beautiful, golden, crispy pillows that are the potato cakes, they are just as good as you'd imagine a perfect (potato) scallop to be!

We are both incredibly excited for the pasta course. We are told that both the broth and filling of the tortellini are made of rooster which has a bigger flavour than chicken and this is certainly true. This dish is as wholesome and warming as any chicken noodle soup you've ever tried. I could have had a cauldron if it. Oh... and the pasta itself! Why don't I made homemade pasta? There is absolutely nothing like it, nothing.

That reminds me of a story from around ten years ago. See the green in the picture- that's nettle, or stinging nettle as it is known. When living in a Edinburgh I decided to engage in some gardening. I went to the yard and decided to attack some weeds, no gloves of course, I'm not a baby. Minutes later and hands on fire- I discovered what a stinging nettle was.

The main, as if by fate is PORK BELLY my favourite, it is nothing short of perfect. Served with sharp and tangy mustard greens and a beautiful rich green corn polenta served with an egg yolk (under the cheese) and the combination is just incredible. The pork is salty and fatty and lush, the polenta is just unreal, so very indulgent and the greens were just perfect to cut through off of that richness. With the main I have a glass of Rose (of which I did not get the name) and it is a perfect match.

We are then treated to a wedge of herbed goats cheese with crackers. It is salty and not at all overbearing and does a wonderful job of cleaning the palate for dessert.

For dessert we are treated to bread ice cream, yes bread ice cream. The milk is infused with the previous days bread to produce something that is just divine, velvety, not at all savoury and the crunch of the accompanying roasted breadcrumbs are just... yum.

The pavlova is the best I have ever had. I honestly applaud anyone that can make a chewy meringue, it should be in a different league to any other meringue- that texture is heaven. The tropical fruit takes me back to Queensland. 

Gudge and I both comment that the dessert is our favourite course. We also note how wonderful it was not to have to rely on overly heavy foods for a mid-winter set menu. Everything was very well balanced but still comforting. This I think is a real feat.

We leave on a cloud- such an enjoyable experience- the food, service and ambiance were all to the highest degree without any trace of stuffiness or snobbery.

This restaurant to me, is Tasmania.

The Agrarian Kitchen Eatery

11A The Avenue

New Norfolk  Tasmania  7140 Australia

e: eatery@theagrariankitchen.com

t: (03) 6262 0011