The 11 best restaurants in Hobart

What is it: A tiny CBD wine bar and Italian restaurant that elicits a queue every evening.

Why go? This place has vibes almost as big as its wine list. Sonny is like heading to a friend’s house for dinner, albeit a mate with serious chops in the kitchen. There’s just 20 seats for walk-ins along the centre table, with diners on one side and chatty staff pouring wine and handing out food from the other. The theme here is “communal”, from the layout of the venue to the plates of pasta you can share with your mates. With tunes spinning all evening on the record player, you might even feel the urge to share your dance moves, too.

What is it: A busy Japanese eatery slinging share plates and cocktails.

Why go? Bar Wa Izakaya is the perfect taste of Tokyo in Tassie, with its buzzy atmosphere, incredible food and long list of Japanese beer, whisky and sake. You’ll want to share food at this North Hobart venue to maximise the amount of dishes you try, like Bar Wa’s signature oysters (available four ways), a big plate of okonomiyaki, free-range karagé chicken, pink eye potatoes and moreish pork gyoza. If ramen’s your thing, make a lunch booking as it’s only available between noon and 3pm. No matter what time you go, cheers to your excellent meal with a whisky highball. Bar Wa Izakaya has them on tap, so you’d be rude not to.

What is it: A wine bar and upscale eatery which personifies the word “cool”.

Why go? Institut Polaire is a wine bar and restaurant that celebrates the colder side of life, from its icy white interiors to its menu focused around alpine food traditions and cool-climate produce. Think angasi oysters from chilly southeast Tassie, seafood caught in the Southern Ocean, pickled and fermented vegetables, and local goat milk gelato, all teamed with a drop chosen from a truly epic list featuring more than 100 wines. Just be wary of spillage if you opt for a red, as the interior of this restaurant truly is all white.

What is it: An intimate space with an experimental menu heavy on local produce.

Why go? Despite being one of the most highly-regarded restaurants in Hobart, Dier Makr is as unpretentious as it is excellent. The CBD space is small but relaxed, the staff knowledgeable but friendly. Dining at Dier Makr is a wild ride for your tastebuds; a twelve-course degustation of small plates big on local produce, which you can pair with wine from the venue’s huge cellar. While the menu is ever-changing, recent dishes from chef Kobi Ruzicka include sweet corn gelato with blackberries and pumpkin seed dulce de leche, poached southern rock lobster, locally-caught cured blue mackerel, and preserved strawberries with lavender ice cream.

What is it: A lively North Hobart bistro with all-day dining options.

Why go? A relative newcomer to the North Hobart food scene, Trophy Room may be tucked away on a residential corner with Venetian blinds blocking out its windows, but looks can be deceiving. Inside, it’s a bustling café-restaurant that got its start serving brunch before expanding into lunch and eventually as it became more popular, Friday and Saturday dinner. Trophy Room’s emphasis is on house-made, and much of the menu’s baked goods are produced within its four walls. A favourite dish with diners is the mortadella cruller: house-made pastry filled with cheese and pepper, served with mortadella sliced fresh on the Trophy Room meat slicer. Bellissimo.

What is it: MONA’s fancy French-inspired restaurant.

Why go? The triangular part of MONA jutting out over the River Derwent is home to Faro, the finest of the subversive art museum’s dining options. Faro is as extravagant as you’d expect a MONA restaurant to be, paying homage to the lavish flavours of French cuisine using Tasmanian produce. Standouts include Manger la Problème (Eat the problem) featuring seared feral Tasmanian venison back strap, potato mille-feuille, persillade, and café de Mona with celeriac cream; and the decadent Putain de Fromage Chaud (F**king hot cheese), a dish consisting of baked Le Conquérant camembert, pommes frites, roast garlic, cornichons and lavosh. As the menu reads: what more do you want?

What is it: A tiny Italian eatery with a set menu that changes weekly.

Why go? The premise of Templo is clever, really: seat 25 people and serve them all the exact same thing. You get what you’re given at Templo, but luckily what you’re given is incredible. Six courses (four if you’re dining at lunch) featuring handmade pasta bursting with flavour, like sweet corn agnolotti or dory and potato cappellacci, as well as vegetable-based dishes using produce from local growers. There’s an extensive wine list scribbled on the chalkboard and the staff are happy to help match your choice with the night’s menu. Dessert is the perfect finale, whether it's a lemon semifreddo or custard tart with gingerbread ice cream.

What is it: Destination dining with a garden-to-table ethos.

Why go? Van Bone is a 45-minute drive out of Hobart, and the meal is worth every minute spent on the road. Hyper-intimate with a handful of tables and only two lunch sittings per day from Saturday to Monday (as well as the first Friday of each month) each dish of the set menu is made using produce obtained within a 90-minute drive from the restaurant. A vast majority comes from the property itself, such as the vibrant fistful of flowers served with local goat cheese. Co-owner Laura Stucken acts as greeter and server and explains each dish, so you’re nourished with food and knowledge by the end of lunch. The sweeping views across Marion Bay through Van Bone’s floor-to-ceiling windows will have you switching seats with your dining partner after every course.

What is it: A lively corner wine bar and bistro boasting good tunes and great food.

Why go? Chef and restaurateur Matt Breen is the master of small, intimate Hobart venues (he’s also the man behind the aforementioned Templo and Sonny) and Ogee is his latest venture. A corner space in popular North Hobart, you’ll hear the signature sound of records spinning and wine glasses clinking as soon as you get near Ogee. Another staple of any Breen offering? Flavourful Italian-inspired dishes created with local produce, a hefty wine list, welcoming staff and relaxed, friendly vibes. Hey, if it ain’t broke…

What is it: A set menu of fresh local produce located in a former asylum.

Why go? The Agrarian Kitchen, located 40 minutes out of Hobart in New Norfolk, is a truly local dining experience. Plenty of the ingredients for the set menu’s dishes are grown on the kitchen’s onsite farm, while the rest are sourced from nearby growers, farmers and fishermen. Everything the Agrarian Kitchen uses is fresh (we’re talking just-picked herbs and fish straight out of the river) and the kitchen team does its own cheese-making, pickling, smoking, fermenting, whole-animal butchery and bread-making.   

What is it? A stylish neighbourhood wine bar and bistro.

Why go? “Please wear something that makes you feel fabulous.” That’s dress code at this highly coveted ‘fun-dining’ restaurant in Hobart. The menu remains a mystery until you’re seated in Fico’s intimate 40-seat dining room, as it evolves depending on the day’s best produce. Throughout the nine-course tasting extravaganza, chef-owners Federica Andrisani and Oskar Rossi weave their magic, marrying local Tasmanian produce with sophisticated European techniques. A robust wine list ensures your dining experience is nothing short of extraordinary.