Piccalilly

By Franz Scheurer

Piccalilly in Hobart serves what they term ‘assiette dining’, a type of DIY degustation after the style of Sydney’s Universal. They’ve done away with entrées, mains and desserts and offer savoury and sweet dishes, all scaled down in size so that you may try more dishes and really experience the food they have on offer. The setting is rustic with modern touches. Tables are generously spaced, tableware and glassware is excellent and the service is attentive and friendly. The menu is priced at 4-dishes for $82 ($127 with matched wines), 5-dishes for $98 ($153) or six-dishes at $110 ($175).

We ordered ‘eight pacific oysters from Shellfish On Bruny natural’, tiny, briny morsels; ‘parsnip veloute with watercress puree and sourdough crouton’, a lovely creamy velouté with a sharp, very green, purée; ‘pan-fried deep sea perch with cured fennel and dressed greens’, well seared and a good combination; wagyu sirloin carpaccio with confit egg yolk and horseradish vinaigrette’, which had excellent flavour but was cut rather thick and heaped high; ‘tortellini of braised lamb shoulder with slow-cooked mushrooms’, showing off excellent pasta with a ragu-like filling; ‘Piccalilly’s pie floater with pea velouté’, a stunning looking dish, a perfectly sized pie made with good pastry but rather bland filling; and finally ‘crispy beef cheek with roasted garlic and bone marrow broth’, a square of beef cheek that could have been plated by Peter Gilmore. We finished our savoury courses by ordering a selection of cheeses and were impressed to be told up front that it would take 15 minutes to bring them to room temperature. For dessert we shared ‘Piccalilly’s apple and hazelnut crumble’, a leaning-tower-of-Pisa look-alike that ‘crumbled’ the second the waitperson removed the glass tube holding it all in place.

A bottle of Sugarloaf Point Chardonnay and one of Observatory Hill Pinot Noir seemed the right things to drink from the Tasmanian heavy wine list.

We enjoyed Piccalilly. We enjoyed the food, the atmosphere and the company and recommend it if and when you visit Hobart.

Score: 7/10

Piccalilly

Cnr of Hampden & Francis Sts

Battery Point

Tasmania

Tel.: (03) 6224 9900