The Coolest Places to Eat and Drink in Hobart

I lived in and near Hobart for most of my childhood and all of my university years. As the capital city of Tasmania, there are lots of fun things to do in Hobart and there are also plenty of excellent restaurants, cafés and bars for a meal or just some drinks. Many of these are situated around Salamanca and the waterfront, although the North Hobart neighbourhood is also known as a bit of a foodie’s mecca and there are other places all over the city. In this guide, I’m sharing my favourite places for getting a meal or drink, based on my years living in the city, as well as our most recent trips back to Tassie. While some of the places I used to love eating at have now closed and there are always new places popping up that I might not have tried yet, these are my current favourite places to eat in Hobart.

The Best Places to Eat and Drink in Hobart

I have only included places in this section of the guide that I have personally been to and that I also have at least one photo of. There are many more great places to eat in Hobart that I don’t have photos of and many more that are probably great but I haven’t tried them – yet! I will make sure to update this guide every time I am in Hobart so check back before your next trip in case I’ve added some more places.

The Drunken Admiral Seafarer’s Restaurant

I’m a kid at heart, so I love eating anywhere with a theme and cool decor! The Drunken Admiral feels like you are inside a ship, with lots of wood and nautical decorations everywhere and they serve mostly seafood, but there are a few other options as well. The food is amazing and I always try to eat here at least once when I’m back home! You can also go in for a drink at the bar if you just want to check it out.

Evolve Spirits Bar

Located inside the fancy MACq 01 Hotel building, the Evolve Spirits Bar is a very sleek bar that serves (as you can probably tell from the title) mainly spirits and cocktails, but also beer, cider, wine and food. The interior is awesome as they’ve really gone with the ‘evolution’ theme and run with it, with fossils and even the skeleton of a giant Russian cave bear lit up very atmospherically. There’s also a deck outside where you can sit and look out over the Hobart docks.

Mures

Mures is one of the most famous seafood places in Hobart, they sell fresh fish to take home and have a posh Upper Deck restaurant as well as the more bistro-like Lower Deck one downstairs AND an oyster bar/restaurant. I usually just go to the Lower Deck for a nice seafood lunch and they also sell delicious ice creams for dessert. You can see some more photos of Mures in my self-guided Battery Point and Salamanca tour post!

Fish Frenzy

Yes, it’s another seafood place but Hobart is known for its excellent fresh seafood and this restaurant is also really really good! Fish Frenzy is located on Elizabeth Street Pier and they are known for serving their yummy meals in cone-shaped brown paper. It’s also pretty relaxed, you don’t need a reservation. I nearly always get the fish burger when I come here, it’s so good.

Gold Bar

We visited the tiny Gold Bar for the first time on our most recent trip and I really liked it, mostly because it was a lot smaller and quieter than any others and I’m getting too old to be surrounded by loud drunk people! Also, very fittingly, the song Gold on the Ceiling by the Black Keys came on as we were walking in and the main little bar area has a golden ceiling. It’s located inside a sort of office building, so we sat in a weird, but cool little atrium area. The bar staff were really friendly too and I enjoyed my raspberry highball. Apparently, this is also a café during the day.

Shoutout to my friend Kirby who has put her professional modelling skills to work for some of these photos and also gave me lots of recommendations on new places to try while we were back in Tassie! She’s a local and you can follow her on Instagram if you want to see more places in Hobart and the area when she checks them out, as well as her travels.

Peppina

Peppina is a relatively new Italian restaurant in Salamanca that’s part of the Tasman, a Marriott Bonvoy hotel, so you know it’s going to be fancy! Kirby said we had to have brunch here on our most recent trip home, so we begrudgingly (joking!) went along and had a very nice, fancy brunch. They do a buffet breakfast/brunch but there’s also table service for your drinks and a main egg dish. There are lots of different European-style meats, cheeses and salads to choose from, along with yoghurt, a variety of very nice musli, pancakes and even a whole honeycomb to get your honey from! We’ve only been for brunch but Peppina also does dinner. It was pricey but very nice for what you get, it would be a good choice for a special occasion, or if you just want to splurge while on holiday!

The Den

The Den is another bar fairly new bar in Salamanca (at least, I don’t think it was open on my last trip home) which is all about Tasmanian products – which I love! You can even see it reflected in the decor, with Huon pine on the door and a Tassie Devil mosaic in the open kitchen upstairs! We only popped in here for a drink one night (they have some lovely cocktails made with Tasmanian products), but they also do sharing-plate-type food with quite a few Korean dishes. I’m planning to come back again during the daytime on my next visit.

Honey Badger Dessert Café

Ok, so maybe I would have been able to try more new places if I didn’t always insist on visiting Honey Badger at least once whenever I’m in Tasmania, but it is the cutest and most delicious little café! While they also have savoury breakfast dishes Honey Badger is most known as a dessert café as their sweet treats are incredible! The waffles and pancakes are great, but I usually get a ‘panookie’ (pictured above) which is a delicious cookie served in a tiny pan with lots of mouth-watering toppings.

Machine Laundry Café

Located a few doors down from Honey Badger is another place known as a “Hobart institution”, the Machine Laundry Café. It’s called that because it is actually a laundromat as well as a café, so you can do some laundry here and have a meal while you wait for it to be done! They’re open for breakfast and lunch, with plenty of delicious sweet and savoury dishes, along with excellent coffee. There’s also a giant chess board in front of the café if you don’t mind having lots of people watch you as you play.

Ball & Chain Grill

The Ball & Chain has been around for decades and they have run with the convict theme. If you’re tired of seafood this is a great choice as they are known for their steak which is cooked on a charcoal grill. There are also seafood dishes as well, along with dry-aged steaks. They’re located inside one of the historic sandstone warehouses on Salamanca Place with a very cosy vibe inside.

Shippie’s

The Shipwrights Arms Hotel (usually just called Shippie’s by locals) in Battery Point is a restaurant as well as a pub and they do really good pub food. I used to often have meals here with my grandparents on special occasions and it’s also the official pub for the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. There are two different sections to dine in, both of which serve excellent food, although you can also just visit for a beer in one of the two bar areas. There’s plenty of seafood on the menu along with steak, lamb and chicken dishes, as well as a couple of vegetarian/vegan options.

In the Hanging Garden

I’d had In the Hanging Garden on my list for ages and finally got to visit on my most recent Tassie trip! This is a very cool and very big venue that does live music and has multiple little kitchens where you can order a variety of cuisines to enjoy with your drinks. We visited late afternoon as some of our friends had young kids and it is kid-friendly during the day and early evening, but the music gets progressively louder as the night falls and it then becomes more of a club. It definitely has the cool factor, with all the hanging plants, the massive cathedral-like greenhouse section and the fact that it’s also dog-friendly – at least during the day. You can also choose from Korean cuisine, Mexican, pizza, sandwiches and more so it’s a great spot for groups who may like a bit of everything.

The Cascade Brewery

Cascade is the oldest operating brewery in Australia, set in a gorgeous old building in the foothill of Mount Wellington. If you’re into beer then you might like to do a tour of the brewery but you can also visit the Brewery Bar for drinks and a meal in a beautiful location. In summer you can choose to sit outside in the beer garden surrounded by heritage plants and in winter there’s a roaring fire in the cosy bar area. They serve classic pub meals and the Cascades area of Hobart is just a really nice spot to explore. Before or after the brewery you might also like to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Cascades Female Factory to learn more about women convicts in Tasmania, it’s just down the road from the brewery.

Wrest Point Hotel and Casino

The Wrest Point Hotel and Casino is, as you can probably guess, a hotel and casino, but there are also multiple restaurants and bars on site where you can have a meal and/or drink. My favourite is the Birdcage Bar (pictured above with peacocks in the window!) a very chic cocktail bar, and I’ve also dined in The Point revolving restaurant on the top floor a few times over the years – usually for special occasions as it’s quite pricey. There’s now also a Chinese Restaurant and the Longhorn Smokehouse, while I haven’t been to them, we stayed at Wrest Point on our most recent Tassie trip and when we ordered room service one night we both got burgers from the Smokehouse. They were very good too! There’s also a relaxed bistro right next to the water, so you can understand why I always say Wrest Point is the best place to stay while visiting Hobart.

The Salty Dog Hotel

While it’s technically in the suburb of Kingston, about a 15-minute drive from the Hobart CBD, I’m including the Salty Dog Hotel on this list as it’s just so dang cool! Located directly across from Kingston Beach, this is a laidback pub/restaurant with a dog-friendly beer garden, and they even sell special dog ice cream. I’ve eaten here a few times and always had delicious food, plus I enjoy the photo collage near the entrance of locals with their dogs on the Kingston dog beach. My family lived in Kingston when I was a child and we always took our dogs to the beach here! There are regular live music events held at the Salty Dog as well so if you’re looking for a beach day, head to Kingston Beach and then have lunch or dinner at this pub.

More Local Recommendations

These last few places are ones that my local friends have told me are great but I haven’t yet personally been to myself, along with some places I have been to in the past but don’t have any recent photos of. I will also try to visit these next time I’m in Hobart so I can show you some photos to go with the descriptions!

• The Duchess Café: Located in an adorable cottage in Sandy Bay (that used to house THE BEST toy shop in the world when I was a kid) The Duchess looks like a lovely spot for brunch or High Tea. I haven’t been yet but my friend Kirby has and said it was good!

• Sisterhood: Another Sandy Bay café recommended to me by Kirby (which I didn’t manage to visit on our last trip) is this one which has pretty decor and a yummy-looking menu.

• Urban Greek: I’ve never been here but it gets rave reviews for its modern Greek cuisine, plus there are apparently cool “Greek” murals on the walls so hopefully on our next trip we’ll make it.

• Voodoo Bar: I wanted to go here for cocktails on our last trip as it looks soooo cool, especially with drinks served in skull glasses, but alas, we ran out of time. Kirby has been and said it’s as cool as it looks, so next time for sure.

• Raincheck Lounge: I’ve been here a few times but can’t find any recent photos. Located in North Hobart this is a particularly excellent spot for brunch or an afternoon cake and coffee break.

• Bar Wa Izakaya: I really wanted to visit here on our most recent trip but didn’t make it. It’s a very cool-looking Japanese restaurant and bar, with ramen available for lunch. It’s top of my list for my next trip home!

• Annapurna: Just a bit further up from the Ball & Chain in Salamanca is Annapurna, my favourite place for Indian cuisine in Hobart. They also have a restaurant in North Hobart although I haven’t eaten at that location.

• Jack Greene: This is one of the bars in Salamanca but they also serve adorable mini burgers so I usually come here for lunch rather than at night. The decor is also really cool, with lots of old books on the walls!

• Ichimei: Located almost next door to Honey Badger is this fantastic Japanese restaurant, which has beautiful cherry blossom decor. The food is also delicious although I forgot to take photos the last time I visited.

• Preachers: Preachers is a bit of a Hobart institution among locals, it’s a restaurant and bar that does really good burgers. There’s an old Hobart bus in the beer garden that you can sit inside of and it’s dog-friendly!

Map of the Best Places to Eat and Drink in Hobart

I’ve put all these spots on a map so you can get an idea of where everything is located while planning your meals in Hobart. Have a delicious time!

Pin Me!

What are your favourite places to eat and drink in Hobart? Let me know in the comments if I should add any more places to this list or pin one of these if you’re planning a visit to Hobart and want to have some good food (and drink) while you’re there!