The Source Restaurant - MONA, Hobart

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 MONA is an incredible museum and art gallery (perhaps my favourite in Australia), and the food options are just as incredible. There is the wonderful Faro, of course - but I'm going to talk about The Source, a restaurant quirkily giving you the option of dining outdoors on "living tables" with moss and herbs as tablecloths, or dining indoors and risking being seated indoors and eating above a dildo. 

The table we got, alas, had no dildo fun, but is a rather aesthetic piece of jade ornament. The dining philosophy is sharing is caring, so here goes.  

Spiced eggplant, $28

Eggplant has always been my favourite vegetable, and I fell in love with it once again in Tasmania. At The Source, spiced eggplant is cooked with saffron and fino roast fennel, manchego cream, green olives, roast tomato broth and topped with a couple of grissini. It is rich, umami and complex. The star ingredient - the eggplant - being such a perfect vessel to deliver all these flavour explosions. 

Wallaby tartare, $28

Wild harvested Tasmanian wallaby is mixed with cornichons, capers and tabasco - a very lean, richly flavoured meat balanced with some tart and strong flavours, then brought together with an egg yolk so fresh you could practically see the vitamins popping out of it. On the side we have pommes frites with some garlic and anchovy aioli - I particularly enjoyed the addition of anchovy to the aioli, which gives it a lovely depth and saltiness. 

Tea eggs, $26

Tea eggs is one of my mother's specialty - her recipe calls for no less than 7 types of soy sauces - so I was rather curious to see what The Source would make of such a comforting childhood snack. The Source certainly didn't disappoint. To be honest, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I certainly didn't expect it to look so red and spicy. Two tiny quail eggs are huddled together with roast shitake and king oyster mushrooms, XO sauce (hence the red), burnt onion, black barley and bok choy. The broth is a "master broth" with black vinegar. I don't know whether The Source means this, but in Chinese cuisine, a "master broth" is a continuous broth that gets added to. Some "master broths" go back decades. Regardless of what they mean, it was a very interesting and complex flavour, making a truly impressive dish. 

Moorilla Praxis sparkling riesling $10 & Moorilla Muse pinot noir, $18

Of course MONA has its own wine people: Moorilla. The pinot noir  belong to the Muse range, which is an old-world style of wine-making with a modern, Tasmanian twist. I begrudgingly selected it based on staff recommendation (I'm not a pinot noir drinker but it goes better with the food we ordered), and even I had to admit it was delicious. The sparkling riesling is from the Praxis range, which Moorilla describes as their bold and immediate style of wine, and that it certainly was.  The other range made by Moorilla is the Cloth (luxurious yet daring, decades in the making. Alas, it was not on the menu). The Source also serves lots of Domaine A wines, which is the bordeaux-style cousin winery to Moorilla.   


Seafood 'Nduja, $44

This whopper of a dish is a seafood lover's dream: a perfectly pan roasted bay fish is joined by calamari, prawn, scallops, white bean, chilli and 'nduja spices. The menu specifies that because the ingredients are sustainably sourced, they change depending on seasonality - which I absolutely support and love. I have noticed this common theme in the restaurants of Hobart: a focus on local, fresh ingredients and sustainable practices. 

Brussel salad, $14

Very simple and fresh, perfect to balance the heavy, complex flavours of the main dishes. 

Brulee, $16

This is the most unusual brulee I have ever seen: first, it's not in a little pot. Second, when I think of creme brulee, I think of traditional, simple flavours (vanilla). The one at The Source exceeded all expectations: it is a horchata brulee paired with pumpkin and brown sugar ice cream, tequila raisins, spiced pipitas and hibiscus. This wonderfully and gently boozy, spicey number was an absolute dream. Perfect with a clean, dry martini. 

Oh, and here's a photo of their "living table". Would have been absolutely perfect for any season but depth of winter. 



Score: 5/5
Cost: approx $100pp 
Address: Ether Building, Mona

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