the source

came for a late lunch on a weekday and seem to miss the crowd but also oysters for the day. unbeatable 270 degrees view of the best of hobart city.

grilled octopus, grain and kale deliver the smoky flavour, absolutely will try again. it would be nitpicking but the octopus was a tad bit overdone.

ordered polenta and mushrooms and didn't know what to expect (you'd thought the knife was an indication but you'd be wrong). next closest thing to this dish would be baby food. i expected more truffles in the taste but it was overwhelmed by the polenta. can i be bored by a dish? in short, flavour was there but lacking in texture.

crispy trevalla was better, the sauce takes on the fish. moo brew pilsner was top notch.

when my husband and i visited hobart, we thought we’d give the source a go to make our mona visit more complete. as their website instructed, i had to call the restaurant to book a few days beforehand. although the process was smooth, i’d expected a modern fine dining restaurant at mona to have online reservation function on their website.

when we arrived on the sunday, we were greeted immediately by one of the waiters. service from the staff and restaurant manager were good, but you’d expect nothing less from a restaurant like this. they came to top up our water frequently which was good. when we mentioned that we were planning to do wine tasting after lunch so we were not ordering any drinks, the female manager very kindly informed us that make sure we mention that we dined at the source so that the tasting is complimentary. we didn’t feel pressured to order drinks at the restaurant which was nice, and certainly appreciated her telling us about the complimentary tasting as it wasn’t stated anywhere on mona’s website.

we were not very hungry so decided to just order 2 entrées and 1 main to share. the restaurant, like most fine dining restaurants in australia, offers complimentary bread, which is sourced from the famous pigeon whole bakery in hobart.

for our first entrée, we had the seared scallops, textures of cauliflower, tomato & chorizo. the scallops were delicious! they were cooked and seared really well and really left us wanting for more. the cauliflower and puree were also flavoursome, and mixed really well with tomato & chorizo. again, they tasted so good that i think i wouldn’t mind getting another serve. the dish was well presented too. this was a great start to a meal and i’d really recommend this dish if you come here for lunch.

for our second entrée, we had the rabbit terrine, moorilla wine poached cherries, toast, leafy salad, capers, mustard. i had never tried rabbit terrine before so didn’t know what to expect. it was actually really nice and palatable. it tasted even better with a layer of mustard on top. we really enjoyed sharing it with some salad and bread. the wine poached cherries and didn’t leave any great impression though. the leafy salad was crunchy and the beetroot and capers really added extra texture and flavours to it. overall, it was a light and refreshing dish. if you are feeling a bit adventurous and open to something different, this is a good one to try.

for our main course, we had the cannelloni filled with leafy greens and pine nuts in creamy cheese sauce. presentation was not that impressive and there just looked to be an excessive amount of creamy cheese sauce on the plate. there were three cannelloni in total. the cannelloni pastry tasted fresh and house-made, and there were plenty of green fillings inside. however, we both felt that the creamy cheese sauce was too creamy and rich. to be honest, after the two impressive entrées, this dish was a bit underwhelming. there were way too much cheesy sauce on it and that’s all you could taste. i knew it would be creamy, but i had expected the taste to be more sophisticated and didn’t expect the creaminess to be that rich. nevertheless, if you are a fan of some really creamy cheese sauce, you probably will love this dish.

overall, i’d still recommend dining here if you visit mona. it may not be for everyone, but it’s definitely a dining experience worth trying to complete your mona experience.

we came for a late lunch on a weekday so there wasn't too many people at the restaurant. we were seated outside which had a lovely view on a sunny day. we ordered the lamb and wallaby with a side of potatoes. the food took a while to come out so we were starving by the time it did so you can imagine that we were not happy when we had to ask where our potatoes were. the waitress had a slightly surprised look on her face making it obvious that she had forgotten. she did not admit it and returned to say that it would be another ten minutes. so ridiculous that the side would come out once the main becomes cold. we were not impressed that she did not apologize. what made the service even worse was that we had to flag the waitress every time we wanted something such as our water topped up. there was only two other tables at the time so i cannot imagine what it's like when it is busy. not impressed for the price we pay to dine here.

we had a set menu here because of mofo, but it was great! $75 per head for 5 courses(plus $75 for matching wines) and every dish was delicious. stand outs were the vietnamese style duck pot au feu, and the white choc + wasabi mousse. i'd love to come back to try their a la carte menu.

may 2017 review of museum cafe (2/5) - i was so surprised by the attitude of the staff at the cafe as the source & wine bar staff are exceptional. we had a team lunch of 17 & we were drip fed lunch orders. 5 ordered curries which instead of coming out at one time, was spaced out over 50 mins, with the last one being served after everyone has finished their meal. it appears that they microwave their food to heat up. all the curries are individually plated then microwaved to heat. i noticed that there was unusually large amount of steam coming out the curry however the food itself was not that hot. this also added to drying up the curry as they microwaved the food too long. we all had very dry pork curry, unpleasant to get through. they must also have one microwave for the amount of time it took to get to the table.

the waitstaff completely ignored us when we tried to inquire about the last dish that hasn't arrived ( classic avoidance of eye contace & attitude of i am too cool for this job to serve you). my tea cup had coffee stains on the side & when i requested a new cup i was met with "what's wrong with it!".

the food in the serving fridge looks fantastic however i am not keen on paying $18 for microwaved food.

2 star is for the stunning view & landscape of the courtyard. it was heavenly to sit outside to soak in the sun.

feb & may 2017 review of source restaurant - the food & service was exceptional. the creativity of the food served, coupled with the professional service & luxurious setting make the dining experience one to remember. i would go back again no question. we had a fantastic dinner & lunch experience.

for lunch we took the kids & they were very accommodating by preparing a meal for them (one had creamy pasta who said it was delicious & fish & chips for the other one). source is trending for me!

dec 2015 review of golden hour @ mona wine bar - i highly recommend this experience! i arrived to a beautiful communal table setting at the wine bar, and was greet by a welcoming host with a complimentary bubblies. my girlfriends & i opted only for the food option ($79 pp for 3 course) as we wanted to drive home, drinks package is another $50.

the food was elegant with earthy feel to it, no pretension. the food was yummy, plentiful & i enjoyed the sharing concept. i thought initally being seated so closely with strangers that my night would be stilted but it was a lovely intimate setting & we enjoyed ourselves.

the highlight was going to see the amarna (art exhibition), i appreciated the explanation of the art (as i am no expert in this area). it was a wonderful experience to be out in the open & exploring art work. we returned to have dessert & relished being inside (bring a warm jacket as exhibition is outside). i took a photo of the menu so i won't describe the food, except to say it was very good.

food : comforting yet elegant
service: warm & elegant
atmosphere: chic & modern

i would definitely go back!

very disappointing. 5 course degustation was below average. not seasoned and very bland. the worst was the tuna carpaccio. tasted like we were eating nothing...no flavour. service was below average. was really looking forward to it but disappointed. i hope it picks up its game. hobart deserves a place like this.

so, part of the carpet is held together with duck tape. hmmm, not what you'd expect. however, we hoped the food would shine through.

1 hour 15 between course 1 and 2, course 4 went to the wrong table and all and i mean all the dishes required zero chewing. it's as though the menu was designed for people with tooth-ache!

the wine was outstanding and so was the sommelier. 
 
the bill - well, we got give the wrong one... it was one disaster to another... it would've been funny if not so disappointing... not sure i'd risk it again.

a "mona" is now my definition when i've expected better, been under whelmed and let down...

degustation "non-menu" oh puhlease... that's just a lazy chef unwilling to commit... proved true by the 5/7 dishes i had simply drenched in olive oil... what was it on sale?...

unimaginative dishes and no flavour variance,

and service was both pretentious and poor at the same time
servers having difficulty examining the dishes... at $150 per head... come on guys

but the pinnacle was the mater dei... hilariously up himself...
no patron should ever hear the head waiter disparage the diners to other wait and kitchen staff....

there's very few restaurants id never give a second chance... bit the source at mona made me not even want to give the gallery another visit...

it's chef is one i would now consciously avoid or good... ad only coaxed back with a while new team, concept, and brand....

don't waste your time, forget the money... it was worth it to come up with my new laughable word for an underwhelm ... a mona... at the source haha

tassie has way too many other better, more creative, tastier places to eat then here

beautiful views. after visiting the gallery and enjoying a tasting of various moorilla wines, we headed to the source for lunch. we were greeted by friendly staff. we started off with the spanner crab salad and the gazpacho - both were tasty. for mains i had the pan seared scallops (delicious) and my partner had the godiveau of blue eye cod (which he hated, i too thought it was awful). however, the waiter was keen to make us happy and offer a replacement dish. he brought out the confit ocean trout (which was delicious). the highlight though was the fine salted valrhona chocolate and caramel tart. truly incredible!

excellent environment but disappointing staff and terrible chief.. the restaurant has a lovely view , you would not expect you spend over than hundred dollars and got this kind of service . when hungry do not go there . you do not want to waited for 30 minute to got your terrible dish.

if you're going to go to all the effort to visit mona and pretend to appreciate 'modern' art, walls of vaginas and the like, you might as well drop another $200 (okay... $300) and have a ball tearer of a meal. crazy not to.

breakfast in the source. good stuff excellent breakfast

breakfast. half a waffle and some pears.
i was so full not

ate breakfast there. bircher muesli was delicious and i had 2 boiled eggs with soldiers and bacon cream, also delicious. the actual restaurant itself was nice and i would definitely go back!

so much build up for so much disappointment!!

pumpkin soup started off with a bang 8/10.
jerusalem artichoke dish was 6/10 ok but nothing flash.
sardine dish with squid ink base was how should i put it a dismal dish 2/10.
then the duck with rubbery skin flapped in with a 6/10
finished off with a bland prune soufflé and a cumin based rum baba finishing the night off with a 3/10

total night based on food 25/50.

they don't give you a menu - chefs choice. i just thank god we didn't opt for the 9 course degustation.

wine match was ok again nothing to blow your socks off.

value wise: not great.

highlights: the back ground music, they also threw in the 2 starting champagne glasses of the night for free.