the source

we visited mona recently & lunch at the source was the highlight of our visit to hobart. to say the total dining experience was a standout is an understatement. the slippery jack mushrooms as our main was just wonderful & neither of us is vegetarian. our cheese selection was washed down with a glass of freyincet botrytis riesling which was divine, & to top it off, we had the best table in the restaurant with the most beautiful views. staffwere very knowledgeable & the service was perfect. just a wonderful experience!

diner from tasmania. i don't normally comment on my experiences at restaurants, however i cannot go past the two previous reviews, especially the diner from denver. i agree entirely with their commentary. we were told that the french chef was wonderful. he probably is, but his cooking left a bad taste in my mouth. i was willing to go to mona and pay the amount required for their varying numbers of courses, however i certainly would have expected some value for money. the waitingstaffwere great but the food was terrible. never again. plenty of other restaurants in tasmania that provide much better quality food and at a realistic price.

luxe!. if you want a luxe, private dining experience, ts is your go to.
had dined here last year same time but was really disappointed with the food, the chef seemed to be trying too hard to be clever.
foams may be passe in melb but wtf, everything else negated this one tiny little quirk.
but for a special occasion - happy birthday me, thought you could absolutely not go beyond ts, for the intimacy of experience, & we thought, 'why the hell not give them a second chance' right?
the room is understated, yet elegant, thestaffare really lovely & the degustation truly was winning ( 3 course only for us )
check your wine snobbery at the door & enjoy.
thank you michael, adam &stafffor a fun evening, thank you lovely michael for my celebratory champagne
see you next year!

we were so impressed with breakfast here, we came back for lunch! the food is exquisite and thestaffare so attentive and friendly, especially the man with soothing barry white voice—heavenly! hands down one of the best breakfasts i’ve had. they’ve really focussed on presenting a unique menu that may look small or lacking, but the high quality and superb flavour pairings more than compensate.

arrived in hobart friday morning and headed straight to mona for the day. enjoyed a refunded lunch at the source with attentive and friendly waitstaffit was the perfect break.

we shared the wallaby to start was actually really subtle but super delish. perfectly pink meat paired perfectly with the toasty beetroot and other crunchy bits.

for mains we opted for the pork belly and fried chicken. pork was uber rich and fatty and perfectly melt in the mouth. chicken was crisp and well seasoned.

would recommend if you’re ever down this way or at mona.

absolutely fantastic food, amazing service, brilliant location! loved the all of the seafood and the pork belly. wines were delicious. save room for dessert. thestaffwere attentive and accommodating.

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 thestaffand 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.

may 2017 review of museum cafe (2/5) - i was so surprised by the attitude of thestaffat the cafe as the source & wine barstaffare 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!

excellent environment but disappointingstaffand 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.

amazing!. sometimes you pay twice what you consider to be the maximum reasonable price for a restaurant, and the meal is only10% better than the norm. here we paid twice a reasonable maximum and were rewarded with an experience to die for!
we had the five-course degustation with wine for sunday lunch for my wife's 60th birthday. initially i was very disappointed (not to say pissed off) that they had lost our booking for this very special day, and could not accommodate us, but then after some pleading they (i.e. cameron) came through good and gave us a wonderful table in the corner overlooking the bay. from that moment on it was perfect. they don't give you a menu, but ask what sorts of things you like and build your meal around that. i loved having someone else choosing my meals! my wife has quirky food preferences which they accommodated flawlessly. our food was mind-bogglingly inventive - novel combinations which i wouldn't dream would work but turned out to be perfectly matched with each other and with the chosen wine. and the wine! we started with a unusual boutique french champagne and ended with a 25-year-old gewurztraminer, and all stops in between equally interesting, except for a somewhat boring but inoffensive pinot noir. my wife, not a great wine drinker, almost didn't bother with the wine. that would have been such an enormous mistake because it's very much part of the degustation experience, at the end she agreed that she would have missed out on so much of the experience if she hadn't tried the matching wines. i loved the sommelier who really knew her stuff, and the waitress who was equally knowledgeable (and enthusiastic) about the food. she was also psychic - how come she knew my wife was dying for a chocolate dessert whereas i was looking for something fresh and fruity?
hats off, and thanks, to thestaffwho made it a very special day for us. now to pay off the second mortgage. but it was worth it!

very disapointing five course degustation. not one of the courses is worth writing about. the menu was unstructured and the flavours largely unbalanced.

fortunately the wines were very good. thestaffwere also well trained and attentive.

don't bother with the source. there are so many better restaurants in hobart.

in appreciation. my recent interstate visit to mona was enriched by lunching at the source.staffwere attentive and friendly and their wine advice worked well with the interesting flavour combinations i chose for entree and mains. art, music, food and wine work so well together.

stupendous. i am far from the arty type. avant-guard would not describe my artistic taste but mona would certainly fit that bill.
with tickets to the museum/art gallery organised and a 2 course lunch booked at "the source" the ferry trip was a relaxing way to approach the afternoon.
on arrival the restaurant was located and the decision made to lunch first before viewing the exhibits.
and that was when the delight commenced. the receptionist downstairs was warm in her welcome and gave no indication that the request for directions to the restaurant, up the stairs in front of us, was anything other than the most important request she had at that moment.
the sommelier lead the way to a primo positioned table in the front corner.
the house sparkling water was a delight as was the young waiter who offered a choice to upgrade the pre-booked two courses to a degustation of 3, 5, 7 or 9 courses.
with matched wines of course.
after choosing the 5 course degustation with matched wines the experience began with buffalo mozzarella foam covering heritage tomatoe with candied tomatoe, tomatoe water, olive oil and fresh basil leaves.
a triumph matched with a german riesling.
the second course was the best vegetarian dish i have ever had. butter beans with toasted almonds, white peach and a coriander foam was enhanced with a 100% rousanne. delicious.
the event continued with the dish of the day. a house smoked oyster with local sand crab served with foie gras and pedro xminenez jelly matched to an alsaction riesling was a hedonistic delight. i could have eaten the dish several times over.
squab breast with almond crumbs, spinach leaves and olive powder, and parsnip cream was bold and balanced with a robust dry and earthy italian barolo. manly food to finish the mains.
the desserts however served with a 13 year old sauternes were ethereal.
a sea of pistachio custard floated a cheesecake circle topped with fresh raspberries and reefed by chocolate praline and sweet crispbread with granulated dried pistachios and raspberries cascading down the side. a visual and taste extravaganza. the other desert of lime creme anglaise encased in green tea toffee and served with black sesame paste, green tea cake and chocolate drizzle was exotically delicious.
the combination of the faultless service by passionate knowledgeablestaffand the food fit to be served in any top class restaurant in the world made it a memorable occasion.
it's worth an interstate trip to savour the experience.

sensational food. this a an excellent restaurant and well worth the visit (even if you don't go to mona). we went there for lunch before mona and had the chicken fricassee and the ocean trout. both meals were delicious; subtle flavours and beautifully presented. these meals were set on their own uniquely designed plates which was a nice touch. the head chef here is clearly world class. thestaffwere knowledgable and attentive and were able to provide some good advice about wine selection (moorilla has some fabulous wines!). even the coffee was exceptional.

why sit in a warehouse space when you can dine in an architectural icon, with views across hobart! we will definitely come back.