LOCATIONSalamanca Bay.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAA sibling seafood establishment to the very good and very popular Flathead in South Hobart, Blue Eye offers a lot more than fish ‘n’ chips on the waterfront. For dedicated carnivores it even has a respectable King Island porterhouse steak and a juicy duck confit. For vegetarians, beetroot gnocchi with mushrooms is a menu highlight. Best of all though, Blue Eye is one of the very few places in town prepared to put a whole fish on the table and ignore many finicky eaters’ dislike of bones, fish heads and fishy eyes. Even better, the fish is often one of those beautiful, sweet-eating, in-shore fresh flounder fish which, despite being local and plentiful, is too rarely seen around the state. The flounder is perfectly pan-fried: crisp on the outside and beautifully moist at the bone. If it’s on the menu, you’re in for a real treat.
Blue eye, the fish, comes with a romesco crust and is served with scallops and salmon in a delicious fish pie. The menu is also graced by char-grilled salmon, excellent tempura flathead, king fish, black trevally, Spring Bay mussels, seasonal Tasmanian scallops and smoked fish chowder. The chilli salt squid is lifted above the many others around Hobart by a warm beetroot and rocket salad dressed with an almond aioli. The wine list is adequate and the service is smiley and casual but impressively efficient. As they say, “all good”.
Graeme Phillips