Ocean Child Inn

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
When the Ocean Child opened its doors in 1844, there was a pub for every 127 Hobartians, and one in every 23 dwellings in town was a licensed public house.
Today, as more and more inner-city hotels get stylishly tarted up and gentrified, it remains (thankfully and unapologetically) a good old fashioned pub with a 1930’s facade, a vaguely nautical theme, intimate timber panelled spaces and a small bar where the regulars look as if they haven’t moved since the place last had a face lift.

It’s the sort of place where you expect to see rissoles rather than risotto on the menu. Plus lamb’s fry, steak and kidney pie, and silverside in parsley cheese sauce – and you do. It’s all good stuff, plus it sits near the top in the city’s steak stakes with a menu that reads:

Blue: 10% cooked
Rare: 30% cooked
Medium: 50% cooked
Medium/well: 80% cooked
“The chef takes no responsibility for well-done steaks”

But you needn’t worry, they all come massively thick, cooked exactly as ordered, juicy and tender and with a great charred flavour from the grill. Whether it’s rissoles or a steak, you’ll travel a long way before you get better.

Graeme Phillips