PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAAfter almost 25 years of successfully managing one of Hobart’s most popular steakhouses, Susan Catchpool took the plunge and opened Rockwall Bar and Grill on busy Salamanca Place in time for the 2008 summer season. Together with partners Gary Baker and AFL legend Ron Barassi, Catchpool has transformed what was formerly a chintzy eatery into a modern, light, glass-enclosed and elegantly designed space, with an outside smoking deck fronting the rear cliff face. A large number of Catchpool’s previous regulars have followed, for the restaurant has been pumping since day one – and it’s not just for the excellent steaks.
Wonderfully plump and briny Bruny Island oysters are shucked to order, there’s a delicious crayfish pate, char-grilled quail with marinated cherries and walnuts and a salad of crisp pork hock, roasted almonds and chilli. An excellent capsicum sauce adds zing to ricotta and spinach dumplings, while salt and pepper calamari are crisp, beautifully fork-tender and come accompanied by an intense black bean dressing. A similarly intense plum and tamarind glaze adds a spicy tingle to thick, meaty pork chops, or you can choose more elegant offerings like blackened Atlantic salmon and citrus pepper duck. Then, of course, there are the juicy and well-priced steaks, sumptuous desserts and a small but intelligently composed wine list.
Graeme Phillips