Mud Bar and Restaurant

PROFILED BY DEGROOTS MEDIA

The riverside Seaport development is Launceston’s trendiest food, cafe latte and wine bar area. The River Tamar sludging past might look more upside-down than the Yarra, but Mud itself is a very stylish, ultra-modern and multi-facetted number that, on opening, quickly became the place to see and be seen in Launceston. With modern lines, floor-to-ceiling glass surrounds, an open kitchen, a spacious dining floor extending outside to the boardwalk for a summery alfresco drink or nibble, a soft lounge area for leisurely cocktails and a long central bar, it’s all cleaner and brighter than the river and the service flows much faster.

The luncheon menus are built around fashionable Asian and modern Mediterranean flavours that might run from chicken croquettes with sweet chilli sauce to a spicy seafood salad, through a flavoursome spring and summer special of perfectly dressed asparagus, cherry tomatoes, olives and mozzarella. Move on to a selection of pastas, Spanish-style mussels, some of the best risottos this side of Milan, great fish‘n’chips and an open steak sandwich. Most of these carry through to the dinner menu with the addition of a few meaty things from the grill and oven including, if you’re lucky, a meltingly tender and properly prepared and matured confit of duck on beautifully flavoured red cabbage offset with the crunch of hazelnuts. The cheeses and coffee are great and it has one of the best wine lists in the state with 21 wines by the glass and a super top-shelf selection to finish.

Graeme Phillips