On the Marque

There are times when the universe smiles upon you. The whole Toast to Tassie trip was like that. If a detour was forced upon me, it was usually pretty blessed.

I was excited to learn that Delicious magazine was doing a degustation menu at Marque IV in Hobart during the re-scheduled Tassie trip. Thought that I would try to go, but both dates were fully booked. I noted with interest that Rita had planned a bloggers’ meal, so I begged to be allowed to join in. The dates did not coincide, but Rita was kind enough to suggest going anyway and we did.

Approaching the restaurant which has a stunning location on the north side of Elizabeth Pier, I did not feel at all comfortable. I’m not good with new social situations or even old ones for that matter. Nonetheless, I’m a real sucker for a great meal, so essentially greed won over shyness. I spotted Rita and Shirley quite easily…..they were virtually the only guests…. It was early.

The restaurant is a great space. Plenty of space and great views. We all decided to head towards the degustation menu. Nine courses no less, but do-able, I thought. What followed was one of the best dining experiences ever. I have, in my head a few top ten lists and it’s a pretty fine list. This one is now, number one…. Any great meal consumed recently often goes up high, but not to pole position. Every course was magic, provided contrasts to, and complemented the course before and after. There was not a dud amongst them. Shirley handed me the wine list and asked me to choose. I was slightly intimidated …. An expletive deleted test, I think to myself. I know zilch about Tassie wines, but proceeded to call it anyway. The wine list was interesting and priced from about the high $20s to possibly the stratospheric. The wine I chose was a pinot gris or Grigio (still not sure what the difference is yet … I thought one was Italian and the other French names for the grape. Wrong! Apparently one is drier and one fruitier. )It was one or the other, but didn’t write it down so not much use there. It was extremely good. In fact every Tasmanian wine that I had the privilege of tasting was excellent. Wine and seafood do extremely well in colder climates. (and maybe people too, but that’s a much longer story).
To the food ….
We started off the meal with two complimentary courses. I have tragically forgotten the first. I have tried to remember it for the last 7 days, but it isn’t coming (I’m hoping that it is one of the Delicious dinner courses, so that I can rectify this appalling error.) But for now I’m using the excuse that the next course was so brilliant, that it just blew it out of the water… not true both were great. It was the famed Jamon de Iberico (Microsoft and I are not sure about the spelling.) This is the ham made from pigs who dine exclusively on acorns in Spain. The ham is cured and aged in a unique process. I had read about it and thought that it was probably a bit of a wanker product, which everyone wants because it is fiercely expensive. Wrong again! It was simply dressed with some good olive oil and possibly some other great ingredients and some amazing tiny salad herbs. At this stage I could have called it quits and still would have gone home a happy woman. But wait there is more....
I’m happy to recount the white wine met with Shirley’s approval and I loved it. Pinot G is my fave this summer after a few very happy summers flirting with Sauvignon blanc. I will still go nuts for a clare valley riesling though, if only I can find one.
The real first course was a demi tasse of porcini mushroom, white bean, truffle oil and chives. This was simply gorgeous … sex on the pine forest floor … (I admit, I ripped off that description from something that I have read in the last week, but it describes it perfectly.) It was lush!
The next course provided a sea change. Sashimi of ocean trout, squid ink risotto, ginger and blood orange vinaigrette. This dish really worked for me. I have never made squid ink spaghetti, but may well do after this experience if I ever get to buy some decent squid again. I love good sashimi and I love ocean trout. The dressing just brought it all together in an delicious explosion of flavour and texture. Oh the ocean trout came from Macquarie Harbour according to the menu.
The Spring Bay baby abalone cerviche, zucchini flower, almond oil dish was possibly the best abalone dish that I have tried… my brother loves abalone and doesn’t mind diving for them with the sharks. I remain unconvinced. It was a lovely delicate flavour and the other ingredients were delicious, but maybe abalone is too subtle and elegant for me. In another meal, this would be amazing, but it was the David Beckham of last Saturday’s final Parky show. Good, but outshone…. Sorry if you didn’t see the show, you won’t get that analogy. He also had Billy Connelly, Judi Dench, David Attenborough and Dame Edna on the same show. On its own it would have been surprising and enlightening, but in the context of this particular meal was not the star.
By this time I’m no longer hungry, just plain greedy! Seared Spring Bay Scallops and red-cooked brisket, Vietnamese salad with lemongrass and lime foam was to die for. I can still taste it a week and two hours later. I am/was a foam skeptic. This was the Foam (deliberate capitals) that changed my way of thinking. The two main players were both stunning, but the foam gave it a chutzpah that lifted it to a whole new level. This was the dish that nearly made me go back to Marque yesterday evening after staggering off a vessel called Wild Thing. (yep that’s another story as well). I was looking so insanely windswept, I figured that they wouldn’t let me in….
Now for those of you, who are not into over indulgence do not read on. The caramelized pork belly, granny smith apple tapioca and candied walnuts was perfect. I have a profound love all things porcine. Cheong Lieuw made me eat pork belly many moons ago as part of his crazy Monday eat-what-I -cook dinners. You do have to eat the fat!!! V.bad for me so it is a Christmas thing and as this was quite close to Christmas, and I was seriously thinking of only eating fruit for the remainder of my trip.

There is a brief pause here to go back to the winelist. Tragically the pinot g had run out. We had plenty of water (Tasmanian water out of the tap is better than any other city’s that I have ever been to). Rita does not drink alcohol, but is such a good dining companion. She is - like she writes, which of course is why I kept reading her blogs. She is a very warm compassionate person, highly intelligent and kind. Her commitment to the Hobart food scene is admirable. Shirley and I are also getting along fine I think. It is time to move on to red. In my experience there is no great meal that doesn’t have a red wine included in it somewhere.
The service…not mentioned until now has been perfect. Our waiter was one of the best that I ever had the delight of dining with. A consummate professional! He was friendly without over familiarity. Great sense of when to advise, great timing and very knowledgeable. When I misused the cutlery he was gracious (I’m blaming single dining – often use cutlery to prop up books) I, of course wanted Shiraz, I love that grape. He advised that it was probably too heavy for the next courses and advised a pinot noir. Time for another paradigm shift. Not a huge fan of pinot noir. Shirley suggested that it was a wine that was pretty girly. Would love to use the exact words but won’t, but must say I agreed with her. The waiter offered us a taste. How unusual is that? I loved it, but wouldn’t order it, without knowing how much it would cost. It was one of the cheaper wines on the list and so good, I had to buy a bottle the next day. So naturally, we ordered a full bottle. The wine was a Derwent Estate Pinot Noir. This was seriously great. I’m still learning the words to describe pinot noir from Tasmania. Maybe sex on the forest floor with a gentle sea breeze somewhere nearby will have to do for now. (so happy to have used that description twice)
The next course was a sorbet. I like the sorbet revival. This was one that was truly beautiful. Elderflower from Ashbolt, with Lark gin and lime foam. The palate is fired up and ready to go. Ridiculously happy with the wine choice, Carpaccio of cured King Island beef, calamata (sic) olive mousse, sweet and sour courgettes and salsa verde was next. Simply could not do it justice, but it was a great dish. I’m at the playing with my food and just tasting it stage. I am feeling extremely fortunate to be sharing this stunning meal in such fine company. These total strangers are sharing this fabulous experience. We are laughing a lot and being a bit silly. Rita has no excuse apart from being fantastic… Shirley and I can blame it on the pinot.
I can no longer eat, but I do .. sashimi of mango, ashbolt elderflower sorbet, lychee and pickled ginger syrup just does it and when dessert is offered, I really can’t say no. You can’t drink red with chocolate in my book, so Shirley and I trusted the waiter’s advice again. He suggested a Muscat… got to love anyone who likes Muscat… I’m guessing that it was from Rutherglen, but wouldn’t care if it came out of Sir Tuesday’s boot. It worked with the soufflé of lindt milk chocolate, mint soil (tad wankery, but who gives a ….) warm marmalade sauce and cocoa nib tuile.
I make a valiant attempt to eat it all and fail, but it is fabulous. Shirl decided to order coffee and Grand Marnier – I can not remember the last time I drank coffee at night, but joined in. It certainly did not keep me from sleeping that night.

It is kind of a must do for Hobart if you are anyway at all interested in food. We were there for five fabulous hours. It was extremely good value. I was completely uninterested in eating for quite some time.
It was truly one of the best degustation experiences ever and I’ve been fortunate to have more than a few. I was completely satiated.
Thanks Rita and Shirley!