Bruny Island

Bruny Island is the place to go to get your artisanal produce on. It’s a mere half hour drive from the Hobart CBD, followed by a 10 minute trip on the ferry with your vehicle. Once that’s sorted, it’s pretty much all food and drink, plus the occasional stop-off at a lookout or bushwalk. It really is a pretty sweet spot for a daytrip.

Highlights: omg that cheese. oysters are fab too.

Bruny Island Honey
2184 Bruny Island Main Road
Great Bay, TAS 7150
https://www.brunyisland.com/catalogue/bruny-island-honey/

Is it a produce trail if there isn’t a place selling farm-fresh honey? Bruny Island Honey is your one-stop-shop for all things honey; not only is there about 10 different types of honey itself, they also have honey candy, honey skincare, honey ice cream, honey memorabilia – if it buzzes, they have it. My pick? The delicious Australian Bush Honey, as well as the Fennel Honey.

And don’t forget to say hi to Paddy! She was born with a cerebellar disorder, which means she is the wonkiest, most off-balance sweetheart there ever was. If you want 30kg of affectionate dog stumbling into your legs in excitement to meet you (and who doesn’t), then make sure you stop by, even if you don’t like honey.

Bruny Island Cheese Co.
1807 Bruny Island Main Road
Great Bay, TAS 7150
https://www.brunyislandcheese.com.au/

Bruny Island Cheese Co. was not only a highlight of Bruny Island, but of my entire Tasmania trip. If you love cheese, especially the fancy stuff, then this place is a must. They’re also known for their beer, but we all know I don’t swing that way.

The café section offers up a short but tantalising selection of cheese-based goodies, including some wicked-looking toasties, as well as your obligatory cheese and charcuterie boards. But if you wander over to the retail section, they will be more than happy to cut up some samples for you to nibble. The Raw Milk C2 was nothing short of amazing. It is the first unpasteurised cheese to be made in Australia, and the resulting richness and depth of flavour is just incredible. But it was the O.D.O that I walked away with. Short for One Day Old, this is an indulgently smooth and creamy fresh cheese with a texture somewhere between ricotta and Danish feta, swimming in a pool of top shelf olive oil and plenty of herbs and spices. They recommend you stir this into pasta or crumble over roast veggies, but honestly? Half of this just went directly from spoon to mouth.

Cheese Platter ($28)

Don’t leave without getting the Cheese Platter ($28), which comes with 3 different cheeses (which may change from day to day), freshly-baked sourdough that you can literally see them making in the outdoor woodfire oven, and the best bread and butter pickles I’ve ever had, for real. If you’re not a diehard cheese fan, the Tom is a great place to start. Although technically a French-styled cheese, this tastes more like a Gruyere, with a flavour profile that’s nutty yet fresh. On the softer side is the Saint, which is your classic white mould. This one is still relatively young, with a sweeter, more delicate centre. Wait a while however, and this will turn into a creamier, more pungent cheese reminiscent of a strong brie. Last on the platter is the 1792, which would make a great dessert cheese with its mild yet complex flavour that is just ready-made to pair with some quince paste.

Bruny Island Chocolate Co.
55 Adventure Bay Road
Great Bay, TAS 7150
https://www.brunyisland.com/catalogue/chocolate/

I was a bit disappointed that Bruny Island Chocolate Co. is just a shop, rather than the shop and café I had hoped for. It would’ve been lovely to have a warm drink after the beautiful but blustery Neck Lookout. There isn’t much here to set it apart from any other gourmet chocolate store, but I will say that their chocolate-coated caramels are pretty on-point.

Get Shucked
1735 Bruny Island Main Road
Great Bay, TAS 7150
https://www.getshucked.com.au/

So Chris has a track record of not liking certain things (sashimi, coconut, mango) until he tried the really high quality stuff, so I thought I’d take a leaf out of his book and visit Get Shucked, where the oysters are plucked out of the ocean right before your very literal eyes. At least this way I can say that I gave oysters a red hot go before deciding that they’re just not for me.

Mixed Dozen ($27)

This here is the Mixed Dozen ($27) – yes you read that price right – and what do you know? I actually really liked these. The natural ones were actually super sweet and creamy and delicate, with only a mild brininess. It’s absolutely phenomenal with a shake of tabasco. The panko fried version is delightfully light and could almost be fried fish. Surprisingly, I liked the Kilpatrick least. You’d think bacon and Worcestershire would be an absolute winner, but that ended up being all I could taste. That’s to say, it was perfectly nice, but what’s the point in having oysters by this point?

Bruny Island House of Whisky
360 Lennon Road
North Bruny, TAS 7150
https://tasmanianhouseofwhisky.com.au/

There was still some time left in the day, so I thought I’d go to Bruny Island House of Whiskey to find out once and for all if I like whiskey. The obscene selection lined up across the shelves were highly intimidating, but the staff were so sweet about my complete lack of whiskey knowledge, and took their time in explaining their craft, guiding me towards a decision on what to try.

Spiced Apple Honey Mead ($12.5)/Whiskey ($12)

Ok so as it turns out I don’t like whiskey. I don’t remember what it is that I tried; all I remember is that I was told it would taste like spices and dried fruits and citrus, but all I tasted was burning. I did however really enjoy the Spiced Apple Honey Mead ($12.5), which tasted like an autumn harvest, and was especially delicious sipped in front of the roaring fire.

18/05/2022