Eat

Hobart has a veritable smorgasbord of eating establishments ranging from the cheap to the luxuriously expensive. Popular restaurant strips include Elizabeth Street in North Hobart and Salamanca Place near the waterfront. These include a large number of ethnic restaurants including Chinese, Thai, Greek, Pakistani, Italian, Indian and Mexican, but freshly caught seafood is the specialty of the region, and there are several excellent seafood restaurants. Deep-sea Trevally is unique to Tasmania and must be tried, as well as the local lobster and a scallop pie from the Salamanca Market food stalls. Also, if you see some local apples around give them a try, Tasmania produces 70% of Australia's apple export and they are simply delicious. Red Delicious!

• Villino Espresso A small cafe and coffee roaster in the CBD. The coffee is so good you’d think it came from Melbourne!
• Machine Laundry Cafe This cafe (which also houses a laundromat, hence the name) is a good place for a filling breakfast of $8-$15. It's always busy and the food is great. Try the eggs benedict or the banana and ricotta pancakes!
• Mures Fish Centre Mures has two sections: the upper deck is a stylish seafood restaurant (mains $20-$30); the lower deck is a cafeteria style bistro (mains approx $10) and serves mainly deep fried fish and the like. Reservations are usually required for the upper deck.
• The Drunken Admiral This is a very popular family restaurant close to Mures. It's open for dinner from 6pm seven nights a week, and it's important to make a reservation as it is very popular. Mains are $22-$32 and the seafood platter is highly recommended.
• Ball and Chain Grill A long established, fancy and very popular steakhouse in a historic building.
• Shu Yuan A Chinese vegetarian restaurant with simple, authentic and fresh fare. It gets really busy at lunch so get there early.

Drink

The Hobart nightlife primarily revolves around the waterfront at Salamanca Place, Elizabeth Street in North Hobart and Sandy Bay, but popular pubs, bars and nightclubs exist around the city as well. Major national and international music events are usually held at the Derwent Entertainment Centre or the Casino, but the city has a strong culture of live music, and bands can be found in many of the pubs around town. Check out what live music is playing and where at www.thedwarf.com.au.

Bars

• Bar Celona A combined wine bar and cafe with good outdoor seating on Salamanca Square. While it can get a bit noisy, it's a good place to escape some of the much more crowded bars on a busy weekend night, especially if you want a glass or two of quality wine and enjoy bar puns!
• Isobar Previously known as 'carbon', Isobar has a lounge upstairs and a club downstairs. It's a popular hangout for the younger crowd and probably one of the most popular nightclubs in Hobart, although whether this is due to the attraction of the nightclub itself or the general lack of competition is unknown!
• The Lark Distillery The first licensed distillery in Tasmania, open since 1839, it operates as a bar, store and distillery in one, producing fine Single Malt Whiskey and other liqueurs. You can have a tasting for $2 each try, or $5 for three. Make sure you have the bush liqueur which is flavoured with pepperberries. The bay has several live music performances a week.
• The Quarry Salamanca A great waterfront bar, the building has been part of the Salamanca landscape for nearly 200 years and has been beautifully restored integrating a modern edge with the original sandstone facade. They also have a restaurant and apartment accommodation.
• Cargo Bar Pizza Lounge Cargo is a pizza restaurant, but don't let that put you off, it also has a kickin' bar and is a great place to hang out. It has a modern feel with cushy booths inside and outdoor seating on the street.

Pubs

• New Sydney Hotel One of the most popular inner-city pubs, the cosy New Sydney is home to Hobart's Irish community and offers an Irish pub atmosphere rather more authentic than that of an Irish theme pub (see Irish Murphy's). Large range of imported and local beers on tap.
• The Alley Cat Bar A five minute cab ride or 30 minute walk from the city, the Alley Cat is one of the homes of Hobart's live music scene. With a basic range of beers on tap and standard pub meals available, it's worth a look if you wish to sample some Tassie bands in your classic pub environment.
• Republic Bar & Cafe In its day, the former Empire Hotel was one of Hobart's roughest pubs, now it has a restaurant, art gallery and a large covered beer garden. Good for a night out all year round, particularly for seeing live music.
• Knopwood's Retreat Possibly Tasmania's most famous pub, Knoppie's is set in one of the ancient sandstone warehouses that line Salamanca Place. It remains THE place for after-work drinks on Fridays, when the crowd spills out into Salamanca and many punters take their drinks across the road to sit on the lawns. Particularly popular with university students, the pub hosts Syrup nightclub upstairs, one of Hobart's more intimate (and better) clubs.
• The Shipwright's Arms Opened in 1842, it has cosy fires and Chesterfields, the nautical theme attracting participants from the Sydney-Hobart yacht race around the new year. It's a popular local pub and slightly off the tourist trail, and the beer garden is an attractive place for a meal on Summer evenings.
• Irish Murphy's A busy Irish pub on Salamanca Place. Basically it’s either people hanging out with a beer outside, or a young crowd dancing to pop hits inside. Fun.