Peppermint Bay | The Stackings | David Moyle | Restaurant

The Stackings at Peppermint Bay

Restaurant

Tasmania country

Open: Lunch daily, dinner Thur - Sat
Price: Moderate
Score (/20): 16.5

Reviewed By
Sue Dyson and Roger McShane

Phone Number: +61 3 6267 4088
Address: 3435 Channel Highway
Woodbridge, Tasmania, 7162
Country: Australia
Food Style: Modern Australia

The Stackings at Peppermint Bay is a beautiful dining room in one of Tasmania's most beautiful and relaxed locations.

It has been restored to its rightful place in the dining pantheon under the management of chef David Moyle and his team.

The menu at The Stackings menu has been pared back to a sensible five entrees and five main courses and the number of tables reduced in the formal dining room so that they can concentrate on the quality of the food experience.

To say that our recent meal was superb is an understatement with the quality of the food now being of national significance and ranking in the same bracket of excellence as Garagistes and Lebrina.

We were 'greeted and seated' smartly and professionally - the wating staff performed admirably throughout the meal and were able to answer all of our questions accurately and without hesitation.

We were delighted when house-baked bread and house-churned butter of exceptional quality arrived at the table. Bread is so often overlooked in restaurants, but we see a close correlation between the quality of the bread and the quality of the restaurant. Bread seems to indicate whether the kitchen staff care about food. If you find a restaurant that nurtures its own sourdough and bakes bread fresh each day for its customers then you are likely to find that everything else is treated with the same respect.

Of the five entrees and five main courses we wanted to order every one. We started with a tile of grilled squid studded with dense black garlic, flecked with sorrel and resting on a creamy layer of good mashed potato. This was a perfect dish simply presented yet packed with flavour.

A dish of pressed pork belly with black pudding, apple and kohlrabi was slightly let down by the pork skin, but the black pudding was very, very good and teamed well with the apple.

We got greedy at this stage and ordered a third entrée of seared kingfish topped with mojama (air dried tuna) and pickled radishes. This was an exceptional dish. The strong flavour of the mojama helped lift the flavour of the kingfish and the pickles added piquancy to the dish.

And then to the main courses. The poached stiped trumpeter with little onion leaves and sitting on very good stewed onion was perfectly cooked - still slightly translucent in the centre but still cooking from the ambient heat. The flavour of the fish shone through and the onions were a nice textural contrast.

A dish of nicely trimmed, but still fatty lamb rack with some long-cooked lamb confit below was served on a base of parsnip puree lifted with yoghurt.

Dessert was also a relief. No gimmickry, no artifice, just good local product in a dish of baked whole pressed apple (we were in the middle of apple country in the apple season) served with a lemon verbena cream. This was dense and deeply-flavoured and perfect for the setting and the time. We also devoured a pain de genes with almond and lavender cream that was perfectly cooked.

So it was with a smile on our faces that we walked away from this meal.

Photos for some of the dishes are shown below.

Bread and house churned butter