Launceston Street Food

Launceston Street Food


Launceston Street Food is largely influenced by British English cuisine and cooking styles, because Australia formerly was a colony of the United Kingdom. With its vast areas of farmland and proximity to several oceans, most food in Launceston is fresh, sustainably sourced, and natural. Dishes are clean-tasting and kept simple, usually showcasing the natural flavours of the ingredients, and thus have little sauces or dressings.

Seafood And Chips
Seafood And Chips



Food in Launceston is typically found in individual restaurants and cafes. Restaurants and cafes tend to be clustered within an area, typically streets with high traffic. Common ingredients used here include beef, chicken, lamb, fish, prawn / shrimp, oyster, squid, crayfish, lobster, milk, cheese, honey, artichoke, bean sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, leeks, asparagus, lettuce, tomato, onion, mushrooms, peas, rhubarb, zucchini, squash, eggplant / aubergine, spinach, corn, apples, bananas, oranges, pears, strawberries, cherries, plums, nectarines, apricots, grapes, pineapple, raspberries, bread, noodles, white rice, potatoes, yoghurt, butter, and more.

It's fairly common for most Launceston families to cook at home, rather than eat-out, as not only is it cheaper, but there isn't a lot of variety of cuisines here. There is however, an up-and-coming cafe / coffee culture, and weekends typically see such establishments fully packed during the day. Seafood restaurants are a highlight as well, and you're usually able to get a good seafood meal at most places.


.....


The farms surrounding Launceston are famed for producing some of the sweetest Apples throughout Tasmania and Australia. The Apple season stretches from January to May, making the fruit readily available during this period. If not eaten on its own, it's used mainly for making jams, desserts, or sauces.

Apples
Apple


Apple
Apple



Beef is a common meat here, and typical cuts include Beef Flank or Beef Striploin. Both are easy to barbecue / grill, and are usually served as the main dish of a meal, seared till a nice medium rare. The Beef Hamburger is another option, where minced beef and herbs are formed into a patty, then grilled and usually served between burger buns.

Beef Flank
Beef Flank


Beef Striploin
Beef Striploin


Beef Hamburger
Beef Hamburger



The Beer Boag's Draught is an American style pale lager, brewed by J. Boag & Son (Lion Co.) in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. It has a clear, bright golden colour, with aromas of honey, barley malt, lemon, and wheat. The body is smooth, thin, and slick, with tastes of corn, white bread, hops, and cereal. Nice sweetness with a touch of sour bitterness, and a crisp, refreshing finish.

Beer Boag's Draught
Beer Boag's Draught


Beer Boag's Draught



The Beer Boag's XXX Ale is an English style pale ale, brewed by J. Boag & Son (Lion Co.) in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. It has a hazy, vibrant amber colour, with aromas of cereal, plum, toffee, and toasted bread. The body is clean, thin, and light, with a medium carbonation, and tastes of wheat, caramel, straw, and lemon. Straightfoward sweet sour bitter with a touch of metallic, inoffensive and easy to drink.

Beer Boag's XXX Ale
Beer Boag's XXX Ale



The Beer Kaiju Krush Tropical Ale is an American style pale ale, a craft beer brewed by Kaiju! Beer in Dandenong, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It has a hazy, bright golden amber colour, with aromas of banana, gooseberry, malt, and orange. The body is light, frothy, and lively, with good carbonation, and tastes of mango, passionfruit, lychee, and pineapple. Bold fruity sweet notes with a crisp yet sticky finish. Very enticing.

Beer Kaiju Krush Tropical Ale
Beer Kaiju Krush Tropical Ale


Beer Kaiju Krush Tropical Ale



The Big Australian Breakfast Fry Up usually features a combination of deep-fried or pan-fried ingredients, including bacon, roasted potatoes or potato hash browns, sauteed mushrooms, scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes, grilled pork / chicken / beef sausages, toasted white bread, and baked beans in tomato sauce. A large and filling meal, commonly eaten as a leisurely breakfast / brunch on weekends.

Big Australian Breakfast Fry Up
Big Australian Breakfast Fry Up


Big Australian Breakfast Fry Up



A Chai Latte enhances the flavour of coffee with spices such as cinnamon, resulting in a fragrant sweetness with a hint of spice in the beverage.

Chai Latte
Chai Latte



The Cherry Tomato / Cherry Tomatoes here are juicy, crunchy, and bright, with good vegetal sweet flavours. Typically eaten on its own, or as a garnish for a salad.

Cherry Tomato
Cherry Tomato



The Chicken Mushroom Olive Sandwich has toasted and buttered white bread, and sandwiched between, slices of tender savoury chicken, tart black olives, and earthy sauteed button mushrooms. Straightfoward, though a rather unusual combination of ingredients that work.

Chicken Mushroom Olive Sandwich
Chicken Mushroom Olive Sandwich



Outside of immigrants from the United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Scotland), the Germans are the largest community here. No surprise that traditional German cuisine, like the Chicken Schnitzel, has found its way into common, everyday meals. Served with a fresh garden salad and piping hot, thick cut English chips, the star is the golden breaded chicken fillet, crisp on the outside, succulent moist and tender on the inside, with good savoury sweet flavour. Accompanied by tomato ketchup for dipping on the side.

Chicken Schnitzel
Chicken Schnitzel



Ever heard the comparision, 'It tastes like chicken'? That's not true in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. The Chicken fillets here are large, moist, succulent, and tender, but the real difference is in the sweet savoury grainy flavour. Bold in profile, you can almost taste the wide open fields and farmlands.

Chicken
Chicken



The unique Curry Scallop Pie is a regional speciality here, due to the ready availability of fresh scallops. This signature dish features tender juicy morsels of sweet savoury scallops, mixed with potatoes, onions, and carrots, in a mild savoury sweet spiced turmeric curry gravy. Served within a crumbly pie pastry crust that is nicely butter glazed. More elaborate versions also include peas, corn kernels, or broccoli. Usually eaten as a light meal or a snack, it's commonly sold in most cafes here.

Curry Scallop Pie


Curry Scallop Pie
Curry Scallop Pie


Curry Scallop Pie


Curry Scallop Pie



The farm fresh Egg / Eggs here are readily available, and commonly eaten during breakfast / brunch. Normally served as a side dish, or combined with other ingredients.

Egg


Egg


Egg


Egg
Egg



Fresh figs are readily available here, and typically used in baked goods. The Fig & Fennel Bread is a hard crusty bread loaf, stuffed with figs and fennel, which lend it an earthy sweet fresh herbal flavour, complementing the natural grainy bready taste of the bread. Best eaten toasted, as the sugars will caramelise slightly to get it a lovely aroma.

Fig & Fennel Bread
Fig & Fennel Bread


Fig & Fennel Bread



While the British Fish & Chips and the Aussie Fish & Chips both use the same English style thick cut chips seasoned with salt and a dash of vinegar, the difference lies in the type of fish used. Aussie Fish & Chips are typically made with firm white flesh fish that are common to the country, such as John Dory, Whiptail Hake, Flathead, Reef Cod, Rock Cod, Flake, Basa Catfish, or Barramundi. The fish is light battered and deep fried, then garnished with a slice of lemon and served with a side of tomato sauce or tartar sauce.

Aussie Fish And Chips
Aussie Fish And Chips


Aussie Fish And Chips



The Flourless Orange Cake is a common dessert cake served in most delicatessens or cafes. It's a moist, soft, orange-infused cake with a layer of cream cheese, garnished with orange peel, having a fruity sweet citrus flavour. They tend to make it much sweeter here, and it's best shared.

Flourless Orange Cake
Flourless Orange Cake



The Gillespie's Ginger Beer is a craft beverage made from a family recipe handed down over 4 generations. It's made with natural filtered rainwater, organic fresh ginger, Tahitian lime, lemon, native Tasmanian pepper berry leaf, yeast, and sugar. This gives it a sweet spice flavour, and the mouthfeel is thin and fizzy. Only 4,500 bottles are made weekly, so it's difficult to find this outside of the state, or even within mass market stores here.

Gillespie's Ginger Beer


Gillespie's Ginger Beer
Gillespie's Ginger Beer



Pork is a common meat here, however, it's rarely served in its normal form, often being used to make savoury salty processed meats. By far the most common is Ham, which is often served in sandwiches. The Pork Sausage is fairly common as well, being used in most barbecues or in breakfast dishes. The Spam Luncheon Meat doesn't feature in commercial dishes, it's mostly used for home cooking. The Pork Calabrese Sausage is an artisanal sausage where pork is blended with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and parsely, giving it a savoury salty herbal spice flavour.

Ham
Ham


Pork Sausage
Pork Sausage


Spam Luncheon Meat
Spam Luncheon Meat


Pork Calabrese Sausage
Pork Calabrese Sausage



The Lamington is an iconic Australian dessert. It is a light, plain vanilla sponge cake set in a square shape, coated with a thin layer of either chocolate icing / chocolate sauce or strawberry icing / strawberry sauce, then covered in desiccated coconut. The Lamington is often served with a layer of cream or fruity jam. Named after Charles Wallace Alexander Napier Cochrane-Baillie 2nd Baron Lamington, or Lord Lamington, though ironically, he actually disliked the dessert, calling it "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits".

Lamington
Lamington



You can pretty much get a good Latte anywhere in the city, and it's a common drink ordered throughout the day. Nearly all places use locally roasted coffee beans here.

Latte


Latte
Latte



A Minced Beef Pie is a hand-sized meat pie containing minced meat (beef) and brown meat gravy, sometimes with onions, button mushrooms, bacon, or cheese in a solid pastry shell and often consumed as a takeaway food snack. The pie itself is similar to the British steak pie.

Minced Beef Pie


Minced Beef Pie
Minced Beef Pie



The Red Royale Potato has a waxy, firm flesh that makes it a good potato for boiling, steaming, or baking. Best paired with salads, eaten as a staple, or mashed. Nice crunchy texture, with a delicate nutty starchy flavour.

Red Royale Potato
Red Royale Potato



The Salmon fish is a common farmed fish here, making this fairly affordable on a day-to-day basis. The Salmon Fish Fillet, Pan-Fried was cooked till the skin turned crisp, while the flesh still has a nice medium pink colour, with a tender and moist texture. Sprinkle a little salt over to complement the natural savoury sweet flavour of the salmon fish meat.

Salmon Fish Fillet, Pan-Fried
Salmon Fish Fillet, Pan-Fried



The Salmon Salad is a fairly common dish here, with pan-fried or baked salmon fish laid over fresh vegetables. Usually, this salad includes lettuce, tomatoes / cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, black olives / green olives, salt, oregano, lemon juice, and olive oil. Normally served as a main course.

Salmon Salad


Salmon Salad
Salmon Salad



The Seafood And Chips feature a basket of battered and deep-fried seafood, served with thick cut English chips sprinkled with salt and a dash of vinegar. Typically, the seafood includes 1 type of firm white flesh fish such as John Dory, Whiptail Hake, Flathead, Reef Cod, Rock Cod, Flake, Basa Catfish, or Barramundi; along with squid, prawns / shrimp, oysters, or scallops. Great for those for like variety in the meal.

Seafood And Chips


Seafood And Chips
Seafood And Chips


Seafood And Chips



The Solo Original Lemon is an Australian lemon-flavoured soft drink, inspired by the traditional 'pub squash', which are fruit flavoured carbonated drinks mixed in a pub.

Solo Original Lemon
Solo Original Lemon



The Stir-Fry Mixed Vegetables are a popular Asian side dish, and usually features a medley of various vegetables stir-fried quickly in a base of ginger, garlic, light soy sauce, and vegetable oil. It can include some or all of the following; potatoes, string beans, carrots, button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, white onions, red onions, bean sprouts, bell peppers / capsicum, water chestnuts, or snow peas.

Stir-Fry Mixed Vegetables
Stir-Fry Mixed Vegetables



A simple Toast Wholemeal Bread, lightly toasted, and normally used as a base for making sandwiches. Typically eaten during breakfast / brunch here. The toasting brings out the natural aroma of the grains, giving it an enticing scent.

Toast Wholemeal Bread
Toast Wholemeal Bread



A reowned brand of premium Tasmanian ice cream for over 20 years, the Valhalla Ice Cream, Lemon Sorbet flavour is made with fresh, filtered Tasmanian water, and locally sourced lemons. Rich with a bold sweet sour flavour, very refreshing on the palate.

Valhalla Ice Cream, Lemon Sorbet
Valhalla Ice Cream, Lemon Sorbet



Named for its distinctive shape which resembles the toy, the Yo-Yo Biscuit is a traditional Australian snack. Made with all-purpose flour, sugar, and butter, these baked bisuits are filled with a creamy gooey sweet filling of lemon custard or vanilla custard. These days, there are many other flavour variations available.

Yo-Yo Biscuit
Yo-Yo Biscuit






.....


CONVERSATION