We arrived at Salamanca Market with a triple hangover. The colours and sounds of the vibrant market jarred my nerves until the second Guinness kicked in (see picture below). I held an unlit cigarette in my hand to quell the craving, knowing that lighting it would start an unstoppable chain reaction of nausea. A meal would fix us up, we thought, heading to Irish Murphy's. Little did we know of the culinary crime waiting in store for us.
Pictures:
1. Parliament House, Hobart
2. The surrounding gardens / entrance to the market
3. Salamanca Market
4. The Guinni (plural for Guinness)
The tradition of lasagne has been carefully passed down through Italian families for generations. That is, until it reached Irish Murphy's. Hungry and hungover, we waited 45 minutes for this abomination to the Italian tradition, and food in general.
Exhibit A: The Vegetarian Lasagne
I don't know if the scale is apparent here but check out the size of the fork, then the "lasagne". The "lasagne"was two small halves of stuffed capsicum, each half the size of my palm, or even smaller. The chef had decided to buck tradition by including no pasta nor any recognisable lasagne ingredients, except cheese. This $12.00 morsel contained carrot, capsicum, a tiny bit of cheese, all swimming in a splat of Heinz Big Red Tomato Soup. Nevertheless we ate it hungrily and laughed about it for the rest of the trip.
I must say, the chef's attempt at Nouvelle cuisine, with the focus being on flavour, tasted no different to any bizarre concoction I have made for myself after a night on the piss.
Irish Murphy's beautiful sandstone pub was made by convicts many years ago. The Irish theme is entirely apt for the colonial atmosphere. The sign out the front proudly boasts "The Best Craic In Town". Perhaps they were referring to the vegie lasagne.
The staff were friendly and warned us about the size, we should have realised. They gave us free salads which was just as well, I was nearly crazed with hunger. The Guinness and the perfect shamrocks were a nice touch as well.
I will leave you with some images of Salamanca Market and Kelly's steps on the way to Battery Point. The whole experience was very European - if you are not planning on going to Europe, this is your next best bet! The last image is a street performer we dubbed "The Angel of Salamanca". It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
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