Havilah – A Comfortable Bar

Havilah – Introduction

Havilah has become a must-visit part of the Launceston bar/restaurant scene. It is comfortable, it provides efficient service, it serves modern wines and it serves very tasty food. Havilah is a place we always visit on our trips to this northern city, because we know we will be provided with good food, interesting drinks, caring service and good music by owner Ricky Evans.

The fit out for Havilah has been done with a great deal of thought and there are different spaces to suit different groups. Some can sit at the bar, others can sit at tables, others can enjoy the window bench and there are tables outside for warm evenings.

One of the interesting things that you notice very quickly on entering Havilah is the quality of the music. Sitting high on the walls at either end of the space are two Pitt and Giblin speakers – the product of Jack Pitt and Ross Giblin from Hobart in Tasmania. These are some of the best speakers that we have experienced anywhere!

The music takes on a new dimension when played through these amazingly crafted sound systems. So we enjoyed listening to Roxy Music (Same old scene and In the midnight hour) followed by Rose City Band (Rip City, Me and Willie, Rivers of Mind). We don’t come across these speakers very often in restaurants, but when we do the music takes on an extra dimension.

Just inside the entrance you can peruse the bottles of wine that are on sale to drink on the premises or to take away. There is a good selection of Tasmanian and interstate options available.

The food ranges from snacks such as warm wild olives through to excellent charcuterie, some of which comes from the clever people at Fork It Farm in the Tamar Valley. Lately, they have been sourcing their vegetables from La Luna Organics who have a farm at Bridgenorth which is quite close to Launceston on the western side of the Tamar. The vegetables we tried on this visit were excellent.

We started the meal with a skewer (gilda) each consisting of an olive, anchovy and pepper accompanying a small offering of meat. It was a very nice combination.

Next came some kingfish crudo with plum and tarragon oil. This looked very attractive and also tasted very good as well. We really enjoyed this dish.

Next was a polenta soldier topped with a beef and herb tartare which was also a pleasant mix of textures and flavours. The crunch of the polenta played off the raw beef which in turn was lifted by the herbs that had been chopped through it.

Next came beautifully cooked beetroot sitting on ricotta cheese and topped with crispy basil and capers. Once again the crunch of the basil and capers worked beautifully with the softness of the beetroot.

We then shared a dish of squid ink fettuccine which was topped with breadcrumbs and zucchini and was also excellent.

Dessert was a lovely lemon tart served with creme fraiche.

All in all this was a delightful meal which was very relaxing after a busy day driving around north-west Tasmania.

We accompanied these dishes with a wine that we import from France, namely a Domaine Derain wine made by Julien and Carole in the town of Saint Aubin in Burgundy. The wine was an Aligoté, a grape that is receiving a lot more attention these days, especially since one of the owners of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has helped establish an Aligoté-only appellation in Bouzeron in the south of Burgundy. In this case it was a perfect accompaniment for the food.

You can peruse sample food and wine menus on the Havilah website here:

Havilah

We have also included Havilah in our story about where to eat in Launceston here.