The World Is Your Oyster...

My family always consumes tonnes of seafood every Easter.  Our table is normally set with some fresh Barramundi and a platter of prawns.

This year, since we were holidaying with the extended family, we thought we'd mix things up a bit and introduce the relatives to one of Tasmania's famous exports...

Barilla Bay Oysters

With oysters, I've found that people either love or hate the slippery little suckers.

I absolutely adore them.  My husband?  Not so much, but he was more than happy to tag along and check out Barilla Bay.

Barilla Bay is an oyster farm, restaurant and gourmet food store at Cambridge, southern Tasmania.  It's about 15 minutes away from Hobart.  It's only 5 minutes from Hobart airport and I was amazed to find out that they specialise in a travel pack so that you can take the oysters and other products on extended airline travel!

 It's a beautiful complex, overlooking the bay and oyster farm.

We'd booked to go on the farm tour before lunch.  Make sure you take coat and hat, it gets pretty chilly down this far south.  The tour takes you out to the edge of the bay where you can see where oysters are grown in racks and then into the processing areas.  They opened a few for us to taste and they were sensational!  Fresh and creamy.

The Barilla Bay Restaurant features fresh Tasmanian produce (including the famous oysters) matched with Tasmanian wines and beers.  It's on top of the food store and has views of the oyster farm.  

The oyster menu is extensive.

My favourites were the Avocado and Lime Salsa oysters, Wasabi Soy oysters and Tasmanian Brie. There is plenty on the menu for oyster phobes too.  Chef Simon Townsend is not only a dab hand at producing the freshest Tasmanian seafood, he can conjure up mean Thai-style salads and tender scotch fillets.

All washed down with a few bottles Tasmanian wine.

We grabbed a few cheeses and Barilla Bay's own Worcestershire Sauce from The Gourmet Foodstore to take home.

A delicious day out.

Barilla Bay

1388 Tasman Highway, Hobart.