Blacksmith Gallery & Cafe – Sheffield TAS

Blacksmith Gallery & Cafe

Stanley and the surrounds was stunning, but it was time to leave and make our way to Cradle Mountain. We decided to head back to Devonport and make our way to Cradle via Latrobe, Railton and Sheffield. This was for two reasons Sheffield has over 140 awesome murals to see, plus I got a tip on a family run cafe that does incredible homemade 🥧’s.

Blacksmith Gallery Cafe is owned and operated by Brendan and Tanya who have been here for almost three years. They were selling there home made products in the building and when the opportunity came up to buy the cafe they jumped at the opportunity. The building is over a 100 years old and sits on the site of the towns working Blacksmith many years ago.

Open 7 days a week and employing 15 staff, this place is very different, extremely quirky but best of all warmly and feels like home. The interior has adequate seating and best of all a beautiful fire place to sit around and thaw out.
What makes the cafe so special is that roughly 50% of the staff employed here have some sort of learning difficulty or disability. This struck a chord with me considering my involvement with my charity the compass institute. My charity is about giving people opportunities and that’s what Brendan and Tanya are doing and it’s simply outstanding.
As it was near freezing conditions outside I needed something to warm me up, so we decided to get cracking and get these 🥧’s out. Brendan gave me three options to choose from, but I wanted to review something a little different this week. In the end I chose one of his favorites which was the chicken, sweet chili and cheese 🥧. This was a epic combination and I was frothing to get started.

🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧

1. Value for Money – $6.90 was very reasonable. This was a good sized 🥧, filled with quality ingredients. Zero hesitation buying another one at this price. 8.5/10
2. Meat Ratio – Packed !!! You would be extremely happy with the fill in this 🥧. 10/10
3. Meat Flavour – Really enjoyable. Decent sized tender chicken pieces, sweet chili sauce, cheese, onion. Then add a mixture of Brendan’s special herbs and spices. Brendan has done a really good job with this one. 9/10
4. Pastry – Thin, crispy and full of flavor. The shape and color were also very good. The pastry was very thin which made this 🥧 a little “how’s your father” to attack. Apart from using a knife and fork (which wasn’t going to happen) the only way to attack this 🥧 was the tip the 🥧 upside down and take it easy. Overall the pastry was very acceptable. 7.5/10
5. Serving Temperature – Maybe a smidge too hot, but overall very good. 9/10

Overall Rating
🥧🥧 44/50 🥧🥧

This 🥧 was terrific. The flavor in particular was excellent. With each bite you could taste every ingredient. The 🥧 was a very healthy size and filled to the brim which is a huge bonus. The only negative and this was relatively minor was the pastry was a little un-stable. This was common with previous reviews I’ve done involving paper thin pastry cooked in a sunbeam 🥧 machine. In saying that it did hold together but you had to flip the 🥧 upside down to eat it. The other two 🥧‘s I tried were both outstanding. In most instances the cafes that sell these assortment of homemade 🥧‘s the owners making them have ZERO to little baking experience !!!! It’s just a pure love of baking quality food and having a good old AUSSIE crack.

Add this gallery/cafe to your travel plans. The food is fresh and made with extra love. Also the roaring fire place inside will keep you super warm. The building itself is worth the visit and the best part is you can sign your name etc in the quirkiest dunny I’ve been in.

Brendan and Tanya I cannot thank you enough for your time and hospitality. What you have created in this little shop is beautiful and you guys deserve every success. The work and commitment both of you do in supporting and employing people with learning difficulties and disabilities is astonishing. You guys have certainly inspired me to ramp up my ongoing charity work, spread the word and encourage more businesses to take a leaf out of your book.
This town is a awesome little joint, our stay at the free camp was nothing special, but it was safe, clean and the location was close to the main area of town. Sheffield has over a 140 murals to admire plus various galleries and studios. Even if your not staying the night here, it’s a place worth pulling up for a few hours and exploring.