Smiths 🥧’s (Salamanca Markets Hobart)
After waking up from my food coma courtesy of Brighton’s Best Bakery, I decided to have a few PFD’s (Pie Free Days). Once again these plans can change quicker than the Tasmanian weather.
Because Saturday had arrived and that means Salamanca Market Day. The Salamanca Market is one of Tasmania’s most visited tourist attractions and has won many awards for excellence.
Located in historic Salamanca Place, next to the Hobart waterfront, the market has over 300 stallholders, and operates every Saturday between 8.30 am and 3.00 pm.
Tasmania’s biggest selection of locally made products can be explored including hand-worked glass, Tasmanian timbers, stylish clothing, bespoke jewellery, organic produce, artworks, bath and body care, ceramics, leather goods, handcrafted cheeses, breads, wines, spirits, hot food and a 🥧 cart !!!!
Not just any 🥧 cart but a Smiths Speciality 🥧 Cart. They are a Tasmanian institution and have been around for over 30 plus years and there products can be found at over 60 outlets across Tasmania.
Finding the cart was more difficult than cracking the Da Vinci Code, stalls and people as far as the eye could see. I was told to get in early to as their 🥧’s and more particularly there scallop 🥧‘s sell out early. So the pressure was well and truly on. After doing a few laps up and down I was getting a little nervous and suddenly it appeared.
Choosing a 🥧 to review was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make. I came to these markets for one flavoured 🥧 only and that was the famous Smiths Scallop 🥧‘s. The 🥧 menu was rather extensive but in the end that didn’t matter.
🥧 THE REVIEW 🥧
1. Value for Money – $10 for this scallop 🥧 and in my opinion was very reasonable. It was a decent sized 🥧 in diameter and depth. It felt a tad heavy too !!! Overall no issue with the $10 price tag given it’s size and the venue it was sold at. 9.5/10
2. Meat Ratio – Pretty full !! Maybe a bit here and there to fill gaps, but you would be very happy with the fill in this 🥧. 9.5/10
3. Flavour – Not bad !!! The scallops were fresh and there were plenty of them in this 🥧. With every bite you were eating scallops and that’s what you want. Once again the curry wasn’t quite evident enough in my opinion and it was a smidge bland. In saying that the overall flavour was more than satisfactory 8.5/10
4. Pastry – A real mixed bag here. Shape, shrinkage and top bake more than terrific. Photos will show the bottom of the 🥧 was a little pale in colour and had cracks bigger that a Indian cricket pitch. The 🥧 didn’t fall apart but you had to be strategic with every bite, so it didn’t fall apart. The top pasty did have a great taste to it. This was a tough one to score as this pasty had some great aspects and a couple disappointing ones too, but the good out weighted the bad. 7/10
5. Serving Temperature – Perfect temp. This 🥧 was gone in about five bites. 10/10
Overall Rating
🥧🥧 44.5/50 🥧🥧
A bit like the pasty this scallop 🥧 was a real mixed bag. The price and scallop ratio were both superb and the flavor wasn’t far away either. The top pasty was very good, but the bottom started to fall apart. I’ve gotta say this 🥧 was FULL of scallops and they were fresh too. Overall this 🥧 was more than acceptable and I would have no issues buying another. Once again everyone’s 🥧 experience is going to be different. Smiths 🥧’s have been around for a very long time and they make a bloody quality product. The pasty on my 🥧 could have been a once off and that’s going to happen.
Salamanca Markets should be on everyone’s travel plans and while your there grabs a Smiths 🥧. The market stalls have a huge mix in variety and if you like Vodka or Gin your going to have a field day. The vibe down near is pretty awesome, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time and explore the whole area, there is plenty to see.