One of our regrets from our last visit to Hobart was our failure to make it to the much-loved Pigeon Hole for brekkie. We rectified things this time around, hitting them up reasonably early on a Friday morning. Early or not, it was already heaving, and our plan to nab enough space to share with friends was soon defeated (by a slightly surly customer who had strict communal table boundaries). Cindy and I pushed on with brekkie anyway, figuring it was probably our last chance.
It's a cosy place, with the inside tables crammed in pretty tightly and big communal tables at the back and out the front. We were on the front table away from the temptation of the sweets cabinet - and the blackboard menu. Luckily, I didn't have much of a decision to make - I was always going to sample the beans after Carla's rave review from last year.
The non-vegan version comes out with a generous dusting of parmesan, but it's probably not that necessary - the beans themselves are loaded with flavours. They're smokey, spicy and rich - one of the tastiest and most well developed serves of baked beans that I've sampled (to be honest, if they weren't clearly marked 'vegetarian', I'd be a bit worried that they were cooked with something meaty). It's a pretty small serve, but at $9.90 that's hardly a problem. Besides, it was enough to fuel me up for the day at MONA ahead (especially with chocolate energy balls waiting for around the corner at Eumarrah).
Cindy went for the lighter option: yoghurt, gluten-free crunch, cherries and agave syrup ($11.90).
We hit Hobart in the middle of a phenomenal cherry season, and these were no exception - fat and juicy and bursting with ripeness. The crunchy muesli was light and varied, and the yoghurt tangy. Another small but satisfactory brekkie.
Pigeon Hole seemed like a real winner - the food we sampled was excellent, and there were a few other dishes on the small menu that sounded promising to me (although less so for Cindy - no pancakes/French toast/etc). Coffee was excellent as well, but it's probably not the smartest time of year to visit - everybody in town for MOFO was on the hunt for coffee/breakfast, so getting a table was almost impossible and the wait for takeaway coffees was ludicrous. It's not really fair to blame Pigeon Hole for their popularity - they're clearly popular because they run a tight business - but it didn't fill me with enthusiasm for revisiting again during MOFO next year. I'd love to go again on a quieter day when things felt a bit more relaxed - maybe we'll have to extend our stay in future to sneak a visit on a quiet day.
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easy as (vegan) pie has a super positive review of Pigeon Hole's beans, while non-veg bloggers Two Clowns Tripping, Tales of a Truffle Pig, Food Side of Life, Very cheap eats, The Chommery, Feathers and Cupcakes, Food reviews, Bubbacino Blogger, The Hut Chronicles, Poppet's Window, 42DegreesSouth, Keep Calm and Cook More and Popcorn & Toast are also very positive.
Occasional Food Fairy has a nice piece about spending a few weeks working at Pigeon Hole.
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Pigeon Hole
93 Goulburn Street, Hobart
03 6236 9306
veg brekkies $6.50 - $12.90
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Accessibility: There's a flat entryway, but the interior is quite crowded (at least when it's busy). There's big communal table outside, but the menu is inside on the wall and payment happens at the counter in there. We didn't go to the toilets.
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Some new favourites from our return trip to MONA this year.
Benjamin Skepper looping cello and piano into gorgeous melodies and random noises
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