My hire car developed a problem while I was in Tasmania. It couldn’t pass a sign for oysters without turning in, which meant there was barely a day when I didn’t eat them!
All the businesses I visited below either farm or sell Pacific Oysters, a type native to the Pacific coast of Asia, which were brought to Tasmania from Japan after WW2. They differ from indigenous Sydney Rock Oysters in that they are slightly larger and firmer and have a more robust and creamy flavour profile which holds up better when combined with other ingredients (eg cooked bacon à la Oysters Kirkpatrick).
Another indigenous variety, Angasi Oysters, are also farmed in Tasmania but they are quite hard to find and have always been out of season (May till October) whenever I’ve been in Australia. I’m told they have a unique earthy flavor with a rich, buttery finish. You can often find their flat shells washed up on Tasmanian beaches.
Pacific Oysters can be further sub-divided into the rarer Golds, which have a golden brown shell…
…and the more common Silvers which are more grey in colour. Golds tend to have more meat and have a deeper, more cupped shell.
I love the crispy, salty Silvers but for me the more buttery Golds are just another level above. However with only two businesses selling them on the whole island I kind of spoiled myself by going to them first. You might want to do it the other way around by leaving the following two places till last!
Melshell Oyster Shack melshelloysters.com.au, on the East Coast of Tasmania, where the Swan River meets Great Oyster Bay, was my favourite oyster exprience of all.
Besides their wonderful Golds, there are a few other reasons why Melshell was my favourite oyster experience. Firstly, it’s very picturesque and there are lots of places to sit and enjoy the peaceful views of the estuary.
Secondly, it’s one of the few places that sell wines and other nice drinks to accompany your oysters.
And thirdly, you can do an oyster tour with Cassie who is very welcoming and friendly, as are all the staff at Melshell.
Here she’s explaining that they use long lines to grow the oysters on in Great Oyster Bay while traditional baskets and trays are used in the Swan River. Having the two options means that should there be a storm and the sea crop is lost or damaged, as has been the case in the past, they can still harvest the river oysters which are better protected from the destructive waves. As far as I’m aware, this merroir is unique in Tasmania.
The tour was held in their oyster shed where all their equipment is kept including the farm’s flat-bottomed oyster boat.
It has a crane for lifting the heavy baskets and lines out of the water.
Once landed they are run along a grader which has differents sizes of mesh along it.
The smallest baby oysters fall through the holes in the mesh and are put back into the water.
Next the remaining larger oysters travel along another conveyor where they are manually sorted into three sizes. The larger ones tend to go to the restaurants but, like me, Cassie personally prefers eating the smaller ones which are more flavoursome and less chewy.
Next Cassie demonstrated the best way to shuck an oyster (going in at the wide end rather than the hinge). Click on the video to see.
And then it was my turn to try. A chain mail glove is advisable for novices such as myself!
And this is the first oyster I’ve ever personally shucked!
It tastes even better when you’ve done it yourself! I was told I’d attained the honorary title of Mother Shucker after this achievement 😀
Occasionally Cassie has found small pearls in the oysters which she collects for fun as they have no monetary value.
All the empty shells are added to their midden, or put in cages to build walls. Cassie told me there are many ancient Aboriginal middens of Angasi oysters in the local area which demonstrate how humans have been eating oysters for millenia.
Oyster farming is renowned as a carbon neutral business because oysters have a lower average carbon footprint than other forms of farmed animal protein and their shells are a highly effective means of carbon capture.
Blue Lagoon Oysters bluelagoonoysters.com.au, a little further southeast in Dunalley in Boomer Bay (another famous merroir), is the only other oyster farm in Tasmania that sells Pacific Golds.
It’s a more basic set up but still a pleasant spot with a seating area where you can sit and eat your oysters in comfort, although you can’t get any drinks to go with them.
I had half a dozen golds with a mingonette dressing (chopped shallot with red wine vinegar, recipe here), which were stunning again.
Blue Lagoon are open seven days a week from 10am till 4pm unlike Melshell who are closed at weekends, so plan accordingly.
Other places I visited:
Lease 65 Oysters at 444 Binalong Bay Rd, Saint Helens
Heading north up the east coast, past beautiful Binalong Bay (my post here), you come to this highly renowned oyster farm.
It’s an industrial set up with nowhere to sit and eat, but at least you know that they were plucked and shucked from the sea just a few metres away.
I ate mine by the road straight away, out of the back of my camper car.
The flavour of Silvers can vary from bay to bay and for me, these had a more metallic flavour (more than meeting a healthy body’s need for zinc and magnesium).
I also had oysters at a couple of restaurants, the first being Stillwater Restaurant www.stillwater.com.au in Launceston where I had my best experience of eating out on the entire trip (review here).
The Silvers here, served with a delicious yuzu and dashi condiment, were from the Tarkine Oyster Farm www.tarkinefreshoysters.com.au on the north coast.
I also had some spectacular Silvers from Bruny Island at The Source at MONA mona.net.au, the fantastic art museum in Hobart. I lost the menu but I think Ponzu-based dressing was involved.
Bruny Island, twenty minutes’ drive south of Hobart, is another famous Tasmanian merroir, the most famous farm being Get Shucked www.getshucked.com.au North Bruny. I haven’t been, preferring to save Bruny for my next visit, but I understand they have a licensed bar where you can try such delights as oyster wontons, oyster pate and oysters Kilpatrick, as well as freshly-shucked oysters, available alongside quality Tassie wines, beers and ciders.
I didn’t feel the need to go to Bruny so much because Bruny oysters come to you if you’re in Hobart. The Bruny Silvers I ate at the Fish Man thefishmanhobart.com.au, a floating fishmonger moored at Constitution Dock, were amongst the cheapest I had at just $15 a half dozen. In a Melbourne restaurant you’d get just two oysters for the same money.
So those are all my oyster experiences from my trip. I’ll need to go again to completely finish this post! You’ll find all the businesses mentioned, and more, marked with a fish symbol on my Google map of Tasmania.
Hope you enjoyed this post 🙂 Do feel free to make comments below. Eating out in Hobart next!