Yamashita Japanese Restaurant
04 Nov | eats |

Here at Hello Hobart we love Japanese food. So when new Japanese restaurant Yamashita opened up, we were keen to visit.

This restaurant is incredibly spacious, so don’t be fooled by the modest entry. The service is attentive, the food is filling and in keeping with what you would expect from such a restaurant.

We sat down with Jackie, who has the title of both owner and chef, to discover her journey and what we can expect from this new haunt.

"I just love Tasmania. I came here 12 years ago and completely feel in love. After studying here, I ended up as a tour guide, which meant I got to see so much of this lovely place. So I combined my two loves, Japanese food and Hobart to bring the restaurant to life" | says Jackie

The food has a real focus on sourcing local produce wherever possible to get the best flavour. You will find Bruny Island oysters, eye fillet and blue eye trevalla paired with Japanese flavours.

We tasted the Saikyo-Yaki, pieces of blue eye trevalla marinated in a miso sauce and accompanied with seasonal vegetables. This dish is from the dinner menu and was a stand out. It was sweet, but blends beautifully with the flavour of the fish.

Our meal also included the tempura vegetables (always a winner), the seafood Dobin Mushi (a Japanese soup with pieces of perfectly cooked seafood) and the fruit lover sushi roll (yes, a sushi roll filled with apple, banana, avocado and topped with a strawberry).

The menu is filled with other Japanese options, including a generous lunch menu with sets including Tonkatsu. They also have a large drink list with both Japanese and local options. We had a can of Calpis, which is a sweet and sour milk drink that tastes a bit like Yakult.

‘I decided two years ago that I wanted to open a Japanese restaurant. I have spent quite some time training in Japanese cuisine to bring these skills to Hobart. I can see that people in Hobart love Japanese too’, says Jackie.

The name Yamashita means ‘under the mountain’ in Japanese, which is a nod to kunanyi/Mount Wellington, pictured in their logo.

Located at 31 Criterion Street, they are open for lunch Monday to Saturday and dinner Thursday to Saturday.