3 Best Restaurants in Launceston, Tasmania

Part of Ritchie's Mill—a beautifully restored 1830s flour mill beside the Tamar River—this much-lauded restaurant and Launceston institution, serves wonderfully creative seafood dishes, usually with an Asian twist, such as the confit of Macquarie Harbour ocean trout with wasabi mash, trout crackle, and citrus and flying fish roe emulsion, or try the scallop sashimi. The five-course tasting menu includes wine pairings from the great selection of Tasmanian wines. A produce shop, café, wine bar, and art gallery are part of the same complex.

The menu at this iconic restaurant with its fabulous location by the Tamar River highlights fresh local seafood, mainly from the east coast. Try such dishes as Cape Grim porterhouse steak with crispy sweet potato and pepper jus, or seafood (it might be prawns, scallops, mussels, clams, or fish). There's always a friendly, exuberant crowd to make you feel part of the waterfront scene.

If you have to go to jail, this is the place to do it—in a 130-year-old historic building where you'll dine on succulent grass-fed beef, typically of the Angus or Hereford breed. Despite being furnished with chains and bars, it was never actually a place for incarceration, so relax and feast on prime beef cuts (or fish and chicken), and an all-you-can-eat salad bar. The wine list is comprehensive.