CREATIVE CANADIAN CUISINE

GASTOWN EAST

5/16 Cambridge Rd, Bellerive 6278 2782 Fully licensed. Open Wednesday to Saturday, 8am to 9pm (brunch menu 8am to 3pm, snacks, 3-5pm and dinner from 5pm); Sunday, 8am to 3pm

Roast lamb, a saucy snag scoffed in a hardware store carpark, or mum’s passionfruit-topped pav … there’s great debate about what constitutes quintessentially Australian fare. But ask anyone in the know about Canada’s national dish [aside from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, of course] and most will reply “poutine”.

It is fitting, therefore, that poutine is on the menu at what must surely be Tasmania’s first Canadian-inspired eatery. Gastown East opened recently in a new building beside Bellerive Boardwalk. As I recall from my dim, dark past as a cruise ship croupier plying the Canada-to-Alaska route, Gastown is the oldest neighbourhood of Vancouver in British Columbia.

Chef Kristian Farrow and partner Sarah Mundy are Tasmanians who spent several years working in BC. They opened Gastown East just a few weeks ago. Their Facebook page features a picture of the couple on that most Canadian of vehicles, a snowmobile.

Mundy says Canadian food, much like Australian fare, is “super multicultural”. Gastown works with local produce – particularly salmon – but does import the cheese curds for the Quebec classic poutine and clamato (tomato juice with clam broth) for the Caesar cocktail, which is Canada’s version of a Bloody Mary. Imported beers and wines are still in transit.

While there are no maple leaf flags flying or moose heads on the wall, Mundy says the name Gastown is a nod to their favourite area of Vancouver. “It’s a modern Australian restaurant with a Canadian influence,” she says. And the response from the dining public thus far has been very encouraging. “We already seem to have regulars, which is amazing,” Mundy says.

Unable to book a last-minute table, we chance it and arrive about 7.45pm on a Saturday. We snare three of the last remaining six seats at a high shared table. It’s a modern space, with a series of smaller tables along the right wall and another large bench table in front of an open kitchen to the left. Diners look out on the twinkling lights of Bellerive marina. Despite the fact it’s a coolish night, one couple is dining outside on the balcony overlooking the water.

As we order, we encounter the major disappointment of the evening – they’re out of crab cakes. Instead we plump for poutine – chips with gravy and cheese curds – and salmon tartare.

Described by a friend who spent a year living in Canada as a “heart attack on a plate”, the poutine is delicious, featuring “fritz” (aka chips) in a salty sea of gravy topped by creamy cheese curds. It’s comfort food times 10. In stark contrast, the tartare is fresh and light, served with wafer-thin crispbread.

The next dish, carrot salad, is the highlight for me. It’s a textural treat, featuring roasted carrots, still-crisp asparagus, nutty brown rice, fetta, and crunchy toasted hazelnuts. And do I also detect a note of sweetness from the most Canadian of kitchen staples – maple syrup? The pork belly, sitting atop braised cannelli beans, is also good, but the meatballs in sugo are served just lukewarm, prompting an apology from the waitress when we tell her so.

The Nanaimo bar dessert, with chocolate, baked custard and toasted coconut, ends our evening on a high note. As it turns out, two women sharing our table are from Canada, with one a Nanaimo bar expert having worked at the Nanaimo hospital on Vancouver Island. A great fan of the recipe contained in the hospital ladies auxiliary’s cookbook, she says this version is pretty authentic. Her friend commends the Caesar cocktail.

Together with Asian-influenced burger eatery Belles just next door, Gastown provides another compelling reason to visit the Eastern Shore some more. Watch the video of Gastown East’s co-owner Sarah Mundy talking about working in Canada and their reasons for bringing the cuisine to Tasmania, available on Monday for Mercury subscribers at themercury.com.au