The Cornelian Bay Boathouse

The Cornelian Bay Boathouse sits on the Derwent at 15 Queens Walk, New Town, its kiosk and dining room both facing the water with the Tasman Bridge framed across the bay. The restaurant side runs a proper seafood menu (Barilla Bay oysters, seafood chowder, seafood pasta), while the kiosk next door does burgers, fish and chips, coffee and ice cream from 9:30am to 4:30pm. For dog owners, the kiosk end is the ticket: outdoor tables, a lawn behind you and a sanctioned off-lead beach start minutes away.

The dog setup

Dogs are welcome at the outdoor alfresco tables around the kiosk, not inside the formal restaurant. Keep your dog on a lead in the dining area, and don't count on the venue supplying water: staff have been known to bring a bowl on request, but the locals bring their own. A grassed area beside the tables means a fidgety dog has somewhere to settle, and the whole foreshore around the kiosk is used by dog walkers through the day.

The beach before brunch

This is the part that makes the trip work. The City of Hobart designates the foreshore from the main car park toward Cornelian Bay Point as an off-lead exercise area, daylight hours only, dogs under effective control. It has grass and beach access, and a gravel path climbs to the point for Derwent views. On-lead rules apply elsewhere in the reserve, including around the boat sheds, and the adjoining cemetery is strictly dog free. Waste bags and bins are on site, so a proper run before you sit down to eat is easy to arrange.

Getting there and parking

The boathouse is on the water's edge with a free, spacious car park right beside it, a rarity this close to central Hobart. The restaurant serves lunch 12pm to 3pm daily and dinner Wednesday to Saturday from 5:30pm, with the kiosk covering the morning coffee crowd. Weekends get busy at the kiosk tables, so weekdays give you more room.

Close by with the dogs

Once the dog is tired, BAM Cafe and Bakery is the New Town follow-up for pastries, and John Turnbull Park offers a fully fenced session if the off-lead beach wasn't enough. For a bushwalk leg, the New Town Falls Track climbs into the foothills on lead. More options sit on the Tasmania restaurants page and the New Town guide.

Pepsi: off-lead sprint on the beach, then a bowl of water and first pick of the chips at the kiosk table. That is my kind of lunch.