Room for a Pony has become a North Hobart iconic go-to café. This space is laid back, and welcomes all- it’s the perfect meeting place for brunch with friends or for pizza catch ups. We sat down with one of the owners, Drew, enjoying delicious vegan pizzas and chatting all about Room for a Pony.
Room for a Pony is located on the outskirts of central, buzzing North Hobart. They have created a space where everyone is welcome (including dogs!).
North Hobart is well worth a visit for travellers or for locals in need of a day out. Wander the streets of North Hobart, and browse the State Cinema Bookshop (maybe watch a movie that takes your fancy at the historic cinema?), pop by the iconic Renown Milk Bar and grab a coffee at a café. Don’t forget to try and find the beautiful wall art located on the Tony Haig Walk! Then wander down to Room for a Pony, located at the corner of Elizabeth and Burnett Street- a central hub for great vegan eats.
The Room for a Pony space has an industrial vibe, which adds to its laid back atmosphere. They are all about coffee, food and booze, day and night, 7 days a week. A go-to among many Hobartians. There are many ‘faces’ of Room for a Pony: brunch destination with friends, alfresco pizza chat ups, or late night cocktail or local brew with dinner snacks. Choose to sit inside or out and watch the hustle and bustle of the traffic as you sit back and relax.
Opened in 2014, Room for a Pony has been serving delicious eats for 8 years now. Owned by a group of three friends, they decided to take a leap of faith with opening their first venture. The space used to be an old Windscreen O’Brien store and was run down, but they have transformed the space into a welcoming go-to venue.
Room for a Pony’s menu has lots of items that can be made vegan! Aside from pizzas there is granola, porridge, scrambled silken tofu and Huevos rancheros plus a range of snacks and dinner items such as nachos, garlic bread and a guacamole bowl.
Drew told us that he has seen a massive demand for vegan food, which was great to hear. He even mentioned that less than half of coffees are now made with cows milk! ‘I guess people are more conscious about animal products and what’s involved in producing them and it’s affects on the environment’.
Here’s what we had:
- Tasmanian Juice Press, Fruits Blend: a deliciously sweet berry juice. Full of vibrant summer fresh ingredients- Watermelon, raspberry, apple + lemon.
- Tasmanian Juice Press, Greens Blend: if you are after a big greens hit, go for this. Refreshing and full of green goodness- silverbeet, tuscan cabbage, celery, parsley, mint + apple!
Pizza! All made with our vegan cheese
- Margherita Pizza: tomato, basil + Lauds Original Oat Melt. A simple, delicious classic- you can’t go wrong with a margherita can you?!
- Bob Brown Pizza: garlic oil, broccolini, kale, green olives, chilli + Lauds Original Oat Melt. This pizza was a green goodness pizza, full of flavour. The kale and broccolini added a great change from usual pizza toppings.
- Fun Guy Pizza: Huon Valley honey brown + enoki mushrooms, truffle oil, spring onions + Lauds Original Oat Melt. If you are a mushroom fan, this is the pizza for you. The truffle oil and Lauds cheese pair beautifully.
They hand make the sourdough pizza bases every day using a combination of organic white + wholemeal spelt flours. The bases are nice and thin, and has a delicious woodfired taste. Head Chef, Christian, sourced Lauds cheese to use on top of their pizzas, and Drew told us ‘Tassie business, and locally produced- you can’t go wrong!’ Our original oat melt melts beautifully on pizzas.
Ever wanted to know why it’s called Room for a Pony? We asked Drew and he told us that the inspiration for the name came from the British tv show, Keeping up Appearances when Mrs Bucket says, “My sister? She’s the one with the Mercedes, swimming pool and room for a pony…”
So, what’s next for Room for a Pony? Drew told us that they are enclosing and weather proofing the outside space so it’ll be perfect for those cold windy Tassie days! Keep your eyes peeled!
So next time you are up in North Hobart, make sure you visit Room for a Pony.
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