| Address: | Salamanca Quarry, Hobart |
| Phone No: | 03 6224 2554 |
| Web Site: | |
| Description: | Restaurant |
| Comment: | Upmarket expensive high class dining. Great flavours. |
| Rita Rating: | **** |
Click links below (added on date shown) to read more . . .
Smolt Restaurant, Hobart, The review we had to have! (Gobbler Blog)(added 28-10-2007)
Smolt (Rita Blog)(added 20-12-2007)
Posts
8 comments:
Family dinner at Smolt over the long weekend. General consensus was that the food was great (I can personally vouch for the rabbit risotto) and the barbequed octopus was a real hit. Service was very friendly, but for some reason was very slow (especially between the small plate/tasting plate and the main course). It was a Sunday night, and they didn’t appear to be exceptionally busy, so I don’t know what the problem was.
had a very disappointing meal at smolt... rare steak cooked medium and tough as old boots..greasy plate of veal .....service goes something like this ’have you booked.. no.. well we don’t have any room for you (front area empty)’ when we suggested that we would be happy sitting in the very empty window area.. suddenly another waiter appeared there was a table free.. lack of communication the usual story.
Scott Heffernan of Smolt Restaurant has been selected as the Tasmanian finalist in the 2008 Lexus Young Chef of the Year Award.
On the plate
Graeme Phillips
Smolt in Salamanca Square has had a pizza oven in the corner of the kitchen since it opened.
For logistical reasons beyond their control, they’ve only been able to fire it up in the past few weeks and are now doing what they’ve wanted to do from the start - serve thin-based, smoke tinged pizzas with traditionally simple toppings to share with a glass of wine or as a meal.
They’re using authentic Italian buffalo mozzarella on the tomato and basil number, there’s a great and unusual earthy mushroom one topped with goats curd and another topped with Italian sausage, taleggio and chilli. Great with a glass of one of their Italian reds.
Awards ’rewarding’
Scott Heffernan of Smolt, Tasmania’s finalist in this year’s Lexus Young Chefs Awards, says the experience was "brilliant".
"Spending a week with the other state chef and waiter finalists touring the premium food and wine producers in South Australia was inspiring. Everyone has the same aims, the producers and chefs alike, striving for excellence. The enthusiasm is catching."
Having previously worked in the kitchen at Vue de Monde in Melbourne and a month on a Brand Tasmania scholarship with Tetsuya Wakuda in Sydney, he said he still found the final three-hour Lexus cook-off in Sydney challenging.
"You get nervous. You’re out of the comfort zone of your own kitchen. The Judges are looking for precision, technique and flavour and you know you can’t afford to make mistakes. Still, I was happy with what I did and, win or lose, the whole thing was a most rewarding experience, one that I’d encourage every young chef in the state to try for next year."
Scott is now in Sydney awaiting tomorrow’s gala dinner and the announcement of the national winner.
GP
I went to Smolt last night for a family dinner, very last minute as where we had previously chosen was closed. It ended up being a great decision in the end though as the meal was brilliant!!
We all shared bread and olives to start which was great, I think they have some of the nicest ciabatta out! I then had the oyster plate followed by the mushroom and goats cheese gnocchi. Everything was fantastic food wise, and it was definitely the best gnocchi I've had in a long time (I had a similar dish at Plum a few weeks ago and it was terribly disappointing, much too oily). The rest of the family also really enjoyed their choices of the pork special and beef cheek.
The only fault I could suggest is that they were a little slow on taking drink orders throughout the meal, which wasn't a huge problem for us but had we been a big drinking table it would have been.
Otherwise a brilliant night all round and somewhere I would definitely recommend!
That's great Emma. Thanks for adding your comment here. It really helps people make a judgement call when they can see updates on venues....
Hi Rita,
I've commented at least once before about the awesomeness of Smolt, but had such a brilliant experience there tonight that I felt I needed to add another.
We go there very regularly, and it's always a great meal, but tonight they really outdid themselves! We were a table of 13 for a friend's birthday. Everyone was looked after, the service was great and the food was utterly impeccable!
I shared the mixed oyster plate for entree, had the special duck cassoulet for main and had some of their fantastic vanilla chai icecream for dessert! The oysters are always good, and tonight was no exception. And I simply have no words to describe how perfect the duck was. Melt in your mouth incredible! My family will attest that I have never been a cassoulet type of person, but the perfection of this dish just blew me (and everyone else who tried it) away! I also tried the chicken liver parfait and the lamb shoulder special, and both were also delicious.
I simply can't say how brilliant Smolt is at the moment. In terms of service, price and just amazing food, I really think they are one of the stand outs around town!
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