Smolt Restaurant, Hobart

I recently went to the beautiful Hobart, in Tasmania, Australia. What a slice of heaven it is. I was very strict with myself that I would take as many food pics as I could, and coming very soon is a full blog post on just about everything I ate there, from the gorgeous all-day breakfast cafes, just down the street from the house that we stayed in, and so-far-from pretentious it's ridiculous (take THAT Melbourne), to the renowned curried scallop pie, whose filling glowed like a radioactive keens curry powder.


That will come later, today I would like to do a special dedicated post to a wonderful "posh night out" restaurant Ms C and I dined at named Smolt, (and not 'Snork' as Ms C accidentally referred to it as one afternoon, to a hundred and one giggles from myself.)

Urban Spoon gives Smolt a plethora of wonderful reviews, but we weren't entirely sure we were going to eat there. On "posh night out" night, we got our prettiest dresses on and made our way to the beautiful and historic Salamanca area, filled with bars and restaurants and a wonderful historic feel. We wandered past steakhouses, Italian restaurants, Spanish and Greek and could not decide. We walked into Smolt to ask to look at the menu.

Salamanca

 

The attentive staff were more than happy for us to waste minutes blocking their counter with our indecisiveness. We walked back out to discuss our options. I had already made my mind up. We would go back in!

To get our taste buds going a beautiful freshly baked bread was brought to us with olive oil and balsamic. Delicious.

Thee wine list was wonderful, and out waitress, although dressed very casually, was a wealth of information on both the wines and the food.

I decided to start with the oyster plate ($21.90). 6 oysters: one jumbo, 2 medium and 3 micro oysters. Each different size was dressed differently and had a completely different taste to the meat. A wonderful starter. My dinner date chose one of the leek and three cheese arancini ($3.90) as her starter, and she was very happy with it.

The interior was a perfect balance of homely and decadent, the menu glorious with modern Australian selections. To look around the restaurant, it's dimly lit, but still seems open and airy. A huge wall fish tank as you enter the restaurant, an open kitchen, and the tables vary, from private tables, to a large central dining table for large groups, or smaller groups to sit together, and bench tables around the perimeter of the room. The blend of homely and comfortable with rich and divine some how work in absolute harmony.

For mains I had chosen the grilled Tasmanian venison, crab apple puree, quinoa, spiced cauliflower and almond salad, creamed garlic ($36.50). This meal was divine. The flavours so warming and wintery, I felt as I had just taken a meal back in Scotland. The meat itself was so flavoursome, cooked perfectly.

Ms C has a special of the day which was a steak.

To have with out meals, we shared a local bottle of Pinot Noir.

Feeling very full after our mains, we decided to share a Creme Catalan, (a creme caramel from the Catalan region of Spain), it was the perfect finish to our meal, with a glass of single malt for me and a dessert wine for Miss C.

I cannot fault this restaurant, everything was wonderful, from the staff to the menu options.Smolt certainly deserves every one of the amazing reviews it has received, and I hope to visit them again.