Smolt

By Franz Scheurer

Smolt in Salamanca Square may be part of the Tassal salmon complex and borrow its name from the juvenile stage when salmon start to migrate from fresh to salt water, but they do not present you with a salmon-heavy menu at all. This is a restaurant that stands on its own and delivers deceptively simple food using great produce.

The room is designed by Georgina Freeman and sparsely fitted out, focusing on lots of wood and a large, open kitchen. Lots of warm tones help you feel at ease and exposed copper ducting add interest to the ceiling. The restaurant is divided into three dining spaces. The first, closest to the entrance with a view over Salamanca Square, features a large, communal table, where as the other two, further back, opposite the long, open kitchen are a little more formal with separately arranged tables and banquettes.

Smolt co-owners Kif Weber and Scott McMurray migrated south from Launceston and they know how to run a restaurant. The menu is Mediterranean and the wine list is excellent. It’s great to see a place where they know their wines and take sherry seriously and the Manzanilla is fresh!

They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I’d be surprised if you can ignore the bread and pastries displayed on the kitchen pass. We went for breakfast, enjoying a sublimely thin and tasty apple tart and terrific coffee and promptly made a reservation for lunch. After a stroll amongst the myriad of heritage-listed old buildings, walking up Kelly’s Steps to admire Battery Point, we returned to Smolt to be pampered for lunch by the attentive and engaging staff. They serve superb Bruny Island oysters shucked to order and other simple entrées like Saffron, pea & pork ragout arrancini, Prosciutto, reggiano, vincotto and the superb Borlotti bean & pasta soup. Their pizzas are excellent and it’s great to see classics like Tomato, basil and mozzarella on the menu. For mains it’s hard to go past the Slow cooked lamb ragout, house made tagliatelle but make sure to leave some room for dessert because their Rhubarb & goats curd clafoutis, burnt honey Anglaise is superb. It’s good to see a restaurant of such quality in Hobart and if you’re in Tasmania this is well worth a visit.

Score: 7.5/10

For more information or bookings:

Smolt Restaurant

2 Salamanca Square

Hobart Tasmania 7001

Tel.: (03) 6224 2554