HOBART'S TOP-SHELF FLOATING RESTAURANT

Credit: Courtesy of Aloft Facebook Page

Some dining experiences have a touch of magic about them – enveloping you into a world of special. They are more than delivery of food on a plate, but can shift the way you feel. Aloft Restaurant has this enchanting knack.
I’m unsure when it became the most superb dining experience I’ve had in this capital city – the precise moment.

Perhaps it was an outstretched hand from the charismatic chef, once rubbing shoulders with Gordon Ramsay, now a metre away preparing oysters beneath our nose. Or when the sommelier spoke to us like we were the only pair in the bustling room. Maybe it was because we were afloat on a building come boat, with views unsurpassed on the Hobart dining scene. I’m not sure, what I do know is that Aloft has raised Hobart dining to a internationally-appealing, top-shelf level.

WARMTH ON ARRIVAL
Heading up the stairs, there’s a rising anticipation about this floating restaurant. Walking the length of Brooke Street Pier, it feels the pathway to somewhere exciting. On arrival, a soft glow of lighting invites us inward, warm and understated, much like the Nordic touches throughout and the expectant welcome.
Tonight, we are perched at the bar, where chefs Christian Ryan and Glenn Byrnes, who worked together at Melbourne’s Taxi Dining Room, run Aloft’s open kitchen. It’s as much a performance and display of meticulous workmanship as it is a mouth-watering view of the next round. We are delivered to our seats almost as swiftly as glasses are filled.

CURRENT BANQUET MENU
$75pp
Oyster, spanner crab + green chili 
Prawn, fig leaf + turmeric wafer
Master stock pig’s ear + prickly ash
Wood ear + shiitake mushroom dumpling
Fried blue eye, fennel + pepita satay
crispy quail, lime + pepperberry
Koji beef, grilled mushroom + horseradish or roast pork, silverbeet + kunzea custard
coffee + condensed milk ice cream or pear, anise + yoghurt

It’s after 11pm by the time our 7pm dining date concludes. It feels like it’s been just an hour or two and the chefs are still nattering and smiling about their busiest night on the floor yet. For them, it appears a joy to be the faces of this lofty new Tasmanian icon. For us, we’ll be back to this place in the sky. Again and again.
 
WEB: Aloft Restaurant and Facebook Page
PHONE: 6223 1619
ADDRESS: Top level. Brooke St Pier

Words + images: Alice Hansen (unless otherwise credited)

BOOK YOUR NEXT NIGHT OR ADVENTURE WITH TAILORED TASMANIA