“Part of our restaurant’s story and food ethos is to take dishes that are traditional to different regions of Asia, then recreate them using unique local Tasmanian ingredients.”

Chargrilled Tasmanian lamb cutlets with Sichuan sauce and white onion purée; native Tasmanian mountain-pepper fragrant aubergine; and Cape Grim beef with slow-roasted savoy cabbage, anchovy, and horseradish.

On the top floor of Hobart’s Brooke Street Pier, the choice is yours: a window seat for views of Hobart’s waterfront, or a spot at the horseshoe-shaped bar for a view over a kitchen at the top of its game. The smart money’s on the latter.

Chef Christian Ryan presents a thoroughly modern take on Asian flavours, using ethical Tasmanian produce as far as the seasons will take him. Take the bar snack of master-stock pig’s ear fried and seasoned with prickly ash salt, a modern Hobart classic, or the kingfish sashimi crowned with tempura saltbush, which features more locally driven notes. Swapping coconut for fig-leaf-infused cream with prawns on a turmeric wafer is bold – and nigh on brilliant.

With most Tasmanian salmon farming still working towards sustainable operations, the kitchen prefers to stick with small-scale fishing practices for now.

“It’s difficult to believe when you arrive at Aloft that the food could distract from its up-close, attention-demanding water views, but it does happen.”

Gourmet Traveller