Salted & Hung hooks diners with addictive bites

Expect bold, strong flavours from dishes that awaken the palate, with ingredients that have been creatively utilised to showcase the beauty of sustainability. Executive Chef Drew Nocente stays true to his philosophy of minimal-wastage; whether it’s turning fish bone into bone powder or puffing up fish skin to make it a textural highlight, elements of each dish come together holistically, sustainably. He further intensifies these nuances by smoking, curing, pickling and grilling to further elevate his flavour profiles, making each dish a harmony of smoky, sweet, sour and salty notes.

Right off the bat, his medley of first bites hits the palate in a big way; the Uni & Umami Panna Cotta was smooth and unctuous, balanced with the citrusy notes of yuzu and the crispy seaweed and Nori cracker; the Fish & Chips of chickpea, pea puree and Amur Caviar was light but creamy; and the Cheeseburger of wagyu with smoked ketchup and pickled onions in a crispy pastry shell was smoky and tangy, perfect with a sip of the accompanying rosé. Now, the IPA bread served with whipped lard and wakame butter had me at “hello”. You cannot say “no”. I smeared the fluffy bread generously with creamy lard and butter, and I was addicted.

The Raw Scallops with Caviar, Yuzu Sake and Chilli Granita was a harmony of beautiful fresh, clean flavours, intensified by the salty profile of the caviar and the ‘magic’ ingredient lurking in the bottom of the dish to make it memorable: the whipped lard. I would name this dish “Insatiable”. The Green Lip Abalone with Sourdough Essence, and Charcuterie Broth was no less addictive; it was a heady dish of smoky, tender goodness.

For the Pearl Grouper with Bone Crumb and Charcoal, it represented Chef Nocente’s approach in ‘upcycling’ fish parts and building impactful flavours from them. The perfect bite came from the combination of soft flaky fish, smoky bone crumb and crispy fish skin with fish roe and pea cream.

I’m a fan of Tasmanian produce, and the King Island Tenderloin with Bone Marrow and Ash did not disappoint; yielding tender, juicy, flavoursome bites of grass-fed beef raised without the use of hormones, antibiotics or GMOs.

When it came to the Cheese & Crackers with Aged Comte Mousse, Citrus and Hazelnut, it was different from the usual cheese course. The creamy full-bodied flavour of the aged comte was balanced with the tang of citrus blood orange and the crunchy hazelnut biscotti, leading on to the sweet and tangy notes of Bramble Patch, a strawberry, mochi and meringue dessert, ending with the encore Gold’ n Gaytime ice cream, reinvented with salted toffee, almond honeycomb and wattle seed chocolate crème.

To end, the petit fours tempered the sweet notes of the desserts with the savouriness of a mini profiterole with miso cream, the smokiness of a bacon biscuit and the tanginess of a crispy lotus root with yuzu.

12 Purvis Street. Tel: 6358 3130.