The Point Revolving Restaurant

LOCATION
At the Wrest Point Casino in Sandy Bay.

PROFILED BY DEGROOTS MEDIA
The Point has been providing a 360-degree revolving view of Hobart for over 30 years. For most of that time, the city skyline changed more than the food. The floor staff also remained largely unchanging, slowly growing older along with the regulars. While menu items such as flambeed prawns and classic crepes Suzette cooked at your table are reminders of those earlier days, chef Kent Sullivan has brought a much more contemporary feel and more modern touches to the menu in dishes like freshly shucked oysters with horseradish pearls and celery shoots – one of the much better oyster combinations of the many available around town – a fricassee of seasonal wild mushrooms, a quail and foie gras terrine and a beautifully cooked duck breast accompanied by a complex sweet/savoury sauce of semi-dried cherries and fennel.

One of the biggest and most welcome changes is in the pricing of the wines. Gone are the old 300 per cent plus across-the-board mark-ups and you can now enjoy, for example, any vintage of Penfolds’ Grange from 1981 to 2004 as well as a string of vintage Hill of Graces and three mature 1998 First Growth Bordeaux – Chateaux Margaux, Latour and Mouton Rothschild – for less than the price of the newly released 2005 Grange. Still not cheap, I know – you’re still likely to need a good night on the tables downstairs to afford them – but, in restaurant terms, they’re absolute bargains. And the crepes Suzette? Well they’re a bit of nostalgic fun that even Gordon Ramsay says are making a comeback.

Graeme Phillips, May 2010

DETAILS
The revolving seventeenth floor offers 360 degree views of Hobart's majestic waterfront, Mt Wellington and surrounding city-scape - a definite enhancement to the fine dining experience.

Table cooking is a specialty and their flamb� prawns are as famous as the restaurant itself! Specially priced menus are available at all times, as well as an extensive wine list that includes Tasmanian and global wines. Specialty rare wines are available from the Tasmanian Oak cabinet located at the entrance foyer. These wines have been carefully matched to the Point's famous menu, which features fine dining options to make even the most discerning connoisseur's mouth water.

Guests can enjoy a pre-dinner aperitif, late night cocktail or cafe latte from the Lounge, situated in the Point, and dining is optional.

Lunch from 12 noon, Fridays only.
Dinner from 6.30pm, seven days.