Adelaide Part 2: Into the Really Good Stuff

Longstanding icons, new faces and plenty to choose from across the city.

If you haven’t read part one, it isn’t really required reading for this instalment, however, there’s some preambling about my experiences in South Australia previous to this visit, and some gushing’s about how great the place is. Here, I’m going to jump straight back into all of the delicious stuff, of which there was plenty.

If you hadn’t picked up from previous Substacks, and the bulk of my other professional writing, I don’t mind a brewery. And South Australia has a very big, very famous brewery. The good news is you can find their beer just about everywhere in South Aus. The bad news is, well, they’re so big they operate in a way that’s closer to the big brewing mega corps then their small brewery cohort, trying to shut out and overpower small, local breweries. Anyway, the beer is good and there’s a stack of styles not commonly found outside of the state pouring across bars and pubs. Barrel aged Vintage Ale was a highlight.

Adelaide also has plenty of fantastic small breweries too, spread across the city, suburbs and wine regions. We made it to quite a few, with Shapeshifter and Brightstar highlights. Brightstar for its array of lagers and Euro-centric styles - some I’d never tried and certainly couldn’t pronounce - and Shapeshifter for its very tidy hop-forward beers, plus a great catchup and chat with head brewer and friend, Carla.

And then there was food. So much great food from across the city and surrounds with regular ‘THIS is the best thing I’ve eaten here so far’ before being quickly usurped by something even better - at least in that moment.

Like a Frangipane tart from Thelma in, Piccadilly - a small, simple cafe with a tight focus on great produce and very good coffee - that was easily one of the most satisfying textured Frangipane’s I’d eaten. Soft, chewy with a melting texture and dotted with sweet/sour braised rhubarb. Or there was the pasta at Osteria Oggi, all part of a very generous 5-course tasting menu that featured an oven baked Reginette with eggplant and fior di latte, plus a velvety panna cotta to finish.

There was also fried chicken, corn bread and cocktails at Nola - no notes needed. A continental breakfast at Parisan inspired Hey Jupiter. Something different to my regular breakfast order being a boiled egg, cheese, toast, ham and a croissant with butter and compote. It felt and presented like something straight out of a Euro hotel, and such a nice change of pace. Golden Boy also impressed with its modern Thai and mod-Asian cocktails. The meal at Golden Boy ended with a fantastic, refreshing dessert of banana fritter with coconut ice cream. If you’re interested, it was absolutely presented in the shape of a penis and balls. Very very good stuff.

But there’s plenty more. A visit to Africola included the iconic Crispy chicken tea sandwich with peri peri drippings and a fantastic steak served with a very warm hot sauce. There were very nice breakfasts at My Kingdom For A Horse and Exchange Coffee, who served up a surprise highlight with their Peking Duck Ragu. Arkhe was a highlight with its snacks, but service was flawed - these things happen and I’m sure it was an anomaly, but a disappointment, nonetheless. A small but mighty ‘parfait tartlet a la Burnt Ends’ from Jake Kellie’s kitchen was a highlight.

Roaming both the city’s Chinatown complex and central markets yielded many highlights. The former gave us plenty of good dumplings and a very good Char Kye Teow from Dumpling King. While the Adeliade Central Markets proved to be a solid hub for quality eating in the city. Everything from fresh fruit and veg to cheeses and charcuterie, sandwiches, pizza, take-away coffee, pastries, bread and freshly caught seafood. There was a standout conti roll from Lucia’s Pizza & Spaghetti Bar, amazing terrine from Les Deux Coqs and a porchetta roll that easily lands in the top three things I ate in the city from Marino’s Porchetta and Cannoli bar.

So, I guess, the point I’m trying to convey here is, that there’s a heap of good food in Adeliade - as expected. And there should be no hesitation to head there for fine food and beverage. If you’re anything like me, you usually holiday with a ‘to do list’. Just put that in the bin when you visit South Aus and expect to be surrounded by very good food, very good drinks and outstanding service.