Eating Adelaide: The Daniel O'Connell- Street ADL- Chinatown - Estia
The Daniel O'Connell gastropub in North Adelaide takes the concept of traditional Irish fare with a creative twist to daring lengths. They also went to town with their drinks menu- their 'Old Fashioned' uses bacon infused bourbon, and their 'A Sangre Fria' Mary uses vintage sirloin washed vodka (I enjoyed that! Like a chilled raw soup in a glass. Strange, but delicious,).
Phil and our friend Jeff shared a Sunday Roast for two, and I ordered the vintage sirloin with leeks, spring onions, and whipped fat. The boys picked the hits, and I picked a miss. Bugger. Their roast beef was perfect. I picked the more interesting dish, but found that the flavours didn't sit well with me- pickled spring onions (supposed to be inspired by kimchi), smelt like feet; and the cold whipped fat tasted was exactly as it sounds, now that I think about it.
Apart from my meal, everything else was gorgeous. The interiors, the atmosphere, the service, the interesting drinks- all thumbs up.
We ended up walking up and down Rundle St a lot during our 10 or so days in Adelaide, when we had no concrete plans for dinner.
Street ADL is a bar slash eatery, with an interesting concept of combining 'street food' of various cultures with uniquely Australian ingredients. You'll see kangaroo in the sandwiches, 'croc dogs', and indigenous bush plants as side greens. I find the menu really interesting and love the idea of each dish- the actually dishes are a bit hit and miss. The firepit snapper was perfectly seared- my favourite dish there- but the greens (some sort of native succulent plant in a salty sour sauce) didn't really work for me.
I think it's a fun space to meet and have some drinks and nibbles to start the night off.
Keep reading after the jump!
After spending the vast majority of my life on the east coast of Australia, I always make a point of seeing a sunset over the water if I can. Adelaide has some pretty beaches, and I really enjoyed walking around Henley beach at dusk.
I felt like having dinner near the beach that night, and greek food + beach is always a winning combination. Urbanspoon led me to Estia , a family style greek restaurant on Seaview Road.
I felt like having dinner near the beach that night, and greek food + beach is always a winning combination. Urbanspoon led me to Estia , a family style greek restaurant on Seaview Road.
We always make the same mistake at Greek restaurants- we order double what we can eat, forgetting that these are 'greek' portions. Incredibly, most of the food was gone by the end of the evening. We rolled home very full, very happy, and a little drunk.
The barbecued calamari with a lemon and garlic marinade and their saganaki were highlights for me.
Many nights were spent in Chinatown. Mostly at BBQ City restaurant, where a lot of congee was consumed. Adelaide has a pretty substantial Chinatown, for a city of it's size and I wish I explored it a little more.
sA lot of nights were spent in Chinatown. Mostly at BBQ City restaurant, where a lot of congee was consumed. Adelaide has a pretty substantial Chinatown, for a city of it's size.
I blogged about Ruby Red Flamingo in a previous post. It was the highlight of my trip, food wise.
Ruby Red Flamingo: North Adelaide
We dined at Ruby Red Flamingo on our first date night in Adelaide. Out of all the places on my 'must try' list (contribution mostly from Stacey), this was pretty much the only place that was opened during that awkward time of the year between Christmas and 5th Jan.
Lucky us! Ruby Red Flamingo is brilliant if you love hearty traditional Italian fare. The menu changes daily and rather than printed, it's scribbled on various blackboards around the room, just to test your low light vision and/or how far your can turn your head while seated. There are large and small plates, all meant to be shared.
We chose the octopus carpaccio with lemon infused olive oil and diced tomato; the 'scallopina'- pan fried veal with proscuitto, sage, swiss browns, and semolina gnocci; and the spaghetti with blue swimmer crab, chilli, and tomato. Everything was delicious, but the spaghetti was the highlight for me. It was a massive serving of perfectly cooked blue swimmer crab, with a hearty garlicky tomato and chilli sauce that my imaginary Italian nonna would make. The waitress wasn't kidding when she warned us about the large size of the pasta dishes- I think our spaghetti dish could feed 3 adults.
Oh, and there is a bar upstairs where you can get some nibbles and cocktails while you wait for a table.
142 Tynte St North Adelaide, SA 05006
(08) 8267 5769
