Playtime at the Sebel

My life changed last Friday in a way that cannot be reversed. I discovered Coffin Bay oysters. Well, to be perfectly honest my brother-in-law introduced me to them a couple of years ago, but clearly the years had somehow inexplicably eroded the magical memory because I should have been dreaming about these babies every night since I first ate one.

The terrible, tragic consequence of having experienced the joy of eating these oysters is that I am now forever ruined to all other oysters. I am an oyster snob.

Friday was our last day in Adelaide, as our flight back to Perth was first thing Saturday morning. We remembered that we hadn't yet used our vouchers for free canapés in the Playford Lounge Bar at the hotel. Never ones to knock back free food, we made sure to get down to the lounge during the cocktail hour to exchange our vouchers for the canapés of the day - Coffin Bay oysters, either natural or kilpatrick. Our vouchers scored us three oysters each, and we both went the natural route, with a little squeeze of lemon and a dash of tabasco in a couple of them as well. My god, they were good. Beautiful, succulent, fresh, meaty, salty, pure, delicious. We were both a little dazed after polishing off our three each, but no sooner had we come to our senses than we were back at the bar ordering more. A plate of three pieces of heaven for $3.50. Bargain. We couldn't get too heady in oyster appreciation however, as the waitstaff were a little too conscientious and one particularly eager guy attempted to clear away one of our "empty" plates that still had a tasty morsel left sitting in its shell waiting to be enjoyed.

After recovering from the magic we decided to head off and have dinner at the nearby Apothecary 1878. The front bar is quite cool, decked out with antique pharmacy cabinets, and I assumed the theme was carried through to the restaurant which I believe is upstairs. Whether or not this is actually the case however remains unknown to me as there were no free tables in the restaurant. Dang. We briefly considered hanging around and ordering off the tapas menu at the bar, but decided to instead head back to the hotel and try the restaurant there. Upon arriving back at the hotel we were told that the earliest we could have a table would be 8:30 (this would never happen at the Hilton! hehe) so we retired back to our rooms where I watched the MasterChef master class until sauntering back downstairs to enjoy dinner.

Ordering was actually incredibly easy for me, as my strange sudden illness of the morning had completely turned me off goat cheese, smoked fish and salmon (luckily this has since proved to be a temporary turn off). I was actually really feeling like some soup and a nice piece of chicken (perfect sicky food, it's amazing I didn't twig that I was turning into a swine infected sicky lala), and thus chose the "tempura tofu hot broth - Japanese style broth, green tea soba noodles, Asian greens, chilli and pickled ginger" ($15.50) to start with and the "porcini infused free range chicken breast with sauteed wild mushrooms, hand pounded carrot and parsnip, porcini foam and roast chicken glaze" ($28.90) for my main course. Still enjoying an untarnished love of salmon, my friend chose to have a starter of "Atlantic salmon tartare, wasabi roe, candied orange zest" ($6), an entrée of "polenta crusted zucchini flowers - Woodcroft mushroom duxelle, Woodside goat's cheese, petite garden greens and tarragon oil" ($15.90) and for his main chose "the grill tasting plate - Murraylands beef fillet, Onkaparinga Valley venison, Clare Valley rabbit, confit garlic, thyme and pancetta sausages, San Jose bacon, potato croquette and eggplant relish" ($32.90). In honour of our vegetable deprived friend from The Brasserie we could not help but complement our dishes with some "steamed seasonal vegetables with lemon myrtle olive oil" ($9.50).

Atlantic salmon tartare, wasabi roe, candied orange zest ($6)

These looked fantastic, and apparently they tasted pretty fantastic as well, but I just couldn't accept the offer of trying one. Isn't it amazing how quickly your body can turn from loving something to finding it quite repugnant? Thank god I have since re-embraced my love affair with salmon. Phew.

Polenta crusted zucchini flowers - Woodcroft mushroom duxelle, Woodside goat's cheese, petite garden greens and tarragon oil ($15.90)

These looked beautiful and once again I was reminded that I would like to try cooking with zucchini flowers at home. Sadly my new apartment is poorly equipped with garden space and I won't be able to grow my own zucchini flowers, but I am determined to cook with them in the not-too-distant future. I should probably suss out what time of year they are readily available before I get too gung ho with this plan.

Tempura tofu hot broth - Japanese style broth, green tea soba noodles, Asian greens, chilli and pickled ginger ($15.50)

This entrée was just what I was hoping for when I read it on the menu. Hot, quite mild in flavour, a nice bite to the soba noodles and softness to the tofu. It was also served in quite an interesting manner, with the waiter bringing out the plate as you can see in the photo, but sans-liquid. The broth was in a glass teapot, which the waiter then poured into the bowl as it sat before me. A nice touch that I was disinclined to halt mid-process in order to capture on film, so you'll just have to imagine it. Go on, make yourself a nice pot of tea and pretend it is broth. Better still, make yourself a nice pot of broth and dress up like a waiter.

The grill tasting plate - Murraylands beef fillet, Onkaparinga Valley venison, Clare Valley rabbit, confit garlic, thyme and pancetta sausages, San Jose bacon, potato croquette and eggplant relish ($32.90)

The only part of this dish I actually sampled was the eggplant relish, which was packed with flavour and had a lovely silky texture to it. By all accounts the rest of the dish was more than enjoyable.

Steamed seasonal vegetables with lemon myrtle olive oil ($9.50)

The vegetables were nice and fresh and still had a little crunch to them, while the lemon myrtle olive oil added just a hint of flavour.

Porcini infused free range chicken breast with sauteed wild mushrooms, hand pounded carrot and parsnip, porcini foam and roast chicken glaze ($28.90)

This dish was really very impressive and something I'd love to eat again. The chicken was so incredibly moist and juicy, and really a reminder that meat cooked on the bone is invariably superior to the the more convenient skinless/boneless variety. The mushrooms had such a beautiful earthy flavour that was carried through the entire dish. I was intrigued by the claim of the carrots being "hand pounded". What does this mean, exactly? Mashed very firmly by hand? Do they really need to be pounded? They seemed like such nice carrots, and pounding sounds a tad excessive. In any case, they didn't seem to hold a grudge and I enjoyed every last bit of them. I enjoyed every last bit of everything in this dish, in fact, and it's a wonder I didn't lick the plate.

Those who know me, and I guess these days also those who read my blog must be well aware by now of my ability to eat vast quantities of food. This ability is rarely hampered by illness, and is also shared by the friend I was in Adelaide with, and so when the offer of dessert was made it didn't take long for us to agree that the menu should certainly be brought over. There were five dishes in the sweet section of the dessert menu, and one is worth mentioning although neither of us decided to try it. It is called "Quintessence - Pure and concentrated essence of chocolate (for two)". $32 nets you chocolate orange brulee, chocolate almond fudge cake, hazelnut and chocolate ice cream roulade, white chocolate fondant with espresso centre, and finally a caramelised banana and dark coverture mousse. Forgoing the death by chocolate, my friend chose the "steamed treacle pudding with warm caramel sauce, caramelised fig and pomegranate ice cream" ($13.50) and I settled on the "brandied apple crepes with spiced carrot syrup, vanilla bean anglaise and cinnamon ice cream" ($13.50).

Steamed treacle pudding with warm caramel sauce, caramelised fig and pomegranate ice cream ($13.50)

An attractive, and apparently delicious dessert. The sauce was in the little jug in the background which reminded me of the little jugs they like to use in Masterchef. I would like to get some little jugs. They are cute. I have however exhausted my kitchen purchasing budget for a little while, and thus will not allow myself to buy little jugs that may or may not get used.

Brandied apple crepes with spiced carrot syrup, vanilla bean anglaise and cinnamon ice cream ($13.50)

A funny dish, no? I can't quite put my finger on what this structure reminds me of... perhaps you can help me out? This was quite an interesting dish to eat in terms of flavour as well as structure. The spiced carrot syrup was spiced almost to the point of being too overpowering, but was so thin that it didn't have the ability to really get onto your spoon in sufficient quantity to take over. The crepes were nice and thin, and the cinnamon ice cream paired very nicely with their lovely soft apple parcels waiting inside. The umm, tall curvy hard crepe pieces (legs?) had a nice sharp crunch to them and the spun sugar was a nice treat but I didn't finish it as it was just too sticky in my teeth!

A great meal to end our time in Adelaide. Oh, and the service was really good too! Very professional and attentive. Strangely, after talking to our waiter we discovered he had only just started working in the restaurant earlier that week. I say strangely because our overly eager would-be oyster-thieving waiter from earlier in the evening had only just started working in the lounge recently, and our waiter from a previous night who served us coffees in the lounge had also just started there. Coincidence? Perhaps, though it does get the imagination working a little. Not enough to dress up like a waiter with a pot of broth though.

The Playford Restaurant
Sebel Playford Adelaide
120 North Terrace, Adelaide
Phone: 08 8213 8844
Website: http://www.mirvachotels.com/sebel-playford-adelaide/playford-restaurant.html
Hours: Breakfast Monday to Friday 6:30am-10:30am; Breakfast Saturday and Sunday 6:30am-9:00am or 9:30am-11:00am; Dinner nightly 6:00pm-10:00pm

Market mega-breakfast and a little pub grub

Last Friday was a day of dizzying highs and horrendous lows. Well, the lows were actually dizzying as well, but I'll get to those later. First, we eat!

After a second night of terrible sleep, despite the numerous pillows ordered from the hotel's pillow menu, I dragged myself to check out the hotel's gym facilities and was pleasantly surprised to discover it was actually reasonably equipped. An hour of weight training and a quick shower later, and I was more than ready to get stuck into breakfast. I was also quite excited as today was the day we had decided to hit Adelaide Central Market and I was looking forward to repeating the gorge-fest that was the breakfast my sister and I enjoyed at the Prahran Market in Melbourne earlier this year.

When we arrived at the market, we would have loved to have done a complete bog lap of the stalls to really choose our breakfast items wisely, but by this stage our energy levels were flagging quite a lot and we just started buying up whatever took our fancy.

First stop, one of the fish sellers for some smoked fish. We got a nice big slab of smoked tuna ($24.90/kilo) and some smoked Atlantic salmon pieces ($24.90/kilo).

Assorted smoked fish just asking to be eaten

Cheese was an absolute must, so we stopped by one of the many cheese sellers and asked for some nice local brie and chevre. We ended up with some Limestone Coast Lady Musgrave Brie and a Woodside Chevre log. Some quince paste also grabbed our eye while we were paying, so we got some of that too.

The sad tale of a compulsory cheese-sniffer and her long-suffering children

Onto the meat section, where some salami and ham joined our band of merry foods, soon followed by a container of marinated artichokes and some figs. Finally, some bakery goodies joined the party in the form of two fruit and walnut sourdough rolls and a couple of wholemeal dinner rolls. Unable to carry anything else we thought we'd better stop spending money and find somewhere to sit ourselves down and start eating, preferably with a nice hot coffee to sip.

We soon found a table and I got busy unpacking while my friend made himself useful procuring coffees, plates and knives. I started to realise just how much food we'd bought when I started noticing people staring at our table as they walked pass. Jealousy is a terrible trait.

Getting all our goodies set out for our breakfast, whilst waiting for our coffees

Of course we ate and ate until we could eat no more, but here are a couple of shots of our starting plates.

Starter Plate 1 - Smoked tuna, artichokes, ham, spiced figs, chevre and smoked salmon

Starter Plate 2 - Quince paste, brie, smoked salmon, chunk of wholemeal bread roll and smoked tuna

Everything tasted as good as it looked. It was also a good reminder of how much I like quince paste, and made me wonder, not for the first time, if it is worth making up a batch myself. I'm sure I'll forget all about this endeavour until the next time I eat quince paste somewhere.

Now to the dizzying lows. Towards the end of my breakfast I developed a sudden, terrible headache and starting feeling a bit 'off' in a number of other ways but I'll spare you the details apart from saying my eyes went really red. So not only was a feeling very poorly but I was looking super dodgy as well. Brilliant. After finding some ibuprofen for the headache, drinking some water and washing my face I felt a little better (though looking at myself in the bathroom mirror did nothing for my recovery) but ended up having to get back to the hotel and have a rest before I started feeling a bit more normal. Methinks this was the beginnings of what turned into the dreaded influenza, though I didn't realise this until the next day when many more symptoms made themselves painfully known.

Thinking I just had a strange reaction to something I ate, and possibly was suffering also from the effects of having slept badly for the past two nights, once I was feeling a bit better in the afternoon we went for a stroll up Rundle Mall. It was depressingly similar to the Hay St or Murray St Mall in Perth, though admittedly we didn't do a lot of snooping down alleys and up side streets. Perhaps we should have done some alley snooping, we might have been able to get a good deal on some knockoff verjuice, hehe. We did however come across a vintage clothing store that was having a significant closing down sale, and I scored a really nice summer dress and a long woollen jacket for around 80% off. Woo! Bring on summer!

By this stage in the afternoon we were getting a bit thirsty and peckish, having finally digested our impressive breakfasts, so we ducked into The Austral Hotel for some refreshments. I figured that people who mysteriously develop red eyes should not get stuck into the booze for a while, so I had a lime and soda while my friend got stuck into the SA spirit and had a Coopers green. We also ordered some fried whitebait and fried prawns (funnily, I ordered the prawns, after having trouble deciding between the prawns and the whitebait, while my friend ordered the whitebait, after having trouble deciding between the whitebait and the prawns. Perfect, we could happily share!).

Fried Whitebait, Grilled Lemon & Mayonnaise ($11)

Pint of Fried Prawns, Curry Dipping Sauce ($12)

I really liked the idea of having the fried lemon to squeeze over the seafood. I might have to steal this idea. The whitebait were a little sandy but delicious, and the prawns were lovely and crunchy and tasty. The curry dipping sauce was actually really nice as well, and I was surprised by how well it went with both the prawns and the whitebait. It wasn't too overpowering at all.

I must have been feeling better that night judging by the size of my dinner. Post to follow...

Buffet snobbery begone!

I think sadly that it's far to say that food cooked for large groups of people tends to fall short of the quality we like to see in meals when dining out. I'm sure we've all been at a wedding or ball where the food cost a bomb and tasted like one too. I for one have scored a worm in my salad at my high school graduation dinner, a beach worth of sand in my lettuce at a friend's wedding, was at a conference earlier this year that ran out of vegetables and salads half way through service and refused to supply any more, and had a number of incredibly disappointing vegetarian dishes that basically consisted of the normal meat dish but with the meat part taken off the plate.

Such group feeding is often in the form of a buffet, which can either go very well or very badly. Very badly may involve having the person in front of you take the last piece of chicken, not being able to actually identify any of the other food, and then getting lightheaded over a combination of hunger and overpowering bain marie fumes. Very well would generally involve a wide variety of interesting and delicious dishes on offer (cold and hot), attentive staff who continually top up stocks as they get low, and of course an opportunity to go back for seconds and possibly thirds!

To my delight I experienced two very well run buffets while in Adelaide. The first was not exactly a huge surprise, being the breakfast buffet at our hotel, the Sebel Playford. It really was one of the best hotel breakfast buffets I've ever seen, and I wish I'd been more awake and up for more photography to show it off a little better.

The continental side of things was really well taken care of, with an amazing selection of organic fruits - sliced bananas with honey and nuts; berry compotes; sliced peaches, pears, kiwis and pineapples; beautiful fresh cherries; berry parfait; and a couple of different types of fruit salad - a good range of cereals (with many different milks and yoghurts), bircher muesli, porridge with honey and cinnamon, great breads and conserves, very nice fresh danishes and pastries and a nice choice of cold meats and antipasti. There was also a PANCAKE MACHINE. You got to press the button and it made you pancakes!! A button! And pancakes!

The hot selection was quite nice too, with eggs to order, scrambled eggs with feta, lamb chops, gourmet sausages, bacon, house baked beans, herbed tomatoes, baked mushrooms and I'm sure some other things I can't remember. Actually, writing these down doesn't really make it sound that amazing. Wow, eggs? And bacon? My god, how incredible! All the dishes were done really well though, even though the hot selection wasn't quite so impressive as the continental choices.

We did the buffet breakfast for two of the mornings we were there. The first time was due to us having little time prior to getting over to the conference, and thus just choosing to eat at the hotel, and the second time was because we enjoyed the first breakfast so much (and needed to eat at 6:30am in order to catch our plane). I only captured a few of our multiple plates during these breakfasts..

Breakfast Round 1 - bircher muesli, berries, apricot, peach, cinnamon & honey porridge, juicy cherry and natural yoghurt

Breakfast Round 2 - olives, pickles, caper berries, tangy tomato relish, baby capsicum and smoked salmon

Breakfast Round 3 - poached egg, toasted grainy bread, freshly made baked beans, herbed tomatoes and mushrooms topped with chopped capsicum

The day of the conference seemed to be a special day, as my bulk-feeding prejudices were questioned multiple times. A standout dish during the breaks were the snacks served at afternoon tea. They were little individual servings of yoghurt, with a dollop of fruit/fruit coulis (blueberry, passionfruit or citrus) sitting at the bottom of the glass. It certainly made a nice break from the usual conference snack fare of pastries/danishes/muffins/biscuits!

What really blew us away though was the conference dinner that night. For starters, the room was decorated quite cutely with large silk inflated things hanging from the ceiling - they seemed to be going for a marine theme but it was a little difficult to identify what the big things were exactly meant to be. Secondly, the people were great and we had a lot of fun at our table. Thirdly, the food was fantastic! A really nice entree (Tandoori chicken breast with sweet mango chutney and onion salad) that was brought to the table (sorry, no photo! I blame the champagne!) and a perfect example of how good buffet dining can be for the mains and dessert. And fourthly, the alcohol was quite nice and very free flowing.

The cold buffet menu was as follows:

• Poached seafood salad with capsicum emulsion
• Roasted beef fillet slices with whole grain mustard dressing
• Assorted poultry platter - includes chicken char sui, Aldinga turkey and five spiced duck
• Black Forest ham with pineapple and chilli relish
• Antipasto of pickled vegetables

the salads were:

• Mesclun, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, Spanish onion with French dressing
• Roasted baby potato salad with light curry flavour
• Baby spinach, sweet potato and eggs with mustard dressing
• Crispy noodle salad with Chinese cabbage and roasted pine nuts

the hot buffet:

• Slow roasted sirloin of beef with Yorkshire pudding
• Poached market fish with lime, minted butter and wilted greens
  

There was also a great selection of desserts (not just some stock standard cheesecake!) that of course I can't remember now, but wished I had an extra stomach to try all of at the time (well, apart from my usual extra dessert stomach).

Mains Round 2 - poached seafood salad with capsicum emulsion, poached market fish with lime and minted butter, crispy noodle salad with Chinese cabbage and roasted pine nuts, chicken char sui and assorted grilled vegetables

Dessert Round 1 (and only) - fresh fruits, cream-filled chocolate cup with toasted pistachios and an apricot pudding with creme anglaise

Now I'm wondering why I thought writing this post at dessert o'clock was a good idea... I could really go an apricot pudding right now. It's a good thing I saved a couple of the Ferrero Rochers that were placed on my pillow each morning in the hotel (not while my head was still there).

The Chef and our Bellies

There aren't a huge number of really great cooking shows available to those of us Aussies restricted to free-to-air TV. One that I do like to watch, on the rare occasions I am home when it is on, is The Cook and the Chef on ABC. Sure, the voices of Maggie Beer (the cook) and Simon Bryant (the chef) may be a little irritating at first and heaven help you if you happen to not be a fan of verjuice, but they have an interesting dynamic, their enthusiasm for using local produce is contagious and they produce some great dishes.

Simon Bryant is also the Executive Chef at the Hilton in Adelaide, and after one look at his menu at The Brasserie restaurant I knew I had to have a meal there during my stay in Adelaide. The website and menu use the phrase "Seriously South Australian" and this really sums up their approach. The origins of major components of each dish are described, and The Brasserie seemed like the perfect place to explore many aspects of the local produce of South Australia at the one location.

After getting all excited over the menu, and checking with my fellow Adelaide visitor that he'd be happy to have a meal there, I contacted The Brasserie through their online form to organise booking a table for Wednesday night. I received quite a prompt reply saying "we regret to inform you that we are unable to accommodate your booking on this occasion due to high occupancy levels and the restaurant at full capacity". Not taking no for an answer, I then decided to ring to see if there were any time at all during our stay in Adelaide that a table could be available for us. After checking with the restaurant manager, the very friendly man who answered my call informed me that they could in fact give us a table on Wednesday night at the time I requested, despite the fact that the hotel was quite full and they like to reserve a certain number of tables specifically for guests of the hotel (which we were not). Success!

So on Wednesday night we followed the "smart-casual" dress code and wandered down to the Hilton, arriving a little early to allow us time to enjoy a cocktail in the lounge bar. Service here was a little too casual for my liking. It took over 10 minutes for our drinks to be made, and after this time one of them was brought over with the muttered claim "the other is coming", which proved to be true a few more minutes later. We chose similar cocktails, mine being the Champagne Smash ("fresh mint and pineapple lend this champagne cocktail a zesty and fresh finish. It's given a bit of punch with gin and Cointreau") whilst the other was the Kandaha Marmalade ("A base of gin, cointreau, lemon and lime makes a refreshing start for this short drink however it's the marmalade that really gives it a taste of its own").

Hilton Lounge - Kandaha Marmalade and Champagne Smash cocktails ($17 each)

The cocktails were very fresh and zesty, and I was glad not to have any spillage from my martini glass. I find martini glasses give lovely presentation to a cocktail, dessert or even a starter dish, but god they're impractical to drink out of. You find yourself drinking the first half far too quickly so that you can walk around safely with it, and next thing you know you've polished off 5 cosmopolitans and wondering why you feel a little pissy. I guess this particular cocktail avoided this issue by having a reasonable layer of top foam giving you some spillage buffering room.

Given how long our cocktails took to come out, we took them into the restaurant with us as we were concerned about arriving late to our table given the difficulty in securing the reservation. We needn't have worried, as the restaurant was barely a third full. In fact, during our time in there is barely reached half-capacity, so I guess they take the notion of reserving tables for potential hungry hotel guests a little too seriously.

We were disappointed to discover that The Brasserie, like The Grange (the other main Hilton restaurant, run by Chef Cheong Liew) is currently undergoing renovation work and thus the restaurant is currently in a temporary location (unlike The Grange, which is simply closed until 5 August). We were therefore unable to enjoy the "open kitchen and lively atmosphere" of the restaurant as promised on the website, and instead were sat in a restaurant that had more of an upmarket cafeteria style vibe to it.

Although I had already had a scan through the menu on their website, we both took a nice long while to consider our options before choosing our dishes. We eventually decided to share half a dozen oysters to start with ("Seafood Logistics Eyre & Yorke Peninsula pacific oysters with shallot vinegar and lemon wedge" $16) and then I chose the trout for my entrée ("Mt Barker Springs house cured lemon myrtle ocean trout, avocado mousse and Australian Caper berry" $18) and roo for my main ("Pepper berry & bush tomato rubbed Macro Meats roo saddle, bush banana salad, quandong & desert lime glaze, crispy saltbush" $30). I was interested and pleased to read that the bush tucker of my main dish was supplied by Outback Pride, which seems like a fantastic venture involving indigenous Australians and one that I am very happy to support.

My friend wanted to try the soufflé entrée ("Udder Delights twice baked Heyson blue cheese soufflé, Foster’s baby herbs, Harding’s almond paste, sour cherries" $16) but after being told that it was not available due to supplier issues he opted for the rabbit ("Bushmin braised rabbit, Haighs bittersweet chocolate & Nino proscuitto, soft white polenta" $17) and for his main dish chose the duck ("M.M Waechter confit duck leg & seared rare breast, Ingy’s orange, soubise, buttered quince" $31).

After taking these orders, our waiter asked if we would also like to order some salad or vegetables to go with our main dishes, as they did not come with anything other than what is described in the menu. Given the amount of food we had just ordered, we hesitated for a minute to order anything else, only to be interrupted from our thinking by the gentleman sitting at the table next to us. He very strongly recommended that we order salad or vegetables to accompany our mains, as he and his wife were very disappointed to see that their main meals came out with nothing. He actually said something like "We read the menu, and they told us when we ordered, but we didn't realise they wouldn't come with anything else at all". Now, I agree that it is not ideal to have to order additional dishes if you want to have vegetables or salad with your main dish, but it's not entirely uncommon and you can't really kick up a stink if this is made very clear to you when ordering. We decided to get some salad ("Dressed leaves, tomato, red onion & cucumber tossed with Coriole Barbera verjuice or Beerenberg grain mustard & Diana olive oil" $7), choosing the mustard dressing over the verjuice (sorry Maggie).

After our (friendly and somewhat sarcastic) waiter left, the vegetable deprived man and his wife had another go at the lack of sides and although we would have liked to say "Perhaps your wife would not still be hungry if she actually ate the beautiful duck breast she was served instead of screwing her nose up at it for not being 'her idea of well done' and perhaps you should have realised your waiter wasn't simply making conversation when he suggested you order vegetables or salad to accompany your main as it was not going to come with anything apart from the fish and chips written on the menu" but we simply politely smiled and nodded and had another sip of wine.

Olives, Lucilla EVOO and Murray River pink salt to go with our crusty bread (comp)

Complimentary bread, olives, olive oil and salt were brought to our table, and we were soon exclaiming over the aromatic Lucilla oil and the beautiful Murray River pink salt flakes. I'm not a huge fan of added salt, apart from seasoning dishes that really need it, and will very rarely add salt to a dish before eating it. I have to say though that this salt was surprisingly tasty and I found myself going back for quite a few dunks in the olive followed by a little dunk in the salt with my bread. My friend was also very pleased to see a restaurant proudly using Australian salt instead of fleur de sel.

Seafood Logistics Eyre & Yorke Peninsula pacific oysters with shallot vinegar and lemon wedge ($16)

A little time later our oysters arrived, and they certainly tasted like they were "shucked by our chefs" as claimed on the menu. Beautifully fresh, you could taste the Southern Ocean in them and they went down a treat with a little squeeze of the lemon and a splash of the shallot vinegar. My only complaint is that they were so nice and meaty that they were a little difficult to eat with elegance. I'm certainly not one to let elegance get in the way of enjoying food but perhaps these giant beauties aren't the best choice for those out there with small mouths or on first dates.

Bushmin braised rabbit, Haighs bittersweet chocolate & Nino proscuitto on a soft white polenta bed ($17)

After allowing us sufficient time to enjoy the oysters our entrees then arrived, and we both couldn't help but remark on the presentation and very generous size of the rabbit dish. It really could be served as a main ("make sure you order salad with it!" I can hear vegetable-deprived man crying). The rabbit had been braised until it had achieved a melt-in-the-mouth tenderness, but had more bite to it than the soft white polenta which in turn had more texture than the slightly sticky, creamy chocolate. The crunch of the fried sage leaves and proscuitto atop the dish contrasted well with this gradation in soft textures. I found the combination of flavours so interesting and unique, as I have little experience eating rabbit and savoury dishes with chocolate, and no experience eating white polenta. I did however find it as rich as it looks, and am not sure I could have finished such a large serving despite the enjoyment of the small amount I tried. I find the use of chocolate in savoury dishes really interesting, and something I'd like to explore in my own kitchen. I can't help but think that real chocoholics would be disappointed with it, as it is a surprise just how nicely it works in a savoury setting and doesn't have that real classic chocolate taste to it.

Mt Barker Springs house cured lemon myrtle ocean trout, avocado mousse and Australian Caper berry ($18)

My trout was fantastic, with a subtle smokiness and lovely soft texture. The avocado mousse, caper berry and finely diced Spanish onion were the perfect accompaniment and allowed the flavour of the trout to remain dominant. I was particularly taken with the little garnish that you can't really see very well in this photo - a tiny sliver of trout skin, curled like a little piggy's tail and fried until super crisp.

M.M Waechter confit duck leg and seared rare breast, Ingy’s orange, soubise, buttered quince ($31)

Again we were given a decent amount of digesting time before our next dishes were brought out. I can't comment a great deal on the duck dish given that I did not taste it and can't recall specific adjectives that were used to describe it apart from it being "fabulous". Let's just leave it at that, then.

Pepper berry & bush tomato rubbed Macro Meats roo saddle, bush banana salad, quandong & desert lime glaze, crispy saltbush ($30)

Wow, this was an impressively sized, deliciously flavoured and really interesting bush tucker dish! Such a generous amount of succulently cooked roo saddle, and whilst the meat was not overly rich, the richness that was apparent was cut nicely with the really tangy sauce. The crispy saltbush was great - our answer to the fried sage leaf - and is something I would like to do at home. In fact, this dish has really inspired me to seriously investigate the use of bush tucker in my home cooking and I'm determined to do so once I'm healthy and allowed back into the wider community (still holed up at home with flu).

I forgot to photograph the salad but it was nice and fresh, although a little difficult to serve and eat with very large salad leaves. We were happy that we chose the mustard dressing over Maggie's verjuice, it had a great bite.

After another nice digestion period we were asked if we wanted to peruse the dessert options, and although quite frankly we had eaten more than our fair share of dinner we couldn't help but at least have a look at the menu (knowing full well that this would almost guarantee we would order something). In addition to a number of dessert options ranging from $14-$17 there are also two "bite size" desserts - a $10 affogato ("White Russian affogato, Tierra fair trade coffee") and $5 panna cotta ("Beach Organics palm sugar panna cotta"). Whilst my friend chose the panna cotta, I was a little greedier and ordered from the non-bite size section, choosing the cake ("Willabrand Fig & walnut Greek syrup cake, KIS fennel liqueur, lemon mascarpone sherbet $16").

Beach Organics Palm sugar panna cotta ($5)

The panna cotta was indeed bite size, cute and creamy.

Willabrand fig & walnut Greek syrup cake, KIS fennel liqueur, lemon mascarpone sherbet ($16)

The cake was indeed not bite size, which turned out to be for the best as it was delicious. The cake itself was not overly sweet so the parts of it that were really syrupy reached an enjoyable sweetness level, particularly as it was offset by the light aniseed flavours of the fennel liqueur (coming from something who isn't an anise-lover). A lovely, if not entirely necessary, end to a wonderful meal.

So, I think it's pretty clear that we really enjoyed this entire meal. Improvements could certainly be made by having more attentive service (water glasses left low a little too long, a request for something having to be made twice) and obviously the experience is likely to be far superior in the renovated restaurant but with food this interesting and well executed you are willing to overlook certain things. Our visit to The Brasserie wasn't exactly a cheap night out, but this is due more to our gluttony and not so much to a particularly expensive menu. The most expensive main is the Coorong Black Angus T-bone for $36 which gives you an idea of the price range of the dishes.

I can really recommend The Brasserie for a great introduction to South Australian cuisine but don't get your hopes up about discussing the merits of seasonal, regional cooking with The Chef over a glass of muscat.

The Brasserie
Adelaide Hilton, 233 Victoria Square, Adelaide City
Phone: (08) 8237 0697
Website: http://www.thebrasserie.com.au/home
Hours: Breakfast 7 days from 6:30am
Buffet lunch Monday - Friday from 12:00 noon
Dinner 7 nights from 6:00pm

Radelaide, where the trains are taxis

Adelaide is not all churches and German sausages and dodgy water, hooray! It is also amazing cheeses and meats and fruits and vegies (and of course wines and Coopers beer), as I discovered to my delight over the past couple of days.

(Well, as I type this I'm laid up feeling incredibly sorry for myself with the flu. Possibly swine flu!!! I had to wear a mask and everything! As I'm not pregnant or asthmatic etc. they didn't push me to have the test at the doctor's, and I just could not face Royal Perth Hospital in the state I'm in, so my particular brand of flu shall remain simply 'ugh'. Perhaps the Adelaide water tastes dodgy as the dams are filled with pigs swimming around!)

Our first meal in Adelaide was chosen due to emptiness of stomach and closeness of location to hotel. It was at "Izakaya Sushi Taxi" on Hindley Street (sorry I don't have more details about this place but I didn't note the address/hours and Google is giving me nothing). I'm not sure why it was called a taxi instead of a train, but I guess our meals had more of a taxi-style delivery as we decided to forgo the sushi train and order off the menu. We both started with some miso soup, and then I chose the "teriyaki chicken mix fry set" bento ($12.90) while my fellow Adelaide visitor went for the "unagi tori karaage set" bento (also $12.90) which I was also eyeing off on the menu.

Teriyaki chicken mix fry set bento ($12.90)

Unagi tori karaage set bento ($12.90)

Both bentos came out with a creamy "crab" salad topped with roe, some garden salad with a big dollop of mayonnaise, a pickled vegetable salad and a little compartment filled with a creamy wasabi dressing.

Overall, the dishes hit the spot and satisfied our hungry bellies but there are a number of things I would have changed if I'd had the chance. For starters, whilst I love eating crab, I'm not so fond of "crab" but I still ate the parts of the "crab" salad covered in roe as I didn't want those tasty eggs to go to waste! At least, I think they were fish eggs and not "fish" eggs, or fish "eggs". Hmm.
The garden salad was nice and refreshing once I had scraped off the huge squirt of mayo - hooray for paper serviettes! Finally, the picked vegetable salad was really nice and tangy, as was the wasabi dipping sauce.

Reports of the unagi and karaage were favourable, and backed up by a reasonably clean dish at the end of the meal! My teriyaki chicken was really nice, with julienned vegetables mixed through the thick flavourful sauce. The three octopus balls included in the "mix fry" part of my bento were a nice fried tasty treat, and were great with the creamy wasabi. The other part of the "mix fry" wasn't quite so nice, consisting of a fried vegetable patty - the pureed potato, diced carrot and peas type of patty that you might find in a vegetarian burger at a roadhouse. Not terribly enticing but I liked the wasabi sauce so much that I ate some of the patty just so I could enjoy some more of the sauce.

So these bentos weren't perfect and I'm not so sure I would choose mine again but they provided a decent feed for $12.90 each and kept us satisfied until our date that night with "The Chef"...