Cassoulet the draw at The Stanley Bridge Tavern

A classic French signature dish is just one of the attractions at a revamped pub in the Adelaide Hills, writes Simon Wilkinson.

The beer garden at the Stanley Bridge Tavern

Cassoulet is a mighty dish from the south of France where the blokes are built like bulldozers and spend their days tossing around cattle or scrummaging against other giants on a rugby field.

A combination of duck, pork, sausage and beans, topped with garlicky breadcrumbs, it is the antithesis of the tiny, tortured plates of nouvelle cuisine with which the French are sometimes associated.

As you might imagine, tackling a cassoulet is not recommended for those who are faint of heart or questionable in appetite, so even after our vigorous ramble in the hills, ordering one requires deliberation.

The setting for this lunch is not some rustic Gallic auberge but rather the picturesque outdoor space behind a pub that couldn’t be much more Australian.

The Stanley Bridge Tavern, after all, has been quenching thirsts since 1853 when it opened to look after bullock drivers coming from the Mallee on what is now the main road through the Hills town of Verdun. Step into the front bar, with its low doorways and defiantly ungentrified vibe, and those days aren’t so hard to imagine.

Elsewhere, however, there is clear evidence that a change of owner and management three years ago has seen the Stanley join a small but very welcome movement of hotels that are taking great pride in where they are and what they bring to the table.

For us that table is in a beer garden that looks out to gum trees, a creek bed and a lawn where children play, a more appealing option than the dining room inside where the mood is quite sedate.

Before long, it is standing room only, particularly after the arrival of a wine club whose members attempt to guess the identity of a succession of bottles hidden in brown paper bags. That would be quite the challenge here given the breadth of the hotel’s collection that is displayed for sale on the racks inside. More than 20 choices are available by the glass, while the range of pinot noir alone covers two full pages.

Many people, however, will be happy with a pint of Mismatch lager from the caravan outside to go with their burger or a mighty fine looking plate of fish and chips. They are from the “Pub Classics” selections that are given equal billing on the menu with slightly more elaborate (though not much more expensive) fare where the seafood is a strong point.

A starter of hot-smoked kingfish makes a terrific change to the regular play of raw sashimi/ceviche. A fillet has been torn into big, meaty chunks that are scattered across a plate with blobs of avocado puree, slices of radish and little peppercorn-like clusters of sea grapes that add intriguing texture.

Smoked kingfish and avocado at Stanley Bridge Tavern

Salt and pepper squid is also a step up from the norm, featuring the tube and tentacles of local calamari dusted in a coating spiked with a touch of roasted chilli pepper.

A pair of whole garfish (minus guts and scales of course) are striped by the grill and laid across a large plate, with beaks hanging off one side and tails the other. A little fiddling at the start is rewarded by strips of super-sweet meat that peels easily away, leaving the backbone behind. This ode to the Amalfi is completed by a panzanella salad that needs another splash of dressing.

Garfish and panzanella salad at Stanley Bridge Tavern

Heading across the Mediterranean, a vego plate features wedges of roasted pumpkin, a smoked eggplant puree and three crisp-shelled falafel, all lifted by a sprinkle of sumac.

The cassoulet has become the tavern’s signature dish and is available year-round. It is a massive undertaking presented in slightly deconstructed form as duck leg, slab of pork belly, sausage and lima beans in a tomato sauce that has become quite salty as it has been reduced. The crumb is a light sprinkle rather than the traditional heavy layer, which is probably a blessing.

Dessert? Sticky date crème brulee is the love child of two favourite finishers in which the dates are buried beneath custard and a brittle layer of toffee. A salted caramel ice cream adds an extra level of indulgence.

Any pub that attempts to expand its culinary horizons like this has to be careful that it doesn’t scare the locals away and I reckon the Stanley Bridge has the balance about right. The burgers and schnittys look like they are still well done but, if I’d been making wine, tending fields or tossing cattle nearby, I know what I’d be craving.