Good Gilbert | SA Weekend restaurant review

With an astonishing drinks list and expanded kitchen, this suburban gem would be a terrific addition to any neighbourhood.

Good Gilbert wine bar, Goodwood

Forget dessert. Let’s talk about the cheese plate for a change. Normally, it’s hard to justify writing about the brie or the camembert, no matter the ripeness of its ooze or the care in its presentation. In the end, like natural oysters, the kitchen’s role is minimal.

That’s not the case at Good Gilbert, a neighbourhood bar that exceeds expectations on almost every level, showing what can be achieved with a modest budget and limited space. Here the cheeses – a young but pleasant cheddar and a smashing blue similar in style to a Stilton – are made in-house by resident chef Savannah Sexton.

And as well as being the best way to finish a meal with the remnants of whatever bottle has been chosen from an astonishing list of wines, the cheese is symbolic of the blend of hospitality smarts and positive, can-do attitude that make Good Gilbert so appealing.

Just ask the local community, who I strongly suspect make up a good proportion of a midweek gathering that spills out to the sunny tables on the pavement, with a smattering of toddlers and teenagers seated alongside their parents. Much of the credit for all this goes to Good Gilbert’s owner, Wilson Shawyer, whose engaging enthusiasm is reflected in the bar he’s created.

Originally a Sydneysider, he travelled to London for a senior role in one of the UK’s big hospitality groups, met his German wife and, on returning to Australia in 2019, decided Adelaide was the place to be.

The dining room and kitchen at Good Gilbert wine bar, Goodwood.

The dining room feels homely, featuring mint green walls adorned with beverage-themed prints, soft lighting and banquettes cleverly designed to double as storage.

He worked at city lair Hellbound, scoping the lay of the land, before being approached about taking over a small shopfront on the corner of Goodwood Rd, opposite the Capri Cinema.

When Good Gilbert opened at the end of 2020, its focus was squarely on the drinks but the demand for more substantial meals (and more tables) has led to an expansion into the space at the rear that has been turned into a dining room and proper kitchen.

The adjoining rooms share the same homespun, loosely Euro look of mint green walls adorned with beverage-themed prints, soft lighting and banquettes cleverly designed to double as storage.

Sexton joined the team a year ago. The frequently updated menu has plenty of wine-friendly flavours but also some unexpected quirks – an adventurous streak that comes unstuck occasionally.

A high-quality Olasagasti anchovy curled around a blob of sauce vierge on a bite-sized hash brown is definitely safe ground. And stripping the leaves from a steamed globe artichoke to reveal its tender heart is one of the great pleasures of the season (though the coffee butter promised with it doesn’t materialise).

Corn chawanmushi at Good Gilbert wine bar, Goodwood.

Assorted plates at Good Gilbert wine bar, Goodwood.

A “corn chawanmushi” is nothing like the delicate, silky Japanese custard that the name promises, instead turning out to be a gloopy yellow puree, with the sweetness of corn but also something weird in the background. This is strewn with crunchy clusters of corn bits and slabs of pickled morel mushroom that don’t seem to belong.

Larger plates are more consistent. A beautifully cooked fillet of Murray cod, its flesh barely taken beyond translucent, sits in a dark pool of reduction sauce sharpened by the addition of finely chopped turnip top kimchi.

Best of all is the lamb, an extra-thick loin chop with the meat already carved from the bone, revealing inner flesh that is still the colour of Turkish delight. While lamb this rare might not appeal to all, it is wonderfully tender and true flavoured, especially when wiped through a pumpkin puree and puddle of reduction sauce.

That just leaves the cheeses, served simply with crackers and a few pint-sized glace figs that go particularly well with the blue.

Good Gilbert is a bar that caters equally to the aficionado or the family gathering. It has the lovely knack of being highly professional and incredibly warm all at once. Any neighbourhood would welcome it.