South Australian foodie adventures: Eight out of town restaurants worth the trip
How far is too far to travel for a top meal? These out of town restaurants combine quality dining, views and unique experiences spanning every corner of the state.
Food & Wine
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What makes an out-of-town restaurant worth the travel? Of course the food must be top-notch – but sometimes the view or experience can also be worth the trip.
Prairie Hotel — Parachilna
When fourth generation pastoralist and cattleman Ross Fargher and wife Jane bought their “local” pub in 1991, they transformed it into a landmark destination which has become a gateway oasis for visitors to the Flinders Ranges.
Sons Lachy and Eddie are also now part of the ever-expanding attractions at both the Prairie Hotel and the family’s Nilpena cattle station. The hotel offers elegant “country chic” accommodation at its adjoining Outback Lodge, and even has SA’s most remote microbrewery and an art gallery. You can also book tours to see the Nilpena Ediacara fossil research site, or a hosted five-day itinerary through the Ikara region. The Prairie Hotel’s regional menu is equally distinctive, featuring such dishes as emu pate, roo tail, saltbush dukkah, wild boar ragu, wattleseed tiramisu, and even “feral” antipasto and mixed grill plates. There’s lunch from noon and all-day grazing until 6pm, when dinner service (reservation only) begins.
Pipers of Penola — Penola
If you’re heading south – way south, toward the Victorian border – make a detour to Penola in the heart of the Coonawarra district, known internationally for its hearty red wines. Great wine requires great food, and Pipers of Penola rises to the challenge.
Head chef and owner Simon Bowen is the son of Bowen Estate winery founders Doug and Joy, and knows a thing or two about matching food and wine. Simon has worked extensively throughout the US and Europe, and together with his American wife Erika brings international influences and flair to a modern Australian menu which highlights locally sourced produce, from seafood to venison, lamb and beef. The intimate restaurant – it seats just 30 – is nestled inconspicuously on a residential street. It’s open for dinner from 6pm Wednesday-Saturday, and also offers Sunday breakfast, which ranges from timeless favourites to a Shepherds Lane brekkie burger.
Kuti Shack – Goolwa
Nestled among the sand dunes at Goolwa Beach, Kuti Shack combines fresh Fleurieu produce with spectacular coastal views. Ngarrindjeri people have been harvesting kuti – also known locally as pipis and cockles – for more than 10,000 years, and this kiosk was established in collaboration with Ngarrindjeri-owned companies Goolwa PipiCo and Kuti Co.
Having trained, worked at and headed up some of the state’s finest restaurants, Brendan Roach and Vanessa Button are now focused on creating exciting new and innovative pipi dishes with other local indigenous ingredients, alongside other seafood, produce, wine and craft beer sourced from the Fleurieu. Imagine the pipis mixed with linguine, or in a spicy laksa, or sample other ocean delights like kingfish sashimi, bluefin tuna croquettes, or tiger prawn satays. Walk through the sandhills surrounding the Kuti Shack and you might even come across piles of kuti shells, or middens, which are reminders of ancient gatherings and those who dined here before you. Dishes can be shared and the kiosk is fully licenced, so you can match local wines to the menu. Open 8am-4pm, Thursday-Sunday.
Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant – Crafers
Address: Mount Lofty House, 1 Mawson Drive, Crafers 5152
To match its panoramic view across Mount Lofty Botanic Garden, with its surrounding hills and valleys, Hardy’s Verandah serves a seasonally changing, set course degustation menu.
The restaurant is part of Mount Lofty House, built as a summer residence by businessman and politician Arthur Hardy, who was also a keen botanist and gardener – meaning its own grounds are also spectacular year-round. Following its Valley to Verandah concept, the menu – which is about to change from winter to spring – starts at $189 and can be paired with a sommelier wine match for $119 or premium wine match for $250.
The Enchanted Fig Tree — Kangaroo Island
Mercifully escaping the bushfires which ravaged so much of the surrounding landscape – and the kitchen fires which have more recently closed some other Kangaroo Island dining spots – The Enchanted Fig Tree is more of a magical experience than a conventional restaurant.
Operated by Gastronomo wilderness dining, it offers lunches and starlit dinners from November through to early April, set beneath the branches of what was once a tiny sapling, planted as a food source by the island’s first white settlers.
Now, 120 years later, the mighty fig tree’s huge, gnarled limbs and shimmering foliage form an enchanting dining location. On arrival, you will be welcomed with a Kangaroo Islands Spirits cocktail and a selection of canapes, then be invited to venture through the leafy entrance into a series of natural “living” rooms. Each space is decked out with stunning table settings fit for a feast of the senses at South Australia’s own “Magical Faraway Tree”. Packages are also available which include WanderPod accommodation on site.
Star of Greece — Port Willunga
Sometimes, venues have been around for so long that you begin to take them for granted. Star of Greece might not always still appear at the top of SA’s fine dining lists, as it did 25 years ago, but there are still few restaurants which can match its combination of cuisine and location.
Even the members of glam rock group KISS and Police frontman Sting have been seen soaking up the sun there (the latter without a shirt). Named for a ship which sank off the coast in 1888, the restaurant serves creative Mediterranean-influenced dishes, in a light, open space overlooking the ocean. Fresh King George whiting and squid are delivered from Kangaroo Island, just across the waves, while its pork, beef, veggies, fruit and dairy are all locally sourced. It also offers a takeaway side, with some outdoor tables, called the Port Willy Kiosk – which is how it all began. Before or after a meal, take a walk down the cliffs and along the beach below, to see what remains of the old timber jetty pylons, the setting for many weddings and photo shoots.
The Silly Goat — Broken Hill
Don’t be sheepish: How far would you go for a good breakfast or brunch? Okay, so it’s just over the NSW border, but the city of Broken Hill is considered an honorary part of SA, and it is twice as close to Adelaide as it is to Sydney.
The Silly Goat has long been regarded as the Silver City’s most stylish cafe, where you can sit back in sleek, airy surroundings and choose from a menu that includes a five-star rated eggs benedict, smashed avocado on toast, burgers and even a fried greens bowl. The smoothies are a meal in themselves, with wild ingredients and matching names such as the Grazing Goat, Jumping Goat, Healthy Goat and Jacked Goat. The specialty single-origin coffee is great and there’s a huge selection of sweet treats like the recently added Polish custard puff cake and delightful caramelised apple slice with vanilla glaze. The cafe is in the heart of town, just across the road from the Broken Hill City Art Gallery. Even Chris Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky have dropped by. If you’re really hungry for some road-trip action, stop in at nearby Silverton on the way, to see where many of the Mad Max films’ most climactic scenes were shot.
Topiary — Tea Tree Gully
As winter gives way to spring, now is the perfect time to visit this restaurant within a nursery, enveloped by the sights and scents of fresh foliage and flowering blooms in the Adelaide foothills.
The 140-year-old building is surrounded by wisteria, and features a pop-up courtyard bar. Executive chef Kane Pollard says the family run business was born from a market gardening background and is built around the ethos of doing things the way they did a century ago. The menu is seasonal, sustainable and highly parochial, dictated by daily local foraging, exploring flavours and scents from its immediate environment. Topiary’s Foragers Tasting Menu will even take you on a journey through the heart of the kitchen, along the foraging path to explore what is truly seasonal and handmade on site – which is pretty much everything, from its breads and butters, to the cheeses used in various dishes. Everything is made from scratch, and not a skerrick of the ingredients goes to waste. Open for breakfast and lunch bookings seven days, with custom dinner or large group events by arrangement.
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