SA Weekend restaurant review — Eleni’s at Mallee Estate, Renmark

A cellar door restaurant reflects both the heritage of its owners and its regional location, writes Simon Wilkinson. And their must-try dish will have you believing in cod.

Cellar door and restaurant at Eleni's restaurant, Mallee Estate, Renmark

The Murray at full flow is a marvellous thing to behold. Water spills into the network of creeks and lagoons that breach the banks on either side and bring everything to life.

Cruising up river from Renmark, we pass towering cliffs, ancient gum trees, verdant citrus groves and vineyards. Birds are everywhere. The frogs perform orchestral manoeuvres in the dark each evening. It’s a trip all South Australians should do.

This is a region with its own distinct flavour, one you would expect to experience more when eating out around the Riverland, particularly given its extraordinary productivity.

If only more places had dishes like the Murray cod with capers at Eleni’s, a cellar door restaurant that makes a point of seeking out local suppliers.

Roasted Murray cod with lemon and caper butter.

While the fish isn’t caught on the river, it is farmed in river water, filtered so that the muddiness that can taint delicate flesh like this isn’t an issue.

The result is a perfect roasted fillet of crisped skin and white, lushly textured meat, its gentle flavour enhanced by a saute of chopped tomato and celery, as well as a butter sauce containing plenty of locally grown capers.

Seamless partnerships like this have a habit of being sourced from the same region.

As well as reflecting its location, the story of Eleni’s is built around two adventurous young migrants who came to Australia from southern Greece in the 1960s.

Peter and Eleni Markeas established a small holding outside Renmark and planted fruit trees and grapes.

Then, when their two sons joined the business, they bought an adjoining property and began producing their own wine under the Mallee Estate label.

Fifteen years ago they opened a cellar door just off the highway and then, in 2017, a restaurant, serving the homely Greek food they grew up with. Eleni supplied not only the name but also many of the recipes.

For a weekday lunch, tables are set outside, accompanied by the rumble of the passing
B-doubles, and in a tasting room where the straw ceiling, fluted iron panels and rustic timber suggest bush pub as much as Greek taverna.

A selection of dishes from Eleni's restaurant at Mallee Estate, Renmark.

Grilled lamb cutlet, beetroot, rocket and fennel salad.

That changes with the first bite of a warm pita wedge spread with a dollop of roasted eggplant dip containing what seems at least equal quantities of garlic. Make sure everyone at the table eats plenty and there shouldn’t be any complaints.

The bulk of the menu is made up by a selection of meze and mains, including traditional favourites such as spanakopita, moussaka and chargrilled octopus.

Other meats and seafoods arrive on the arm of more fashionable partners.

A blackboard special of lamb, for instance, comes with a splatter of beetroot puree and rocket and fennel salad.

Three fastidiously trimmed cutlets, with clean bone handles attached to a lollipop of meat, are marinated in oregano and garlic, then cooked until they are left with just a hint of pink inside. A glass of the sunny house tempranillo has their measure.

Loukomathes with honey and pistachio.

The loukaniko sausages are based on an old recipe from Peter, with coarsely ground pork, fennel seeds and a hint of Riverland orange.
Smoky and charred from their time on the grill, they come with a buttery mashed potato and the same rocket salad.

Don’t get the snags confused with “loukomathes”, the Greek doughnuts, this version so light you’d swear they’d been inflated.

Drenched in a honey syrup and scattered with sesame seeds and pistachios, four of the fried puffs are topped with a ball of vanilla ice-cream.

At the end of the Eleni’s menu is a list of 18 farmers, orchardists, butchers, bakers, brewers and more from nearby who supply the restaurant.

Like the hardworking family behind Mallee Estate, they deserve plenty of credit.