Dolly | SA Weekend restaurant review

The team behind one of Adelaide’s best suburban wine bars has opened a new venue on the other side of town – and it brings new life to a dish often done badly.

The interior of the eatery and bar at Dolly, Unley. Picture: Supplied

It could have been hearing the hypnotic repetition of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love. Or the manager reprising a few of her best dance moves to Jamiroquai behind the bar. Either way, when it came to picking from the menu at newcomer Dolly, one option stands out like a pair of skin-tight sequined pants.

The name ‘Disco Bites’ might sound like one of those trashy compilation albums from the ’70s but here refers to a kitchen-driven sequence of snacks and larger courses. We ask to include a fish dish that sounds a winner. The answer: too easy.

That’s the way things roll at this welcoming bar and eatery on Unley Rd where strangers are addressed as “friends” as soon as they walk in.

Dolly has been brought to life by the team behind eastern suburbs hotspot Bar Lune, where the drinks-with-food concept is done as well as anywhere in this town. But Dolly isn’t a clone, even if the name might suggest otherwise.

For a start, there is the real estate. Where Lune took over an old shopfront, and instantly felt worn in, Dolly is at the base of an apartment/retail development, across from the Cremorne Hotel.

Dolly bird fried chicken and hot sauce at Dolly, Unley. Picture: Supplied

The space has a couple of challenges, particularly the pair of pillars at either end. One impacts the entrance, a strange construction of white panels that make it difficult for staff to spot when they have a new customer. The other is at the far end of a massive double-sided concrete bar, with stools down either flank providing much of the seating, and cocktails shaken, wine poured and service conducted from the hollow in the middle.

Recently appointed executive chef Adam Bowden (ex Ritz, London, and Mount Lofty Ranges Vineyard) oversees the food at both venues, with Dolly head chef Scott Schwartz also involved in developing its menu.

Drinks, however, seem to be the priority for many of the punters sitting around us at the bar and, taking a straw poll of those who do opt to eat, the fried chicken (or Dolly Bird, as it’s called) is easily the bestseller.

Instead, we start with planks of golden fried brioche piled with a dollop or two of blue swimmer crab bound in a remoulade-style sauce and a sprinkle of grated bottarga (cured fish roe). All of this is topped by a small but feisty addition of sweet chilli relish, a bully in the schoolyard that is the dominant flavour.

Crab soldiers, chilli crisp at Dolly, Unley Picture: Supplied

Jamon, melon, cucumber at Dolly, Unley. Picture: Supplied

Fish roe features again in the taramasalata, a luscious Greek dip. Here the creamy, pale pink concoction is piped out like a doughnut, with a herb oil filling the hole and a variety of pickled veg (carrots, cucumbers, enoki mushrooms) arranged around the outside. More conservative dippers might prefer using chunks torn from a big wedge of crisp-based focaccia.

Rockmelon is one of very few foods I dislike and I’ve never understood why the Italians would waste good prosciutto by wrapping it around a slice of sickly fragrant fruit. The Dolly version, however, shows how it should be done, using melon that isn’t too ripe and shaving it into slices that mirror the weight of the meat, a Spanish jamon. Add cucumber, basil, sumac and, surprisingly, an Asian sesame and soy dressing, and this inspired combo is the best salady thing I’ve had in the warmer months.

The fish is a fillet of mulloway poached in a court-bouillon-style broth and crowned by a wilted mix of sea greens including warrigal, fine-leaved agretti and the succulent karkalla. All this sits in the middle of an Olympic-sized pool of beurre blanc spotted with chives.

Dessert and cheese are optional extras, with a plate including brie, honeycomb and a deeply caramelised, single fig tarte-tatin neatly covering both bases.

No, this Dolly isn’t a clone and, when push comes to shove, I prefer the stronger food focus and bohemian vibe of Lune to the newcomer’s shine. Then again, I like Dylan more than disco. It’s a matter of taste.