Longplay Bistro, Pirie St Adelaide CBD | SA Weekend restaurant review

Would you eat ox tongue? Our food reviewer has called it early and says a new CBD eatery’s ox tongue dish can be marked down now as one of the year’s best.

Longplay Bistro is a very welcome addition to the city’s dining scene, Simon Wilkinson says.

Some restaurants feel like they are put together using an algorithm, which isn’t far from the truth. The food, the decor, the music – all of it based on a proven formula.

Longplay Bistro comes from the other camp. Every element in this city diner and bar is a reflection of its people and the things that they treasure.

The DIY fitout, the vinyl records, the predilection for riesling, the playful menu, even the white Russian ice-cream. It’s one of a kind. A bit left-of-centre.

Not surprisingly, the owners, Dana Whyte, Marshall King and Henry Holland, have some experience with this kind of risk-taking.

They run the bars Clever Little Tailor and Pink Moon Saloon, both of them groundbreakers in their own way.

The interior at Longplay Bistro, most of which was crafted by the owners themselves.

Longplay, however, is their first venue to concentrate on wine and make the food at least an equal partner to the drinks.

It has taken shape in a large corner site in Pirie St that was once the home of Italian stalwart Marco Polo and more recently an organic grocer.

Other than power, plumbing and the 13m bar, Whyte and his mates have done all the work themselves, grinding concrete, rendering walls and even recruiting a family member to sew the ceiling-to-floor drapes that break up what would otherwise be an unwieldy open space.

All that tangerine fabric, those retro table lamps and the textured plaster might take you back to a long-forgotten house party, even before you see the turntable.

The term Longplay, of course, refers to the unabridged artistic expression of a vinyl album, a joy now being rediscovered by at least some of the Spotify generation.

The name Longplay Bistro pays homage to vinyl albums and the record player is an inspired touch.

Lenin Paunovic, another partner in the business, has put together the sound system and raided his eclectic record collection. The music? Well … it’s different.

If all of this is sounding too alternative, a flick through the vast wine list will put most of those reservations to rest.

There are excellent choices by glass and a bottle selection reflecting the owners’ favourite styles (riesling, chardonnay and pinot noir particularly), from a $59 Riverland blend to a $1750 grand cru burgundy.

The DIY ethos extends to the kitchen that is in the hands of chefs Calum Horn and Jude Hughes, both recently at The Summertown Aristologist (now closed).

They are still making everything from scratch but the bistro cooking here is more evolved and lavish than when they were up in the Hills.

The ox tongue skewer with cherry and pickled mustard at Longplay Bistro can already be marked down as one of the dishes of the year.

Let’s get one grizzle out of the way. The rolls. A price of $8 seems a stretch for a dark-crusted milk bun, even with house marjoram butter.

It does, however, provide a decent base for the medley of zucchini, carrot and other pickles.

A skewer of poached and shaved ox tongue is given a short turn on the grill, then finished with a cherry glaze, slices of the fresh fruit and a smattering of pickled mustard seeds.

The delicate folds of meat … the carefully nuanced accompaniments … the interplay of textures … mark it down already as one of the year’s best.

The spaghetti vongole uses housemade pasta and Eyre Peninsula mud cockles.

Not everything is this original but even old favourites are treated with noticeable attention to detail.

Spaghetti vongole, for example, uses a house-made pasta cooked to the second and Eyre Peninsula mud cockles that tend to be a little plumper than the sand-dwelling pipis.

Their juices are reduced to an emulsion that slicks each strand with briny, buttery, garlicky goodness.

Add a sprinkle of fried breadcrumb crunch and it’s a dish to reckon with.

Then there’s beef and bearnaise. It’s been around forever.

But if you’ve forgotten how prime grass-fed steak, in this case a ribeye, can be elevated by the magical melding of butter, wine vinegar and fresh tarragon then this is a good time to become reacquainted.

Yes, there has been a lot of butter, which makes a perky salad of raw zucchini, finely chopped broccoli and pearl barley the perfect side.

Remember the white Russian, a daggy cocktail from yesteryear?

The ice-cream version is powered by the group’s own coffee liqueur and comes with sweet/tart dried mulberries and a mulberry syrup.

It’s a dessert sure to bring back memories and start a conversation. Just as the people behind this terrific addition to the city’s nightlife intended.