Restaurant review: 7 Hays St in Goolwa

This surf coast eatery offers food cooked with care and thoughtful service, making this a good way to prepare for the surf, a hammock or the road home.

Interior at Hays Street Bar and Kitchen, Goolwa

The sun is shining on a summer weekend in Goolwa and the main street is at full bustle. Down near the wharf, crowds are filing between the Sunday market stalls hawking everything from homemade biscuits and embroidery to fast foods and flavoured vodka.

A piercing whistle signals the approach of the Cockle Train on its return leg from Victor.

Yes, along with the Easter break this is prime-time for South Coast towns, a limited period where local businesses such as Hays Street Bar and Kitchen must, well, make hay.

However, the tourists and short-term holiday-homers alone aren’t enough to keep the doors open. They are the icing on the cake. Without solid backing from the local community through the rest of the year, the finances could easily come a cropper.

It’s a balancing act that Hays Street owner Daniel Cahill and chef Chris Toogood pull off with aplomb, giving the food and overall experience enough sophistication to attract visiting city folk without getting too fancy.

Cahill, who grew up in the region, has spent much of his life working in hospitality, mostly front-of-house, in pubs, hotels and restaurants around SA and interstate, including a recent stint at the Salopian Inn.

In September 2023, he decided to do his own thing, and took over a site on Goolwa’s main drag, just after it cracks a sharp right and heads towards Middleton. The property had been known for years as the Whistle Stop cafe but prior to that it was believed to be a mechanic, then an antique store.

Whatever the history, the dining space retains old-fashioned charm, with stripped red brick walls, pitched roof, exposed rafters, open fireplace and concrete floor.

Ricotta dumpling with zucchini and salted lemon at Hays Street Bar and Kitchen, Goolwa

Honey panna cotta with blackberries at Hays Street Bar and Kitchen, Goolwa, Adelaide. Picture: Supplied

Employing locals (and treating them well) is a sure-fire way to raise awareness in your own patch and the Hays Street staff are a friendly bunch. Communication, however, could have been better early on when an empty gas bottle caused a delay in delivering entrees.

We just saw worried faces and rushed trips out the back door without understanding the crisis.

That dodgy fuel supply to the stovetop might explain the only major misstep in the kitchen this day – a problem with the Goolwa pippis. A large, higgledy-piggledy pile of shellfish is served in a pool of golden broth based on the liquid they release, enhanced with wine, pastis and a herb butter containing a touch of curry powder, hence the colour.

The pippi meat, however, has cooked a little long and become rather tight and chewy.

The ricotta dumpling, our waiter explains on ordering, is nothing like its Asian namesake. Rather, this is a single orb of the fresh cheese, mixed with a little lemon zest, poached and then grilled at the last minute. It comes with a bright and breezy collation of zucchini (puree and pickled slices), mint (fresh leaves and gastrique dressing) and salted lemon.

Goolwa mulloway with spiced tomato at Hays Street Bar and Kitchen, Goolwa

Local mulloway also hits the right seasonal buttons, the pan-fried fillet nestled into a bed of crushed tomato pulp spiked with cumin and sherry vinegar. A parsley oil and smear of salsa verde completes the red-white-green Italian flag combo. A plate like this, you’d think, is perfectly suited to a warm afternoon but, looking about the room, it is the striploin steak (with kohlrabi, remoulade and choice of sauces) that is the biggest seller.

Pork cotoletta is another meaty option. The cutlet, coated in a dark crumb crust flavoured with parmesan and mustard, is presented in thick, juicy slices arranged alongside the rib bone which makes terrific nibbling. A medley of roasted apple, raisins and walnuts is tossed on top. With a complimentary side of ultra-crisp roasted spuds, it beats the daylights out of your run-of-the-mill schnitter.

And a panna cotta finale is exemplary, set with just enough gelatin to sit up proudly on the plate without support but still giving a little wiggle when jabbed with the spoon, vanilla and a subtle touch of honey providing the flavour. Macerated blackberries are arranged on top and create the crimson syrup.

Hays Street is what Goolwa central lacked. As with Kuti Shack at the beach and Bombora down the river, it offers food cooked with care and thoughtful service. A good way to prepare for the surf, a hammock or the road home.

7 Hays St, Goolwa

7509 1005

Haysstreet.com

Main courses $28-$49

Open

Lunch, dinner Thu-Mon

Must try

Mulloway, spiced tomato; honey panna cotta

VERDICT

Food 14.5/20

Ambience 14/20

Service 13/20

Value 14/20

Overall 14/20

As a guide, scores indicate:

1-9 Fail; 10-11 Satisfactory;
12-14 Recommended; 15-16 Very Good; 17-18 Outstanding;
19-20 World Class

delicious.com.au/eatout