Restaurant review: Earth Restaurant, Big River Golf and Country Club

A secret spot in a golf club offering the finest abalone and high-end ox tongue. Who would have thought?

Abalone, XO butter and bok choy at Earth Restaurant in Berri. Pictures: Supplied

If one was to draw a dining Venn diagram (remember those?) with abalone and ox tongue in one circle and regional motel and golf club in another, the chances of finding a common denominator might seem minuscule. A recent journey exploring the Riverland has uncovered an exception.

Earth Restaurant is ensconced among old-school motel units a sand wedge away from the fairways and bunkers of the Big River Golf and Country Club outside Berri.

For more than two years, local chef Peter Kent has been running this most unlikely eatery alongside his catering business.

He has become part of an overdue recalibration in a region finally being recognised as a food and wine destination in addition to its wilderness and water sport attractions.

Local menus are now more likely to have a sense of place in a landscape dominated by vast tracts of citrus, stone fruit, almonds and grape vines, on either side of that magnificent river. Earth embraces this thinking while packaging it in a form that should appeal to most visitors – whether from the community, straight off the golf course or, like us, from much further away.

Kent has been in kitchens for more than four decades, starting as an apprentice in Adelaide, then spreading his wings during stints in France, England and an island off the Queensland coast. After returning to SA, he shifted to the Riverland 26 years ago to cook at what was then the Fairway Room, coincidentally the same premises he is running now.

The ox tongue skewer with salsa verde.

Mussel and vongole pasta.

While that didn’t last, he liked the Riverland lifestyle and set up Salt and Pepper Catering with wife Lyn.

Three years ago, he was offered the chance to return to his old haunt which had been closed for some time. It’s a big space with a row of aluminium windows facing the golf course at the rear and, while there’s no escaping the function room feel, plenty of plant life and a mix of artworks help soften it a bit. Menu and wine list are both presented neatly in folders, the latter dominated by the new generation of Riverland producers who favour quality over quantity and champion southern-European varieties.

As for the food, snacks, small and larger plates total more than 20 savoury choices, many with a string of components. Bringing all this together on a busy night is a considerable achievement. Consider, for instance, the ox tongue that has been brined for 11 days, slowly poached, trimmed into small lozenges, threaded onto a skewer and grilled, before cloaking in a bright green tomatillo salsa verde and serving on a charred tortilla. All that work for a snack but the delicate meat is wonderful.

The interior of Earth Restaurant.

A selection of food at Earth Restaurant.

It is matched in terms of textural pleasure by strips of Port Lincoln baby abalone tenderised, then flash-fried with butter that has been given extra oomph with a touch of XO sauce. The seafood is loaded back into its shell, served with wilted bok choy and a wasabi leaf coated in chickpea batter.

Mussels and proper vongole, both from Port Lincoln, are the stars of a pasta that features roasted cherry tomatoes, capers and barilla (native spinach) bound in a light garlic cream sauce. The pasta itself is the only issue, the house-made ribbons more like sturdy pappardelle than the promised linguine.

Kangaroo loin, from Rosedale Meats at nearby Lyrup, is rolled in sheets of prosciutto that keep it nice and juicy, as well as adding salty, porky goodness. All of which works well with roasted beetroot wedges, a candy-pink beetroot risotto, fruit pepperberries and a dollop of dill crème fraiche. Tiramisu, made with coffee from terrific local roaster Arrosto, is served in a small glass and topped with a scoop of house-made wattleseed gelato.

All of this is brought to the table with obvious pride by a small team of staff who make up for any lack of polish with plenty of enthusiasm and are happy to recommend their favourite dishes. Though, if my memory serves me right, that didn’t include the ox tongue.