SA Weekend restaurant review - Bar Lune at Beulah Park
Food reviewer Simon Wilkinson lives way across town from this new eatery, but says it’s so good he’ll consider moving.
SA Weekend
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The beachside suburbs are my patch. I grew up along the coast and, other than a few stints overseas, I’ve never lived anywhere else. The Hills or the countryside beyond occasionally look tempting but settling to the east of the city has never been on the radar. Until now.
This 180-degree shift in mindset has been brought about by a single visit to Bar Lune, a venue that excels on so many levels that it made me want to join the rest of the happy throng there on the night and move into the neighbourhood.
Opened a few months back midway up The Parade at Beulah Park, this little gem is quite comfortably the best thing I’ve found in suburban Adelaide over the past few years.
The cooking is exceptional, the wine a good match. And both come at prices that make semi-regular attendance feasible, which helps explain why there is a full house in the middle of the week.
These things rarely happen by accident, of course. The group of owners, headed by Sam Worrall-Thompson, aren’t a bunch of naïve newbies.
All brought relevant experience when they took over a pair of shopfronts, previously operating as Lebanese café Saha, and set about realising their vision of a wine bar that could serve more than a cheese or charcuterie plate.
The space is split into two sections. The entrance opens to a bar flanked by a terrazzo-topped high table. On the other side is the main dining area, with seating high and low, and a mix of timber veneer, tiles, banquettes and boucle-covered cushions in varying shades of pink and brown that might have found some inspiration from Aunty Beryl’s lounge room.
Not that I’d recommend taking an elderly relative. Bar Lune is L-O-U-D, partly due to the acoustics (despite some baffles on the ceiling), but also because everyone seems in exceptionally good spirits. You’d swear there was a party going on.
A warm and personable service crew are up to the challenge of making themselves heard above the din and take time to help out where extra information is needed. Occasionally, the same question will be asked by two different people but at least that is better than none.
And they communicate properly with the kitchen, so dishes are delivered at a speed and rhythm to suit the diner rather than dumped en masse to make a chef’s life easier. That’s vital when roughly 20 choices listed on a single sheet in ascending size are such an eclectic mix of Asian, Middle Eastern, Italian and other European influences, with the only definitive rule being that they work with the wine.
It means we can concentrate fully on a Japanese scallop that has been seared in butter, then popped back in the shell with a dressing of yuzu, miso and togarashi spice. The small lozenge of seafood makes for a perfect succulent mouthful but you might also want to skol the remaining sauce.
Pickled ox tongue is pressed and sliced into paper-thin slices that are folded on to a skewer. A quick turn on the grill crisps the edges and turns them into a delicate, melting, mildly bacon-y pleasure that sits comfortably with a tonnato-style mayonnaise, capers and grated pecorino. It will make converts of your offal-wary mates.
Vego dishes make a strong showing. Steamed (a little too much, perhaps) and barbecued cauli is given the full Middle Eastern treatment, with a “shawarma” spice blend, pomegranate, pine nuts and a tahini-based sauce.
Shredded broccoli rabe (or rapini) is sautéed with garlic and chilli to create the base for a classic orecchiette pasta from Italy’s Puglia region. Clumps of the mixture fill the little shells that are finished with golden fried breadcrumbs.
This is “cucina povera” of depth and soul.
And then it is off to Malaysia, or thereabouts, for barbecued squid, its main tube artfully dissected like a large spring, slathered with an oily, unctuous tomato and chilli sambal that can dominate proceedings in the quantities provided. Fragrant fried curry leaves and a decent squeeze of lemon restore the balance.
For dessert, semi-frozen sesame halva is adorned with pistachios, rhubarb puree and a drizzle of thick butterscotch sauce. Put them all together and it’s like a wonderful festive nougat.
With former Chianti co-owner/chef Tobias Gush about to join the team, Bar Lune can only get better.
Is there a downside? Other than the obvious dangers posed by having too much fun on the other side of town, the only other problem is parking, even in local side-streets. Then again, if you live nearby.