Adelaide’s best cafe and restaurant isolation takeaway offerings, as voted by you
We asked and more than 700 of you answered. Here we have crunched the votes to come up with your favourite cafes and restaurants that have adapted their dishes to takeaway to keep trading through COVID-19. Did your favourite make the list?
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From pizza and cocktail kits to six-course meals delivered to your door, cafes and restaurants across Adelaide have adapted their menus to stay afloat during COVID-19.
We asked you to help us uncover Adelaide’s best eateries that were offering their dishes as takeaway meals, and more than 700 of you voted in our poll.
We have crunched the numbers to come up with the top 25 offerings - five each in the north, south, east, west and city.
Adelaide’s Best Isolation Takeaway poll is a The Messenger initiative, aimed at shining a light on local businesses excelling in their field.
The following businesses have managed to trade though the coronavirus pandemic, which is definitely something to celebrate.
Here is your top 25.
CITY & NORTH ADELAIDE
1. Gin Long Canteen, 42 O’Connell St, North Adelaide
This modern Asian Fusion restaurant has come in at number one for the city and North Adelaide.
Gin Long Canteen manager Florence Tsang says although the hospitality industry has changed, the restaurant is doing its best to maintain staff and keep the community fed.
“Food is still an essential item so we are just trying to provide, as best we can, our quality food people have come to know and love,” Mrs Tsang says.
Gin Long’s takeaway offerings include dragon beef curry, slow braised Thai beef, pork belly, stir fried roast pork, plus smaller dishes like chicken satay skewers, curry puffs, prawn dumplings and lobster sliders.
“Some of our usual menu items were not ideal for takeaway but we have tried to keep most of the favourites,” Mrs Tsang says.
“Everything on the menu can also be reheated and enjoyed just as much the next day.”
Mrs Tsang says her team is thankful to have been included in The Messenger’s poll.
“We are very concerned about what’s happening in the world, in our community and in hospitality so to have this sort of recognition is lovely.”
2. Star of Siam, 67 Gouger St, Adelaide
3. Osteria Oggi, 76 Pirie St, Adelaide
4. Sunny’s Pizza, 17 Solomon St, Adelaide
5. Golden Boy, 309 North Tce, Adelaide
NORTH
1. Topiary, 1361 North East Rd, Tea Tree Gully
Topiary Restaurant in Tea Tree Gully was the north’s most voted for takeaway.
Owner and head chef Kane Pollard says the business shut completely at the start of the pandemic to “get our heads around what was going on and to come up with a game plan moving forward.
“We have a super strong ethos so we wanted to continue that,” Mr Pollard says.
“We use local ingredients, we are sustainable and we make everything in-house, so that was our main driver behind our takeaway menu choice.”
The restaurant’s Topiary at Home menu includes a selection of boxed packages, starting at $40.
Dishes you can enjoy in the comfort of your home include free-range pork and wild mushroom lasagne, confit lamb, plus a delectable selection of marinated feta, quince paste, smoked salmon and white bean dip and, of course, desserts are available too.
“We based our offering on what you would normally have when you dine at the restaurant and our tasting menu at home has been the most popular so far,” Mr Pollard says.
“Essentially you get a six-course meal with the main being 15-hour lamb that will come up in your oven at home the way it would in the restaurant.”
He says the public’s support has been the only thing keeping the business afloat.
“It’s the only way we are going to be able to get through what’s happening,” he says.
“We are still losing thousands of dollars a week but at the end of the day, being able to stay true to ourselves and keep our incredible customers engaged in what we do, gives us a little bit of hope that we’ll be able to reopen.”
2. Meze Mazi, 86B Prospect Rd, Prospect
3. Anchovy Bandit, 96 Prospect Rd, Prospect
4. Indian Temptations, Shop 10/445-449 Main North Rd, Enfield
5. Cafe Di Roma, 116A Prospect Rd, Prospect
SOUTH
1. The Salopian Inn, Main Rd, McLaren Vale
McLaren Vale’s The Salopian Inn took out the top spot for the south – a win owner and chef Karena Armstrong says is “touching”.
“We have really felt the love from the community and it’s a lovely feeling that among the chaos of every day life, we’ve had so many people reach out to us, asking if we are OK,” Ms Armstrong says.
From the moment cafes and restaurants were no longer able to trade as usual, Ms Armstrong and her team were quick to develop a takeaway menu that remained at the heart of what The Salopian Inn is all about.
“Unfortunately we just couldn’t offer our usual menu as takeaway, so we had to adapt it quickly, but with the same philosophy,” she says.
“We are still using our local suppliers and produce we grow in our garden, but we had to look at what would travel well, while keeping the Salopian spirit in it.”
Some of the items on The Salopian Inn’s takeaway menu are potato and leek soup, steamed pork buns, crumbed SA garfish fillets, slow braised lamb shank, potato gnocchi and a beef burger.
“We’ve made the menu very accessible, with things from $5 through to $40,” Ms Armstrong says.
“It’s so important for people to support any business, not just restaurants, because it’s also the farmers, truck drivers and even our wine guys who are forgotten, and we are nothing without them.
“By enjoying a takeaway meal, it’s the whole chain you are supporting which we are at the end of.”
2. Victory Hotel, Old Sellicks Hill Rd, Sellicks Hill
3. Agatha’s, 1 Gawler St, Port Noarlunga
4. The Fleurieu Pantry, 20 Gawler St, Port Noarlunga
5. Tequila ‘n’ Tacos, 1/7 Gawler St, Port Noarlunga
EAST
1. Melon & Rye, 363-365 Glen Osmond Rd, Glen Osmond
Melon & Rye in Glen Osmond scored the top position in the east.
Manager Demi Oswald says the family-owned business was sent into a spin when news broke that cafes and restaurants could only offer takeaway.
“It was a bit of a shock to the system and having to let all staff know we had no shifts for them was probably the worst part,” Ms Oswald says.
The team had to adapt its dine-in menu, offering easy take-home items that allowed customers to spend as little time in the cafe as possible.
“We wanted things that were quick to make so that customers didn’t have to wait around,” Ms Oswald says.
Current items on the menu include mushroom toasties, beef burgers, zucchini and corn fritters and breakfast-to-go options such as hot porridge, smashed avo and breakfast burritos.
“Our home office lunch boxes have also been big sellers, made particularly for people who have been isolating and working from home.”
Ms Oswald says it is the cafe’s loyal customers who have kept the business ticking during these unprecedented times.
“When you can only do takeaway it makes such a big difference, so we’ve had to make big changes to continue running a successful business,” she says.
“Our community is what has kept us afloat and if it weren’t for them I’m not sure where we’d be.”
2. Orso, 36 Kensington Rd, Rose Park
3. Coccobello, 209 Glen Osmond Rd, Frewville
4. Hispanic Mechanic, 205 Glen Osmond Rd, Frewville
5. Nido, Shop 2/160 King William Rd, Hyde Park
WEST
1. Chicco Palms, 437 Henley Beach Rd, Brooklyn Park
This Palm Springs-inspired pizza bar at Brooklyn Park took out the top spot in the west.
Co-owner Silvia De Marco says despite the challenge of adapting to a new business structure, the outcome has been positive.
“I think out of it being a challenge, we have come up with some really great ideas – concepts we otherwise wouldn’t have thought of,” Mrs De Marco says.
Chicco Palms created kits allowing people to make their own pizzas and cocktails from the comfort of their homes.
The $30 pizza kit comes with enough dough to make four pizzas, sauce, mozzarella and basil.
If you don’t consider yourself much of a whiz in the kitchen, you can choose from the restaurant’s full menu offering, which includes pizza, pasta, lamb, veal and eye fillet bistecca, plus all the sides including salads and potatoes.
For those who like things shaken, not stirred, there are three cocktail kits available – espresso martini, pina colada and a mocktail option - various prices, starting at $20 for two cocktails.
“The ability to give people that feeling of being out and about drinking cocktails and eating pizza in their own home has been great and we’ve had a lot of positive feedback about the kits,” Mrs De Marco says.
She says she and her team are flattered the public has acknowledged their hard work.
“We’re very thankful and at the same time we’re happy we are able to give people a bit of happiness with our offerings,” she says.
“Everyone is doing it really tough at the moment, but by supporting local business you are helping to keep people in jobs and helping them support their own families and that is always a nice thing to do.”
2. NNQ, 65 Woodville Rd, Woodville South
3. CREAM, 4/49 Jetty Rd, Brighton
4. Enzo’s Ristorante, 46 Port Rd, Hindmarsh
5. Low & Slow, 17 Commercial Rd, Port Adelaide
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