Fresh, clean flavours at New Local Eatery
THREE years on, this not-so “new” diner still delivers fresh, clean flavours in a location serving hungry hordes, before sport, rockers, divas or perhaps the ballet.
THREE years on, this not-so “new” diner still delivers fresh, clean flavours in a location serving hungry hordes, before sport, rockers, divas, or perhaps the ballet.
At the heart of an Adelaide performance precinct, the space, with a central bar/servery and timber tables allowing good elbow room and private-chats, is next door to the Entertainment Centre, across from The Gov, and a few blocks from the Hindmarsh Stadium and the Holden Street Theatres.
It also neighbours once industrial, now-burgeoning Bowden. We take visitors for a good coffee stop at Plant 4 Bowden. The marketplace is significantly pared back on Sundays so we head across old tracks to NLE for a leisurely catchup.
At a sunny window table, we spy tucked-away menus, but they’re out of bounds. On Sundays, it’s strictly all-day brekkie style. At first, it’s a disappointment for our guests, who are not fond of eggs, but this offering is so much more. A cracker nasi goreng, sans egg, may be too spicy for some, “but give it a chance, because it smoothes out as you ease into it”, reports the Indonesian-rice fan, also enjoying crunchy school prawns in the mix.
There’s also high praise for a buttery sourdough toastie packed with free-range ham offset by housemade piccalilli, and a herb salad.
For me, Coorong mullet is a must. My fave local catch is pan-fried and served with two salads, one a creamy celeriac remoulade, the other a more piquant tumble of moreish raisins, apples, walnuts and radicchio. A poached egg, cold and beyond runny is a superfluous element. Across the table, rustic baked eggs nestled in a tomato casserole are a bit light on the promised chorizo but flavoursome enough, with chickpeas for texture and plenty of labneh for luxury.
We’re allowed desserts from that hidden menu. Four spoons scrape all remnants of fancy panna cotta touched with rose water and lavished with pomegranate. And coffee pavlova under espresso ice cream makes us wish for a longer walk back to the car.