Peter Rabbit, perfect for lunch on the hop

Peter Rabbit is a hipster enclave that’s well worth the walk for all-day brekkies, healthy lunch, drinks and snacks.

Peter Rabbit’s “Big Bird”, a mix of fried chicken, mild kimchi, pureed carrot and ginger, and crispy shallots. Picture: Dianne Mattsson

Greenery abounds in a Hindley St oasis. Peter Rabbit is a hipster enclave that’s fun and well worth the walk – away from shopping crowds – for all-day brekkies, a healthy approach to lunch, or perhaps drinks and snacks at the end of the week.

It’s a fit for our girls’ day out, the atmosphere super casual, matching the service, as we mix it with shoppers and corporate types tucking into anything from a build-your-own eggs “your way” to smashed avo and ethical towers of food.

Peter Rabbit follows the rather rubbery rule of sharing food these days. Most meals would best suit giant solo appetites, so sharing works, except that ways to split the portions are not always obvious.

Chargrilled octopus, with lentils, chimichurri, red onion, almonds and grapes. Photo: Dianne Mattsson

“Playing mum” requires a deft hand to carve four serves when sometimes a runny soft poached egg is part of the dish.

Or, when there’s a teetering square white sandwich, the “Big Bird”, filled with a delicious, slightly messy mix of fried chicken, mild kimchi, pureed carrot and ginger, and crispy shallots.

It’s tempting to pass this one round for each of us to simply take a big bite. Then comes a bowl of ramen, topped with a gooey egg, that’s definitely not a sharing type. We do pass this around for tastes, but it’s not remarkable enough to keep us dipping in.

Instead, we topple and devour that crustless white sanga, and enjoy sections of good chorizo on toasty romesco sauce.

Also, fat tentacles of chargrilled octopus, with a rocking base of lentils and herbs soaking up flavours of chimichurri, plus red onion, za’atar roasted almonds and a few sweet green grapes.

The menu’s educational glossary explains the likes of za’atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend, and that chimichurri is herbs with garlic and chilli, South American style.

Local suppliers are listed, so we know key ingredients have not travelled far to this incongruous garden spread in the heart of Adelaide’s nightclub beat.

It’s girls’ day, so dessert is elsewhere, and a story of its own.