Simon Wilkinson: Botanic Gardens Restaurant shows culinary flair in a green, leafy paradise
STROLLING into the Adelaide Botanic Garden on a warmish day is enough to make you a card-carrying tree hugger. Now foodies have an even better reason to visit, writes Simon Wilkinson.
STROLLING into the Adelaide Botanic Garden on a warmish day is enough to make you a card-carrying tree hugger. It’s not just the change in climate under the dense canopy of those majestic figs or the damp, earthy aroma of the undergrowth. The harsh noise of the city is softened and the air is rich and clean. All that photosynthesis is good for your sense of wellbeing.
An afternoon spent at the eatery in the middle of this natural splendour has a similar quality about it. The Botanic Gardens (no, the “s” isn’t a typo) Restaurant is an oasis of calm and comfort, more so since a recent refurbishment. Much credit is due to chef and guiding light Paul Baker, who has spent four years nurturing both fragile seedlings in a network of patches and his relationship with the garden and its workers.
The result is a seasonal plant pantry to call upon that, in the list on the back of the current menu, runs to nearly 60 varieties — from bay leaves to wild garlic weed.
They find a way on to every plate, starting with snacks. Three-week-old butter lettuces cradle a crumble of crushed walnuts, pear and pecorino in their newly formed leaves. Crunchy baby cucumber shells are loaded with a creamy curried egg mix and slices of caperberry. Blossoms and leaves settle on larger plates as if they’ve blown in from outside. Everything looks gorgeous without being formal or forced.
The same could be said for flavours in which nothing is overblown. Ingredients fall into place with subtle enhancing touches rather than dramatic intervention — the way they were meant to be.
The best moments include a sensual composition of raw scallop slices and tempura-coated brussels sprouts leaves on a delicate dashi custard with pearls of salmon roe, Japanese seaweed seasoning, a complex vinaigrette and a wreath of borage flowers and green elk. Cue oohs, aahs and photography.
Kingfish is cured, smoked and hung like a ham, before finishing over a grill where the charring along an edge or two underlines the play with fire. A puddle of sheep’s milk yoghurt and the green tones of fresh peas and curry leaves fried in oil rendered from the fish take it down an unexpected path.
Butterflied prawns are served medium rare, still with a little wobble in the middle, splayed on a cream made with the shells and head gunk, and topped with a tangy julienne of green mango. It’s boldly prawny and particularly unexpected under a dainty decoration of fried saltbush, nasturtium and blitzed macadamia.
Beetroot tart is a triumph, built around a fine pastry case, hefty chunks of the veg and a finishing layer of vinegar-soused apple, horseradish shavings and fried rosemary leaves. Beetroot and sour apple? It’s a very happy marriage.
Meat and veg is handled with similar restraint. A credit-card-sized slice of top-grade Mayura wagyu flank is rubbed with tea and vegetable ash before cooking, for a darker, savoury exterior around the rarest of flesh. Apply a careful dab of garlic confit and kelp puree and it’s the steak dianne they have on the other side of the pearly gates.
Tommy ruff is the only real misstep, the fillets grilled so hot and hard that the skin is marked with black, flaky stripes and a bitter taint. Otherwise an almond tarator, as well as sauteed savoy cabbage, would have done the business.
A pair of desserts to finish pull in different directions. A sorbet of sheep’s milk yoghurt (again) and shards of meringue sprinkled with a dust of dried thyme is all crisp and clean. On the other hand, an unusual mousse-like creation of chestnuts and banana, with raisin jam and marmalade, offers pudding comforts in a cold dish, as well as a final scattering of dried petals.
The BGR package has been enhanced by the first stage of an interior makeover, including new carpet, furniture, glassware and a centrepiece of hanging glass lamps, giving the heritage-listed tea rooms a more modern edge. But the biggest change will come over summer, when stage two changes the entrance and replaces some windows with louvres to let in the garden air. It’s a welcome investment in what has become one of Adelaide’s most inviting places to dine.
Botanic Gardens Restaurant
Plane Tree Drive, Adelaide; 8223 3526; botanicgardensrestaurant.com.au
OWNER Blanco Horner Hospitality Management CHEF Paul Baker FOOD Contemporary
THREE COURSES $70 FOUR COURSES $90
DRINKS Smart, balanced list of local heroes and internationals, with reasonable mark-ups.
BYO $25 (one bottle only)
Open for
LUNCH Tue-Sun; DINNER Fri-Sat
RATING: 8.5/10