Simon Wilkinson: Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant hits dreamy heights
HARDY’S Verandah Restaurant has generated glowing reviews but, with a few key personnel away, it has its ups and downs, writes Simon Wilkinson
WHAT a stitch up. Jin Choi, the chef at Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant, had a moment in the spotlight during MasterChef earlier this year when he went head-to-head with one of the finalists during the show’s visit to SA. But rather than the challenge of a familiar ingredient, he was handed a jar of Vegemite that might as well have come from Mars.
The grace with which Jin, who has led the kitchen here for close to a year, accepted his fate and seemed genuinely chuffed for the winner suggests he isn’t too caught up with image or ego. And judging by the Vegemite butter that is still offered to spread on HVR’s excellent sourdough, his sense of humour has remained intact.
I’d planned to ask Jin about his reality TV experience but he has travelled back to Korea for a family wedding when we visit.
Perhaps his absence in part explains a dinner of highs and lows in roughly equal measure. Certainly it falls short of the glowing report from one of the most experienced members of our food team who had been there a month or so earlier and found food that was “a match for dreamy views over Piccadilly Valley”.
Yep, the view really is something. We sit at our window-side table watching dusk creep across the vast expanses of bush and farmland, then a near-full moon emerge from beneath the mist. It’s easy to imagine the original owners of Mount Lofty House lounging in this very spot as the drinks trolley rolls out, back when the property was a summer bolthole from the city.
These days the drinks selection is vast, a massive investment in the refurbished cellar reflected in the mighty tome of a wine list with dad-joke headings such as “Life is a Cabernet”. It’s a list that requires expert guidance and spruiking but the sommelier is also away tonight so we settle for picking from the dozen or so options available by the glass (up to elite drops at $39).
The two staff we do encounter are otherwise total professionals, their Italian accents and self-assured poise lending the experience a little Michelin-starred, Euro-style elan. Plates come and go, glasses are filled, with minimal fuss.
The meal kicks off with a quartet of bite-sized snacks, the most memorable a deep-fried twirl of taro and a spice-encrusted wafer of chicken skin. Marron is brought to the table under a glass cloche that is lifted to release a waft of smoke, a flavour echoed in a pale yellow puddle of corn. The meat from the tail and claw is divine, with just a careful dab in the puree all that is needed.
Venison tartare, a new menu addition, is less convincing. The diced meat seems to be bound in a buttery coating that cloys in the mouth and changes its character totally. And the labneh underneath and fresh raspberries on top feel like they have gatecrashed the wrong party.
The night’s other dud is deep sea cod with black vinegar that I’d imagined might be grilled, Japanese style. Instead, it looks to have been steamed, giving it the soggy texture of wet newspaper and a bland, vaguely stale taste, which reminds me of seafood that has been found at the bottom of the freezer. None of us wants to eat it.
The rest is a much happier story. Quail is presented as a pair of superb roasted breast fillets, sheathed in lacquered skin that carries the spice fragrance of masterstock, while the diced leg meat is hidden inside a folded mustard lettuce leaf. A blob of a creamy emulsion spiked with ginger, at the centre of the plate, works both ways.
Meats are exceptional. Pork belly has a lid of snapping crackle above flesh and fat that have merged as one. Wagyu brisket is coated in a shiny black glaze that looks like a wrap of polished boot leather. Only when prodded with a knife does it collapse into lobes of meat that are partnered by onion, grilled scallop and a block of beef striploin.
To finish, a cleansing scoop of coconut sorbet comes with puffed rice and a silly “coriander curd” that, other than its colour, has no evidence of the herb. More interesting is a polarising combination of citrus custard, a rich caramel ice cream, coffee soil and translucent slices of compressed rockmelon.
Just like Vegemite, it’s not for everyone.
The bottom line
HARDY’S VERANDAH RESTAURANT
Mount Lofty House, 74 Mount Lofty
Summit Rd, Crafers; 8130 9263; hardysverandahrestaurant.com.au
OWNERS David Horbelt, Malcolm Bean
CHEF Jin Choi
FOOD Contemporary
TWO COURSE $79 THREE COURSE $95 FOUR COURSE $115 a person TASTING MENU $169
DRINKS One of SA’s best cellars is taking shape here, with vintage flights of local heroes and benchmark labels from across the globe. It just needs the right tour guide.
Open for
LUNCH Fri-Sun
DINNER Daily (limited menu Mon-Wed)
SCORE: 8/10