100 things you must eat in SA

LOOSEN your belt and feast your eyes on this bucket list of the state's best food experiences.

South Australians are a discerning bunch when it comes to food. Whether it's splashing out on a meal at one of our high-flying restaurants or tucking into a pizza or pastie, only the best will do. With that in mind, loosen your belt and feast your eyes on this bucket list of the state's best food experiences.

Reviews: Simon Wilkinson, Dianne Mattsson, Tony Love, Kylie Fleming, Katie Spain, Renato Castello, Michelangelo Rucci, Tory Shepherd, David Jean

Alkoopina

Alkapoona

Take your first breath of the eucalypts and the salty sea air with this dizzying introduction to Australian native flavours as wrought by Jock Zonfrillo and his team. More than 20 morsels are delivered in quick succession, from sublime Goolwa cockles and a “risotto” of samphire “grains” with roo tail to beetroot cooked in a fire pit for more than a day. Each little taste will leave you tempted and ready for the more substantial courses that follow.

While you’re there: The set buttermilk with strawberry juice and strawberry gum almost steals the show at the end.

Orana
285 Rundle St, Adelaide
8232 3444
www.restaurantorana.com 

Charred peppers with squid sauce

Duncan Welgemoed with fresh produce at Bistro Dom.

Three long peppers are laid on a slate slab, their wrinkly, blackened skins looking like someone in the kitchen has forgotten to peel them. It’s a masterful sleight of hand from chef Duncan Welgemoed, the irreverent master of ceremonies at this inner-city gem. The burnt skin is actually a batter, coloured with squid ink, and sprinkled with salt. With a dip of creamy black aioli you have the most addictive snack in town, and a perfect introduction to the more sophisticated dishes to come.

While you’re there: Cured kingfish or anything with Duncan’s brilliant fermented kohlrabi.

Bistro Dom
24 Waymouth St, Adelaide
8231 7000
www.bistrodom.com.au 

Mussel, mulloway & buttermilk

Mulloway in buttermilk at Hentley Farm.

Before you start with the seafood, take a sip from the pool of smoke-infused buttermilk. Wow that’s good. Then see how it mingles with the pristine chunks of raw mulloway and let it take you to some transcendental plane. Add the luxury of poached mussels and crunchy grains of puffed wild rice and you have one of this year’s best dishes in SA — or anywhere. Lachlan Colwill continues to raise the bar at our reigning Restaurant of the Year and we couldn’t be happier.

While you’re there: Take the time to try the full discovery menu, a treat to the final orange and raisin Madeleine.

Hentley Farm
Cnr Gerald Roberts & Jenke Rd, Seppeltsfield
8562 8427
www.hentleyfarm.com.au  

Marron & Jerusalem artichoke

Kangaroo Island marron at Magill Estate.

Dinner at Magill is all about treating yourself to life’s little luxuries, whether it’s watching the sun sink beyond city and sea, or tasting Grange for the first time. This beguiling dish fits the bill perfectly. Chefs Scott Huggins and Emma McCaskill dispatch the Kangaroo Island marron only when the dish is ordered and its flesh is barely set and impossibly sweet. The crustacean rests on a nutty, creamy emulsion of the artichoke, while translucent slices of the vegetable, lightly pickled are draped over the top. Fitting snugly above that, like a smart shell, is a crisp made from the artichoke skin. While you won’t always find it on the Magill menu, it is typical of the approach from this exciting new kitchen team.

While you’re there: Finish dinner with a Great Grandfather Tawny Port.

Magill Estate
Penfolds Rd, Magill
8301 5551
www.penfolds.com 

Oysters

Coffin Bay oysters at Jolleys Boathouse.

To taste South Australian oysters at their best, you could travel to Coffin Bay, buy them from one of the farms, and eat them on the rocks looking over that pristine stretch of water. When that isn’t possible, the next best thing is a seat at Jolleys, a glass of bubbles and a tasting plate of oysters you know will be freshly shucked and in peak condition. Compare, side by side, the merits of pacific, Kumamoto and the native angassi. Owner/chef Tony Carroll takes just as much care with the rest of his menu, from house-aged beef to desserts that are always pretty as a picture.

While you’re there: Experience the buttery, white meat of a Patagonian toothfish.

Jolleys Boathouse
1 Jolleys Lane, Adelaide
8223 2891
www.jolleysboathouse.com 

Snapper wing with jeow

TOP100 Food - Peel Street - Snapper Wing

Picking just one dish from our favourite CBD lunch spot caused considerable angst. Would it be one of Jordan Theodoros’s sparkling Middle Eastern salads, the lamb and pomegranate soldiers or the signature fish pasty? In the end, we couldn’t go past the thrilling Thai flavours and spectacular presentation of the snapper wing which arrives on the plate fin-up and coated in a crisp, golden batter ... a fish turned into a chip. But it’s the two little dishes on the side that really light the fuse: one contains fresh, crunchy cucumber in a light sweet pickle, the other a dark but not-too-dangerous “jeow” based on dried chilli and shrimp paste. Fabulous.

While you’re there: Eat your vegetables ... you won’t find better.

Peel Street
9 Peel St, Adelaide
8231 8887
www.peelst.com.au 

Coorong mullet

Tommy ruff at Fino.

They might be humble in stature but our Coorong mullet, tommy ruffs and sardines have bags more flavour than many of their larger, more prestigious brethren. Fino proves the point better than anyone in dishes where the sparkling, sweet freshness of the fish is allowed to shine alongside something as simple as squeaky green beans, almonds and a lemony dressing. That’s how chef David Swain goes about his business and we wouldn’t want it any other way.

While you’re there: Find the perfect matching wine from Sharon Romeo’s award-winning list.

Fino
8 Hill St, Willunga
8556 4488
www.fino.net.au 

Fried calamari

Fried calamari at Star of Greece.

Whether these little golden rings are actually the best calamari in the state or not is, in the end, inconsequential (though they would be a contender). This experience is all about the joy of eating seafood with lungs full of sea air, about looking out over a sparkling blue ocean from the little former kiosk at the top of Port Willunga’s honeycomb cliffs, about the walk you will have along the fine white sand after lunch. For the record, the calamari here is always locally caught, super-fresh and tender. Served with a little dish of aioli, wedges of lime and ideally a glass of riesling, it is the perfect way to welcome a new visitor to the state.

While you’re there: Stick with the seafood theme, whether it’s battered King George whiting or something more sophisticated.

Star of Greece
1 Esplanade, Port Willunga
8557 7420
www.starofgreece.com.au 

Whitebait

Whitebait at Bombora.

Another dish where the setting is at least half of the fun. At Bombora, you are right on the sand, sitting on a deck at the back of a kiosk, listening to the booming surf of Goolwa Beach. If you’ve braved the water before lunch, you’ll arrive with good appetite, and this big bowl of whitebait is the perfect way to take the edge off your hunger. The little critters are fried golden and crunch but still taste of the sea — a fish and chip all in one package. Great with a dip of aioli or squeeze of lemon juice.

While you’re there: Follow up with the Goolwa Super Bowl of cockles, prawns and fish in a lovely broth — and a pine-lime Splice.

Bombora
Beach Rd, Goolwa
8555 5396
www.bomboragoolwa.com 

Bagna cauda

Bagna cauda at Andre’s Cucina and Polenta Bar.

From the still life beauty of its presentation to the just-picked crunch of the vegies, this is a celebration of the season like few others. Baby carrots, radishes, beetroot and more, some pickled some fresh, are arranged around a “furrow” of dirt made from dehydrated olive. They are taken to new heights by dipping into a small copper pot containing an unctuous dip of anchovies and olive oil that coats them with a delicious film. It’s a dish that tells you everything about Andre Ursini’s Italian obsession with finding the best ingredients and putting them on a pedestal.

While you’re there: Don’t miss the little banana bombolini, filled with melted chocolate.

Andre’s Cucina and Polenta Bar
94 Frome St, Adelaide
8224 0004
www.andrescucina.com.au