Eat: Arriba Grill

The search is over! Found: Good Mexican in Adelaide. Hello Arriba Grill.

It is without question my favourite cultural cuisine and whilst living across the border I was spoilt for choice when it came to high quality Mexican inspired food. For speed and easability, Mad Mex was where it was at. Like for like, Arriba Grill comes pretty close to matching those lofty heights of grande expectations. Cause for celebration indeed! I’ll bring the Coronas, you bring the blender and margarita ingredients. Deal?

Located a tad north of North Adelaide, you might spot Speedy on the sign along Prospect road. Pull over and step into the world of fresh and tasty made-to-order burritos. Think subway style, but a hundred times better. The choice is yours. In five easy steps. Choose your tortilla (or bowl), meat, extras, salsa, salads, guac etc. And voila!

So what makes this place better than others? It’s about quality ingredients really. These boys have done their research and the proof is in the pintos. All the dets on their use of organic ingredients can be read about here.

My one tiny gripe? The HOT sauce barely registered on the scorch scale. But in all other areas this place is plenty hot enough to make up for it.

Go forth and be happy, fellow burrito connoisseurs.

Eat: The Store

Spring appears to have come early here in Rads and sunny skies are conducive to long lunches in the streets of North Adelaide. But don’t be too fooled, always remember to pack your cardigan. Especially if you want to fit in along Melbourne Street.

We headed to The Store. Options were plentiful, with indoor, outdoor, terrace or booth seating available. We slid into a green velvet booth and left the wine choice to the expert.

Hats off to whoever’s hiring. Cute and friendly wait staff make a dining experience much more pleasurable.

All the specials sounded very tempting and from the few we saw on their way out from the kitchen, they looked very tempting as well.

Quiche of the day. Chèvre and silverbeet quiche, green salad with hazelnuts.

Homemade baked gnocchi with roasted cauliflower, Gruyere cheese and walnuts.

Grilled free range pork rib eye with coleslaw and caramelised apple balls.

Prior to ordering our mains, I’d already eyed off the dessert options. It was predetermined we’d be sharing a little something sweet.

Warm brioche custard and apple pudding.

Tick, tick, tick. Lovely dishes. Lovely ladies. Lovely day.

Eat: Red Ochre Grill

So Ben did eventually get back to me. His surprise? Last minute reservations at the award winning Red Ochre Grill in North Adelaide. A beautiful setting on the River Torrens provides the perfect backdrop for an intimate fine dining experience with views of the city lights and river fountains. The focus is on contemporary Australian food with an emphasis on using local produce.

Our table was situated in the upstairs dining area. On arrival we were immediately and pleasantly greeted by maître d’, Aimie, and our friendly waitress Tamara. The standard was set early and service remained welcoming and efficient throughout the night.

After perusing the menu, I loved the sound of the organic sourdough with various condiments (lemon myrtle butter, tomato and balsamic or locally produced hummus). But we quickly decided against ordering any starters or entrees and went straight to mains – with the aim of saving room for dessert!

If pork is on the menu, odds are I will order it. Ben was tossing up between the Orroroo kangaroo fillet (which sounded marvellous) and the Pepperberry veal shank. He made a quick decision when Aimie returned to take our orders, settling on the shank after she described it as “extremely rich and slowly slowly cooked”. Ben recommended I try the steak fries. And I’m glad I did!

Our meals arrived quickly. My pork tenderloin roulade was beautifully presented. Tiny cubes of crisp bacon and confit yam were scattered across the plate, with sautéed baby spinach, pureed salsa verde and a cranberry apple pickle. There was nothing on the plate I didn’t enjoy. Ben was presented a large shank on a bed of root vegetables, creamed potato and pine mushrooms. A heavily reduced bordelaise sauce came separately.

Ben throwing etiquette out the window and getting stuck into the shank.

If what’s left on the plate is anything to go by.. We were either pretty bloody hungry or the food was too good to leave any behind!

There was no twisting of our arms to view the dessert menu because we didn’t need any twisting. At all. The wattleseed pavlova was deliciously folded with layers of spicy nut paste, served with tangy passionfruit sorbet and poached apricots. Sincere complements to dessert chef Emily Jones, this dessert was close to perfection.

I chose the tasting platter which arrived with a lovely message..

Frozen lemon cream, chocolate cake with lime en glaze and white chocolate parfait with berry jelly. Simple and unpretentious, unfortunately the chocolate cake was dry which let down the overall dish. I think next time I won’t go past the chocolate fondant with rivermint sorbet (allow 20 minutes)!

Creative comfort food inspired by earthy flavours. Thoroughly stuffed, we rolled out of the restaurant very satisfied.