First Impressions: The Store

For a while ACR had been adamant about staying away from some of the more popular cafés in Adelaide to try to focus on some of the city’s “hidden gems”. Hence ‘The Store’ – a North Adelaide “institution” if ever there was one – had been avoided for quite some time. But as yet another long-weekend dilemma approached, ACR (wisely) visited The Store to see what all the fuss was about – and of course was then duty-bound to return two more times!

Now it would be quite surprising if readers had not heard of The Store, but for those who haven't: laid-back, groovy jazz music sets the scene here, where extended trading hours mean diners can duck in for a wide range of light café fare during the day, or enjoy a relaxed dinner there in the evening. As an added bonus patrons can shop at an attached deli-cum-gourmet-convenience-store for fresh olives, cold meats, continental breads, and ready-made salads, deserts, meals etc. if they wish to continue (or begin) their foodie pilgrimage at The Store.

Eggs and bacon are a solid performer, with generous serves (of the scrambled variety) piled on flavoursome pide, but the standout item here is ‘Huevos Ranheros’ – bacon and eggs Mexican-style. Light fluffy scrambles and meaty bacon came wrapped in two soft tortillas topped with guacamole, salsa, and sour cream –a very pleasant change from the standard bacon and eggs, and less disaster-prone to some extent. Other common breakfast options are available (pancakes, bircher, fruit salad, croissants), but variations such as the grilled chorizo served on a white bean cassoulet or mushroom omelette with leek and mozzarella (both untried) set The Store apart from the mainstream.

Coffee is more often decent than not, and heaters make breakfast outdoors possible on a wintry day. When busy, service and ambience can falter though, so avoid the crowds that flock to this café if possible.

The Store (website, pics, menu)

Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts below:

First Impressions: Gillberries

ACR had never been a big fan of Mortar & Pestle in Dulwich – the coffee was usually very average, but the kitchen did cook up some great lunch options. So, when I walked into M&P’s re-incarnation as “Gillberries” on their grand opening on Monday I was certainly impressed with much-improved coffee and a minor re-fit. The service and coffee were so good I went back again twice that week.

M&P regulars will be happy with minimal changes to the menu – the breakfast menu has just been re-worded and slightly altered in make-up. French toast ‘fingers’, green eggs and ham, and toasted muesli complement the standard bacon and eggs. The scrambles have shown improvement, but the whole bacon and eggs meal isn’t anything spectacular – though the multigrain toast and tomato relish are nice for a change. More mouth-watering are the lunch options: sumac-crusted lamb served with chickpea fritter and baba ghanoush (a special); and their Thai/Asian vermicelli noodle salad usually carries a great zing.

Service was incredibly friendly, intuitive and professional – but we should give them a few months to see what happens when the owners aren’t always around: the real challenge is whether Gillberries can consistently produce fantastic coffee and service no matter who is staffing the suburban café. For now though, Gillberries offers a fantastic quick coffee option, offering a style of coffee very similar to nearby GG’s, but with a more up-market ambience. Flies can be an issue when sitting outside in their courtyard, however I doubt this will be a problem in winter!

Gillberries
37c Dulwich Ave, Dulwich 5065
83324628
gillberries@bigpond.com
(no website yet)

First Impressions: Vileroy

ACR used to frequent this elegant little eatery for daily coffee when Vileroy first opened several years ago, before their excellent value coffee went downhill. Recently, when stuck for breakfast options ACR remembered Vileroy on Kensington Road. The place was packed on our first visit one Saturday morning, with diners enjoying the wide-ranging breakfast menu and pleasant atmosphere. Breakfast options include the usual suspects with a few intriguing numbers – an open-style omelette (untried – yet) sounded particularly mouth-watering. Coffee is terrific value - $3.50 gets you a massive cup (probably almost two espresso shots) – which would be even better if it was terrific flavour. Again we see another establishment let down by the quality of their coffee – think the usual burnt, bitter, dark, over-extracted/roasted, thin notes. I am almost tempted to just stop ordering coffee altogether so it stops clouding my review.

Eggs and bacon get a lovely charred, smoky treatment at Vileroy. The well-charred bread gives a wonderful earthy, smoky flavour to the whole meal – which is presented on striking black plates. Scrambles are very creamy and full of flavour; bacon is also chargrilled and smoky. Unfortunately Vileroy has little web presence – no website, no menu, no current/accurate opening hours – so at the moment its more of a spontaneous breakfast option. So duck into Vileroy on the weekend (because we don’t know if they’re open weekdays for brekkie*) for eggs and bacon that ticks the majority of boxes – just don’t expect coffee to match.

Watch this space for a more detailed review, or alternatively post your own in the comments section below…

*UPDATE 8/7/09: Vileroy are open for "late" weekday brekkie with coffee service starting around 8:30 and food around 9-9:30

First Impressions: Soho Espresso

Finally a café has opened in the Norwood Mall to challenge Cibo’s monopoly, but unfortunately their coffee hasn’t proved them to be a worthy contender just yet. The space previously occupied by often-frantic Homer’s (inside the Foodland shopping centre) on the Parade, Norwood, has now been refitted and renamed ‘Soho Espresso’ – and opened two weeks ago. ACR visited twice in opening week to find the coffee was not as good as expected, but the service was pleasant and efficient. As per standards at Homer’s, a large range of gourmet cakes and sandwich bar options are available, although they don’t appear to offer cooked/breakfast options (yet?). Hopefully their coffee will improve on ACR’s next visit, as it is a refreshing change from being crammed into Cibo’s tight, noisy café.

Review: Biga Panificio

It has taken me months to finally deliver a fair, balanced verdict for Biga Panaficio. Biga shares many similarities to Cibo Espresso in perhaps their "approach" to coffee and food, but has the advantage of not feeling so commercial or pompously arrogant. Located on prime real estate on the corner of Halifax/Hutt St, what could have gone so horribly wrong?

After the new owner moved in at the end of 2008, a sharp change was noticed in coffee and food. No longer were the long glass display cabinets overflowing with Italian pastries, or the mood emanating suave-Italian – the display cabinet offerings have halved, and many standard cakes are presented ready-sliced and wrapped in plastic. The music is now Golden Oldies – which is fine if you want to listen to “I Am Woman” or ABBA when having a coffee.

Apart from changes in the food and coffee departments, some things have remained at Biga: a flatscreen TV showing episodes of Food Safari, relatively efficient service, and a warm, friendly owner. Unfortunately the food and coffee have performed a severe backflip from their original high-quality to a much more mainstream approach. Coffee arrives burnt and bitter with no smooth, creamy flavour or texture; scrambled eggs arrive far too overcooked; and don’t get me started on an incredibly disappointing muesli/yoghurt trifle. I just don’t understand – everything seemed to be going swimmingly before the New Year, so what happened? Nowadays the new owner dominates the coffee making (which I’m sorry to say is probably the main problem), while Biga used to always have an alternating roster of great baristas.

But there is still something at Biga that keeps me going back! We’ve established it’s clearly not the coffee or the breakfast, so what is it? It must be something to do with the location and feel of the café. Biga is a great place anytime of day: weekday morning coffee, afternoon coffee and cake, weekend brunch. The staff are usually friendly and interested, and despite slightly unsuitable music, Biga seems to just click with its unique seating layout – evidenced by many fellow diners any time of day. A small selection of sumptuous, stunning Italian cakes and tortes are available throughout the day, and are definitely a strong point of Biga’s. Shame you can’t get consistently reliable, excellent coffee to have with it…

In summary, Biga has certainly declined in many aspects since opening a few years ago, in particular since new management took over late last year. The breakfasts are average, the coffee too, but the unique, casual ‘panificio e bar’ feel seems to be what keeps people coming back. Just don’t expect to be blown away, and you’ll be fine. And if you’re interested in properly cooked scrambled eggs, head over to Citrus (definitely NOT Alfonso’s!).

website, menu, pics

Coming up this week on ACR:

After a brief hiatus for Easter, ACR is back, bringing you a jam-packed week of reviews. This week on ACR:

Biga
Why this review has taken ACR months - and many visits - to write...

Soho Espresso
ACR visits this new cafe less than a week after their grand opening...

Vileroy
How delicious food makes up for unsatisfactory coffee (to a certain degree)...

Review: Wild Thyme Café

Forfeiting a second trip to Sparrow in order to trial Wild Thyme was a tough choice, but turned out to be beneficial: I’ve now dined at Wild Thyme five times! Wild Thyme Café, situated in leafy North Adelaide, just looks plain groovy. Their website, in fact, is a prime example of what any business (café, restaurant, coffee bar) needs to have nowadays – and everything instilled in their website ‘philosophy’ is clearly reflected in their café, or is it the other way round perhaps? Anyway, the long, coffee-coloured wall has quirky, humorous little tidbits, such as ‘asparagus inspires gentle thoughts’ or ‘ice-cream is exquisite, what a shame it isn’t illegal’, scribbled all over it with pictures to complement. This long wall, and what I’d read on their website, set the scene for this café-cum-organic/health-food-supermarket. In addition to various breakfast/lunch items, Wild Thyme has a mouth-watering display of fresh cakes and salads on display to tempt. Unfortunately (like many other places featured here at ACR), each time I go to Wild Thyme things seem to get worse!

On trip number one I had the standard bacon/eggs, a coffee, and a breakfast smoothie. Only when the food arrived did I realise the $8.50 banana smoothie was a meal in itself (with LSA, wheat germ, etc), and while the menu did clearly state that, I would have expected an “on-the-ball” waitress to kindly (subtly) recommend that I didn’t have both the breakfast smoothie AND a cooked breakfast. But anyway, I digress. The scrambles were particularly “eggy” (i.e. lacking any cream/butter/flavour), and the bacon was quite meaty (i.e. no flavour – yet again), but the bread wasn’t too bad, and the serving size was decent.

On a subsequent visit I tried the bircher muesli, which comes in a massive bowl (note the portioning isn’t overly large, just the bowl) alongside “seasonal fruits” (mine were rhubarb and pear) and yoghurt. Now, the menu states the bircher is soaked in apple juice, which I found out means it is quite watery and thin (not creamy as they haven’t soaked it in milk) – probably great for vegans and vegetarians: who are certainly Wild Thyme’s target audience – but not great for a bircher aficionado!

On every visit the coffee has been rather average – burnt, thin, quite strong/dark – as has the service. The service seems to be below par because Wild Thyme is one of those ‘order-at-the-counter’ cafés – so staff don’t tend to try and engage with you or go out of their way to help you. Don’t get me wrong, the service isn’t bad – it just isn’t nearly as friendly as places such as Biga, Café Espresso 227, etc.

So in summary, Wild Thyme is an excellent looking café that seems to have the right idea about food – it’s just the execution that can sometimes be lacking. But certainly check it out if you’re sick of always going to The Store – Wild Thyme is definitely a pleasant, casual café to have a great time with friends. I can't wait to try their lunch offerings!

Website, pics, menu


Have you been to Wild Thyme? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Introducing: Adelaide Café Map

Now you can view a map of Adelaide cafés, with links to extra content (ACR reviews, cafe websites, etc). View map below, or use this link.


View Larger Map

First Impressions: The Colonist

A couple of years ago we chanced upon the Colonist (The Parade, Norwood) the day before a public holiday – which they claimed to be open for. So, excited we had found somewhere new to try on a day when typically most cafés are inconsistently open/closed, we ducked in to the Colonist for an early weekend brunch. Shame they were closed. A few weeks later, once we’d got over our frustration, we tried again (yes, they were actually open when they said they’d be this time!). Surprisingly good quality breakfast menu centring around eggs with a couple of fruit/muesli options. From memory (it was at least a year ago) the first two visits were quite good – despite not realising the Colonist did serve coffee. When we eventually tried their coffee we realised we hadn’t missed much – and the same experience was had last weekend: the coffee had a very strange flavour, wasn’t very creamy or “together”. The food on the most recent trip presented a few flaws: the tomato was cold, the toast completely soggy. On the plus side, though, really nice scrambled eggs and a generous serve of bacon – oh, and the service wasn’t that bad either.

The main problem I have with the Colonist is the interior – it looks and feels like a pub. Sure, if you can sit outside on a warm weekend morning then it can be quite pleasant, but the Colonist is just not as welcoming or as “open” as some of the better quality cafés (or modern pubs for that matter). Having said that, if I had to choose a place to have breakfast on the Parade, I would either choose the Colonist, or the health food shop/café opposite it, rather than those Bongiourno/Bravo/Manto-style places.

So to summarise, quite a well constructed breakfast that needs some more consistency (and a better vibe – where was the music?) and better coffee to really pull in the crowds, especially given its location away from the main drag of the Parade.

The Colonist
website, menu, pics

First Impressions: Citrus

Not yet ready to retry breakfast at Biga, we decided to head over to Citrus one weekday morning: the menu looked amazing (yet expensive), and we definitely wouldn’t be short of choices.Despite a near-empty restaurant we were seated in the far dining room at the rear of the restaurant. So, sitting in this eerily quiet room (not out front near the coffee machine or entrance) we declined to order the first time round, resulting in the staff never coming back to take our order. Things was not looking good (sic). Of course this wouldn’t have been a problem if we were in the main room as we could’ve caught a waiter’s eye. But anyway. After confusing the waiter with a really quite simple question about the fruit toast, we waited for apricot/coconut fruit bread toasted and served with marscapone and honey, and a serve of the corn fritters served with tomato relish and bacon.

The food and coffee was great. The fritters were a bit soggy, but the dish worked well; the toast seemed a bit plain to me (I thought it should be served with fruit of some description – a compote, or fresh fruit), and certainly seemed to be a smallish serve. Coffee was a little weak in flavour, but nice and smooth/creamy. Citrus’ main problem seemed to be its service and ambience – because we were seated away from all the ‘hustle and bustle’ of the restaurant we felt slightly uncomfortable. If the weather’s nice we’d definitely recommend sitting outside should you decide to visit.

In summary, pending a trial of Citrus’ eggs, Citrus appears to be the best option for food and coffee on the Hutt St / Halifax St corner – but lacking in atmosphere, possibly because of its “posh” or formal appearance. Though Citrus has been around for years, we can't imagine why there weren't more breakfast diners - perhaps business is better on weekends. One to keep an eye on for sure.

Citrus
199 Hutt St, Adelaide (cnr Hutt St & Halifax St)
website, menu, pics

Review: Panacea

Recently the first review of Panacea appeared in the Advertiser (scoring 14/20), but barely even touched on their breakfast/coffee offering. ACR has the full scoop:

For weeks and weeks I have avoided writing a negative review of Panacea in the hope that they would improve. Unfortunately, the longer they've been open the more inconsistent and unsatisfactory they've become.

We were so amazed driving along Halifax St last December to discover a new, very groovy looking restaurant had opened opposite the always-packed the Greek. The next day we went for breakfast and were blown away - a great range of breakfast options with really nice coffee - and my obsession with Panacea's "piadina" began. The piadina in question was filled with serrano ham and cheese, folded over and grilled, then served topped with lusciously creamy scrambled eggs and cherry toms - the piadina and I were engaged, and soon to be married. So you can imagine my dismay when 1) they were shut over the Christmas/New Year period for about a fortnight at least, and 2) they stopped serving a complete breakfast menu on weekdays (although this did result in a very pleasant breakfast at the Greek). Slightly upset, but still addicted to my one true love (piadina/scrambled eggs,) I tried Panacea one Sunday morning - I didn't receive a menu, the coffee was terrible, but the piadina was still enjoyable - and on the next visit my piadina had desserted me: it was off the menu.

At this stage I was truly heart-broken, but thought I would try one last time to see if my piadina had returned. Yet again there had been an about-face with the breakfast menu. Now, on weekends only, a shortened breakfast menu is presented on arrival (muesli and toast/croissants) and several specials are on the blackboard (arabic pancakes, spanish tortilla, standard eggs/bacon). In a word it was disappointing. And this would be a fairly accurate description of the decline in both coffee, food and service - yes, the eggs were well cooked, and the tomatoes were the best "slow-roasted" I've had in months, but the toast, coffee and service was inadequate. I waited far too long for my breakfast, and again, the service was just not attentive at all; the coffee had deteriorated yet again; the toast was pretty much raw with just a few black charcoal marks on it. I do feel terrible giving my worst review to date on ACR to Panacea - a place that looks and should feel incredibly funky - but, in summary, Panacea is just disappointingly inconsistent. Not once since my first visit last year has Panacea got everything back up to the same standard.

There are many more well-rounded, quality places to enjoy a weekend breakfast in Adelaide (Wild Thyme, Sparrow, Decant) so don't let Panacea disappoint - in the same way Biga has since its new owner arrived. Incidentally, an ad for a "qualified chef and a first or second year apprentice" appeared in the paper this week. Interesting...could my piadina soon return?


Panacea Restaurant
72-74 Halifax Street
Website




Have you had breakfast at Panacea? Post your experience in the comments section below:

Review: Phat Coffee

My run-ins with Phat Coffee's coffee a couple of years back had been memorable, but for all the wrong reasons - I remembered the coffee being bitter and thin (as per the Quick Coffee entry earlier this month). Alas the coffee doesn't seem to be any different this time round - though out of the surrounding cafés (Aroma, Kaos) I'd choose Phat any day, with their down-to-earth no-fuss style service and food. Great service.

Phat has a wide range of the usual lunch offerings (wraps, salads, rolls) along with some daily muffins/small tarts/cakes - all reasonably priced. Quite similar to the style of Café Espresso 227 (below) in that it doesn't do cooked 'meals'. Luckily the Bircher makes up for the coffee, and wow - what an amazing Bircher muesli it is. A small cup of creamy oats topped with the most scrumptious smoked almonds and fresh strawberries for a bargain price - the best on-the-go breakfast. My only complaint is that it didn't have sultanas or seeds for variety. Unfortunately the Bircher doesn't seem to be there everyday, but it's worth ducking in on the off-chance it's there, next time you're in the area.

Phat Coffee
207 Hindley St (opposite UniSA City West Campus)

Review: Lavazza Café Espresso 227

Wow. So glad I stopped into this little 'Lavazza' coffee shop on North Terrace this week. Really good service, really good ambience, and overall just a "nice" place really! I'd walked by many times the previous week, but didn't like the look of the dishevelled guy on the coffee machine during the early morning shift, so I'd avoided it. However, when I spied a bircher muesli sitting in the display cabinet I decided I just had to try it.

Again, just a good feel to it. The music might not be to some people's liking, but it isn't so blaringly loud that it's a deterrent (for once - other places should follow suit). The service is very friendly and helpful "one Bircher muesli? OK, won't be a sec - I'll just pop out back and put some fresh kiwi fruit on it". Can you tell I'm a sucker for Bircher muesli? Café Espresso 227 seems to be the kind of café that doesn't have a 'strict' breakfast menu - it's more muesli, ham/cheese croissant, all-day kind of things that can be had for breakfast. That said, why would you want to have anything other than either their bircher muesli or yoghurt/muesli/berry trifle - true, the apple is a little floury, but it is really good value for money. The foccacias also look huge and bulging with fillings.

But on to the coffee. Lavazza seems to be taking the spotlight in most of ACR's coffee reviews nowadays, with a typical Lavazza coffee being smooth and creamy with scarcely any hint of burnt/bitterness. True, the blend does seem a lot weaker than Vittoria/Rio, but hey, if I can have a coffee that doesn't taste bitter I don't mind if it's not an "in-your-face" dark coffee alla Cibo. I'll just have two!

So, duck into Café Espresso 227 (corner of North Tce and Austin St, opposite Adelaide Uni) next time you're on North Terrace for a quick bircher and coffee, and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Quick Coffee: Short Black Espresso Bar, Café Aroma, Saldechin, Citrus, Jam the Bistro

Short Black Espresso Bar (Hindley St)
Vibe 3/5 - hole-in-the-wall arty kind of place; not enough customers to create a "buzz"
Coffee 3.5/5 - not that bad, but didn't blow me away; interesting roast
Service 2/5 - seemed to exude a lack of care: I almost walked out as they didn't really seem that interested in serving me

Café Aroma (UniSA City West)
Vibe 3/5 - seems a bit "commercial"
Coffee 2.5/5 - a usual Aroma coffee: burnt/bitter, extremely hot, thin (but v cheap)
Service 3/5 - a bit too "starbucks-y". not really that personable; fair wait for coffee too

Saldechin (King William St)
Vibe 3/5 - see previous review
Coffee 4.5/5 - first coffee not as good as previous time, but second one was back to the previous standard. DON'T order a mug - it comes in a glass cup/mug. ugh. very off-putting.
Service 3/5 - again, same as last time.

Citrus (Hutt St)
Vibe 2/5 - dead. barely anyone there, lacking in atmosphere.
Coffee 3/5 - certainly wasn't bitter: could barely taste the coffee
Service 2/5 - nothing particularly amazing. Lost marks as we had to wait a VERY long time for our coffees (we're talking at least ten minutes)

Jam the Bistro (Wright St)
Vibe 3.5/5 - just needs customers!
Coffee 3.5/5 - much better than last time
Service 5/5 - really good service at Jam so far

First Impressions: Jam the Bistro

Updated 25/2/09 to include a breakfast review

Jam the Bistro, a modern little bistro (surprised?) that's opened up in Wright St - just off Whitmore Square - seemed the perfect place for a casual lunch early last week. As readers might recall, a breakfast taste-test had been attempted a couple of weeks ago, however Jam is not open for Sunday brekky. But anyway, I digress. The modern red and white colour scheme paints the theme of Jam - clean, no-fuss and fresh food/service. With incredibly polite, intuitive, pleasant service I was surprised by the let-down of the food.

Firstly to the lunch menu. There was scarecly a menu item at Jam I didn't want to eat (except maybe the Kangaroo Mousakka), but in the end, a deboned chargrilled quail served with a radicchio, orange and fig salad appealed. And of course a latte (or two) to accompany (a physical wine list wasn't offered, but I was asked). Alas, my deboned quail arrived bones intact - odd, I know, to expect a deboned quail to arrive deboned. "Never mind," I thought, "it looks amazing". Unfortunately, the orange was quite bitter and unpleasant, and the figs - which I had expected to be fresh - were candied numbers. But don't get me wrong, the dish was very well balanced and structured, it's just that the quail did not arrive as per the menu description.

Now, on to the coffee, which would be best described in one word: odd. It seemed darker than most, so when there was no bitter/burnt taste I was surprised - until I realised there wasn't really any taste at all - so I had a second one just in case it was just me. It wasn't. Really strange coffee - unlike any I've had recently. Luckily my breakfast experience was more structured and concrete in the coffee department.

The breakfast menu was bizarre: five or so items, all of which seemed to have one ingredient that seemed out of place (i.e. 'fusion' seemed to be lurking), that I really didn't feel like eating for breakfast. As if on-queue the waitress informs me I can have any variation/combination if I like, if I just wanted eggs and bacon (What? I wanted to have a standard breakfast item?). The scrambled eggs were the chive kind that I'm unfortunately just a bit over at the moment - it seems to be de riguer at the moment to put chives in scrambled eggs, which is nice occasionally but not every time. Still, they were nicely cooked. The toast wasn't - it was barely cooked at all - and neither was the bacon (over-cooked). The bacon also wasn't particularly flavoursome. So, Jam was disappointing once again in the food department. Jam seems to need a little bit less of the "we've got to be different" motto (need I mention the Kangaroo Moussaka again?) if they want to succeed - there's a time and a place for fusion. Maybe they'll step it up once they've been open longer and get into their groove? Let's hope so.


Jam the Bistro
112 Wright St
Open Mon-Sat for Breakfast
(no website yet)


Have you been to Jam? Share your experience in the comments section below:

Quick Coffee: Phat, illy, Hudsons, Saldechin

Introducing our new section 'Quick Coffee' (!)

Phat Coffee (Hindley St, city)
Vibe 5/5 - great feel
Coffee 2.5/5 - thin; not enough latte foam; cheap ($3); interesting flavour
Service 4.5/5 - v efficient + friendly

illy un caffe bar (Grenfell St, city)
Vibe 4/5 - do I want bass-pounding music at 8am in the morning???
Coffee 3/5 - better foam-age than above; flavour still not well-rounded
Service 3/5 - nothing bad, but nothing extraordinary

Hudsons Coffee (Rundle Mall - West, CBD)
Vibe 4/5 - music bit quiet, incredibly busy (take-aways)
Coffee 3.5/5 - v generous with the foam; still bitter elements though
Service 4/5 - extra marks for customisability, loyalty card

Saldechin (King William St, CBD)
Vibe 3/5 - strange. just a bit weird really (and the self-described "cajun-szechuan" menu needs no further comment)
Coffee - 4.75/5 - oh my god this coffee was amazing (AND it was a takeaway). easily the best coffee all week so far. creamy, not bitter, full flavour (only a teency-weency bit too weak though), no Cibo-burnt notes.
Service 3/5 - meh

Stay tuned - review of the new Jam Bistro coming later this week.

Did we get it wrong? Post your coffee review in the comments section below:

Review: Decant

Decant Restaurant
264 Flinders Street
Open 7 days for breakfast - Breakfast served til around 10 or 10:30 Mon-Sat and til 11:30 Sunday (from memory)
8412 5666
Website and pics


After a disappointing morning at Mortar & Pestle yesterday, I was in serious need of a good coffee (and of course, great brekky). Unfortunately new café 'Jam the Bistro' was shut, so I decided to try my recent favourite 'Decant'. The decor sets the mood at Decant - swish, modern and "sexy". Sadly, the place seems to be lacking "buzz" if you're the only people dining in the small restaurant (which seats about 25-40). This is not surprising given Decant's location at the Hutt Street end of Flinders Street - not really in the CBD, and not really near anything else. The restaurant is situated in and run by the Soho Hotel, which seems to be its saving grace as guests wander in from the hotel.

Surprisingly, today's experience was not nearly as good as two prior visits. The service certainly wasn't as good - I waited for a menu while one of the staff cleared two empty tables. Turns out the fire alarm had gone off that morning, and extra staff had been brought over from housekeeping because it was "so busy" (four other tables of two people). Okay, so I didn't get a menu (or coffee) promptly. But when I did get my coffee, it lacked the beautiful creaminess the Vittoria coffee had had last time I came, and I started to regret coming to Decant today. I was further irritated when no water was offered at all, seeings as I'd missed the "water ordering window" (when you forget to order water with your coffee and food, then forget again once your meal arrives, thus missing the "water ordering window").

But luckily the menu and food made up for these minor flaws. Quite a small, up-market menu, which boasts that all Decant's produce is sourced from within 100km - one of those "free-range eggs" types. Aside from the bacon/egg, fruit salad and pancake staples, Decant's menu also features a wonderfully creamy "proper" (but slightly on the meager side) bircher muesli, and an intriguing dish featuring duck livers (untried). Remembering my smallish quantity of eggs last time - served with watercress and smoked salmon - I had decided on the bircher, until I saw the huge serve of eggs on the table next to me. So, I opted for the usual eggs and bacon. Wow. The scrambled eggs were amazing - so creamy, and the right texture too. Now, I'm not usually a fan of "continental" or crusty sourdough/rye breads for scrambles, but this toast was stunning - probably the best "base" for eggs I've had in a very long time. The bacon was alright - it didn't blow me away, but it certainly wasn't bad. But the combination was excellent; usually so many places are unable to get all three components right, but Decant certainly did today. Hopefully on my next visit the coffee will have returned to its earlier standard, and the outdoor tables will be set up. Decant really has impressed me - much more upmarket than places like Milano/Bocelli/Alfonso's, but not so overly formal (a la Chianti) that you feel uncomfortable popping in for weekend brekky. With a few more fellow diners to create a richer atmosphere this place could really take off.


Has ACR got it wrong? Have you visited Decant? Have your say in the comments section below:

First Impressions: Sparrow

What better way to spend the long weekend - or at least one of the days - than enjoying a late brekky in a groovy new restaurant? Having been disappointed by Biga post- new management and Panacea's inconsistency, surely we would hit upon an eatery in Adelaide that could make nice eggs AND nice coffee?

Enter "Sparrow" stage right. Farina's owners have opened Sparrow Kitchen & Bar at Cibo Ristorante's old digs at 10 O'Connell St, and seem to be on their way to success. With sleek, modern decor and pleasant, laidback staff, we were certainly surprised when we arrived Sunday morning to find few fellow diners (about five other tables).

The breakfast menu, however, was a pleasant surprise. Finally, a place that offered several quality breakfast options that were a bit "outside the square". We're talking corn cakes with avocado, salsa verde and poached egg, or perhaps smoked cod, parmesan and truffle omelette, in addition to some of the usual suspects (bircher muesli, bacon and eggs, etc). AND - good coffee.

Unfortunately, the classic "bacon and eggs" fell slightly short of expectations: one tiny slither of barely-toasted ciabatta was smothered with a very generous serving of scrambles (amazing eggs, mind you), with dry, overcooked, pale, bland bacon and ONE "slow-roasted" tomato cut in half, which (incidentally) does not equal "tomatoes". Other dishes sampled included the aforementioned corn cakes (great combo, perfect poached eggs) and a duck/cottecino/baked bean toasted sandwich. Service could be classed as a little inattentive, and our second round of drinks - ordered with our food - didn't come til after our food arrived.

Still, our first visit was an overall positive experience, and whether Sparrow will survive longer than its predecessors will depend on how their complete breakfast/lunch/dinner package performs. Look out for a full review of Sparrow in the near future here on ACR.

have we got it wrong? have your say in the comments section below...

Foodies' Guide to Adelaide

Introducing a Google Map highlighting several of Adelaide's best food stores, titled The Foodies' Guide to Adelaide. Please include any places we've yet to add in the comments section below so we can continue to keep the guide as updated as possible.


View Larger Map