Author: Alex

Europa Espresso Glenelg

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date of visit: Saturday 14 April 2012

We stopped in at Europa for a quick coffee on a Saturday afternoon. The venue is both café (or espresso bar) and restaurant – the two are divided by the bar itself – and the outside seating follows suit.

As we were coffee and caking we sat on the café side, and set about ordering the requisite coffees, babycino and cakes. These were all ordered at the bar, and Andy returned with the edibles but the coffees were brought to the table.

The man behind the bar seemed a little grumpy, but the coffees themselves were fine. I’d ordered two biscuits: a hazelnut log and a coconut macaroon. Being brutally honest, I found both of them a little past their prime – particularly the hazelnut log, which was depressingly soft. However, Andy ordered a fruit danish and said it was really good. When pressed, he put it ahead of his cheesecake at Angs at Marion.

While I’d be happy to give the restaurant part of Europa a go, next time I’m at the Bay in search of a coffee I’ll no doubt be trying a new venue …

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Iberian Invasion

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photos by Alister Robertson

date: Monday 16 April 2012

I’ve been really lucky recently to be involved in a few excellent wine tastings. I don’t always get these written up (posts tend to be long and hard work!) but I’m going to try to get better with that – if only so everyone can feel jealous about some of the lovely stuff I’ve been able to try!

Last Monday Sommeliers Australia organised an Iberian Invasion tasting, hosted by Mark Reginato and Stephen Pannell. We tasted a selection of red and white wines from the Iberian peninsula (that’s Spain and Portugal), as well as a few of Stephen’s wines that have some Spanish influence. It was a great opportunity to try some less well known grape varieties too.

Of the whites, my favourite was the Bodegas Maranones Picarana Albillo 2010 (link only useful if you read Spanish). While it wasn’t massively pronounced on the nose, the palate had a lot more to say. The wine had lovely weight and notes of butter and vanilla from some time spent in new oak. It really reminded me of bread and butter pudding, with a slightly nutty character. Stephen Pannell commented that this wine isn’t a typical Albillo and that they are usually a bit fresher (so a bit more fruit, a bit more acidity), a bit more floral and without the weight or oiliness we saw in this wine. Typical or not, I’d be more than happy to drink this wine and seek out other examples of the grape.

I didn’t take the time to note which of the reds was my favourite but certain wines provoked a bit of discussion. The Bodegas y Vinedos Ponce La Casilla Bobal 2009 proved divisive (I’ve had this wine before and liked it – you can buy it from East End Cellars). There was something slightly green on the nose, along with plenty of dark fruit and on the palate it was all about some lovely juicy black cherries, accompanied by a bit of chocolate. The tannins were certainly there, and grippy to boot, but not mouth puckering and it was all rounded out by good acidity. Personally, I can’t imagine what’s not to like!

The other really interesting wine was one brought along by Mark. The Quinta da Mata Maceda Douro 2003 is a Portuguese blend (from vineyard level upwards – the vines are coplanted and the wine is cofermented) which is fermented in old Port barrels. The wine was really not my cup of tea, at all. It smelled like Port and tasted (to me) like a combination of Port and a red wine that was old and possibly oxidised. You could definitely see the influence of the Port barrels on the finished product and I’m only sorry I can’t find some decent information on the internet to point you towards for further details.

The real highlight of the tasting, for me, was listening to Stephen Pannell. He was a guest panelist when I participated in the Lorenzo Galli Scholarship last year so I knew what I was in for: he speaks incredibly quickly and says what’s on his mind. He calls everything how he sees it. Last Monday he made some great points about marketing, wine making, cork, what sells in Australia, and personal preference.

He made the very salient point that everyone has different taste in music and this is something that is generally embraced. However, within the wine industry, there seems to be a real drive to creating wines that will be universally liked, wines that create consensus rather than discussion.

As usual, it was an excellent afternoon.

Sommeliers Australia‘s SA branch runs a number of tastings throughout the year and many have tickets available to non members. To check out other past events, read Wines of Sicily and Madeira Madness.

India House, Hallett Cove

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date of visit: Sunday 15 April 2012

I’m probably the last person on the planet who has got around to using a group buying deal for heading out to a restaurant. There are plenty of reasons for this but the main one is that people to have a very different experience when dining out on a group on deal. Check out the comment on my review of the King’s Head, for example. I’m also unsure about how fair the relationship between group buying site and business is but I’ll leave you to google to make your mind up about that one.

However, a deal came up for India House and as we’re always keen to visit places close(ish) to home, and as relatively few had been bought*, I thought no harm would come of giving it a try.

Our deal included pappadums and pickles, a shared samosa entrée, followed by our choice of curries, accompanied by naan and rice, as well as a bottle of wine. This set us back just $39 (a considerable discount on the advertised value of $85 – main courses come in around the $15 mark).

I had no troubles getting in touch and making a booking (a common complaint amongst voucher buyers) and when we arrived (6pm) there was just one other table occupied in the restaurant. The restaurant is tiny – there are maybe eight tables, with a few more outside – but it’s obvious that India House does a healthy takeaway trade.

We sat in the window and this suited the baby just fine, as he could maintain inspection of all the comings and goings (and the bright lights of the cars on Lonsdale Highway) while stuffing himself with tasty morsels from our plates. Naturally, we did have to order extra pappadums!

The papadums came with mint chutney, mango chutney and hot lime pickle – my favourite. We decided that the hot lime pickle at India House is better than that which we normally buy at home. The mint chutney was good – it had a clean, fresh mint taste to it, but it was a touch sweet for me. The vegetable samosas were really good: fried in hot, clean oil they weren’t greasy at all, and the filling was excellent. You could definitely taste the fennel. The baby loved the filling but wasn’t so keen on the pastry and I’d have to agree with him. The pastry could have done with being just a touch thinner.

For main course, we ordered with the baby in mind. I chose the butter chicken and Andy the chicken saagwala. The butter chicken was mild but it had the slightly sugar sweet (rather than tomato sweet) taste that you get with tinned tomato soup. This made it a bit cloying after a while and I certainly wasn’t about to gobble up the remaining gravy. Andy’s chicken saagwala was much tastier. It had a bit more of a spice kick to it (although not a lot) but that was tempered by the spinach with a hint of sweetness from some onion. I had no problems finishing off his sauce!

The naan breads were good: the garlic naan looked a bit scary (it looked like there was a TON of garlic on it) but they were both light, crispy and buttery.

Service wise, the staff were really friendly. I’d hazard a guess and say this is a family business with mother and son running front of house. We’d booked a high chair and when we arrived it was given a thorough wipe down in front of us, which is always reassuring. Both waiters were happy and efficient.

India House is not somewhere I’d head for a celebration curry but I really don’t think that’s where it’s pitching itself either. It’s somewhere I’d be perfectly happy to head back to for both take away and a quick meal eating in. We took a takeaway menu with us and I can see us working our way through it over the winter months.

* I bought close to the deal closing and only about 40 had been sold. Compare this to a deal for another restaurant I’d like to try where close to 300 have been sold … I have my reservations about just how well that restaurant will cope.

India House Restaurant on Urbanspoon