Author: Alex Prichard

Coffee by the Beans (CBTB)

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Home made berry crumble
Crumble that’s worth going out of your way for

date of visit: Monday 9 October 2017

Being out at Lockleys at an unholy hour of the morning (especially for school holidays) meant that by 10ish I was on the hunt for the nearest coffee. I was quite surprised that Google offered a very generous selection of quirky, indy coffee places along, or very near to, Henley Beach Road.

CBTB happened to be the nearest and while I failed in trying to convince a small person to walk there we were really lucky and got a park right out the front. On this note – the address is Henley Beach Road and Google tried to send me down Rowells Road, but you are better off turning on to Douglas Street. From here, you will spot the café immediately AND, gods willing, you’ll also score a park.

The café is quite small but seating is maximised by the use of long tables and benches rather than smaller, individual tables. We walked in around 1030 and it was busy but there were plenty of spare seats. About half an hour later, this situation had changed and it was really busy. While a lot of people were waiting for takeaway coffees, I’d still recommend turning up earlier rather than later.

Even though it was busy, the staff were very friendly and welcoming and before long we had a choc-chip biscuit in hand, an order for a babycino and long black underway AND a small slice of homemade berry crumble.

And, if I hadn’t ordered that berry crumble, I probably wouldn’t be writing this. One of my (many) bugbears is cafés that only serve food that comes in portions the size of my head. Sometimes – in fact, most of the time – if I want a snack, I want exactly that. A snack. Something small to tide me over til whatever I’m eating properly next time. So this small slice of crumble was exactly what was called for. What was even better was that it wasn’t ludicrously sweet.

I also liked that, as we were eating in, my coffee came in a proper coffee cup (Master 6’s babycino was in a paper cup – probably to avoid any small child related carnage) AND Master 6’s biscuit wasn’t massive either.

CBTB is not, by a long stretch, close enough for it to be my local, but the crumble alone makes it worth a detour!

Coffee by the Beans (CBTB)
Shop 3, 394 Henley Beach Road
Lockleys SA 5032
ph: (08) 8443 4007

coffee by the beans Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Marcellina’s Turns 50

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Fresh pizza toppings
Spread ready to go!

date of visit: Tuesday 30 May 2017
disclaimer: I was invited to the dinner

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: On Monday 5 June, to celebrate 50 years of pizza in SA, Marcellina’s in Hindley Street (and note, the Hindley Street store only), from 11am – 4pm, will be selling the original Marcellina special (9″) for just … EIGHTY CENTS. Limit of two pizzas per person.

I grew up in Pizza Hut’s heyday. In fact, before Pizza Hut even did the all-you-can-eat thing. And even then, my parents would talk about Marcellina’s and how it was a revelation when it opened on Hindley Street. I was amazed that there was a time when there was so little Italian food in Adelaide, let alone that that time was within living memory.

So finding out that this year Marcellina’s celebrates 50 years as a proud South Australian business kind of made me feel … old.

The recent gelid weather is perfect red wine and pizza weather, so on Tuesday night, I collected a friend and we headed to Hindley Street to help the Marcellina’s team celebrate. We had no idea what to expect and when we arrived we were a little concerned to see the shop looking quiet and empty. Of course, the great thing about a pizza shop is that there is always pizza.

Marcellina’s original store on Hindley Street is also home to a large function room (Bebe’s Room) at the back of the store … and there, across the length of the room, the most beautiful table had been set up.

A quick introduction revealed that guests would be making their own pizzas from the amazing spread in front of us! The original idea had included us rolling out our own dough and while that had been shelved as being impractical (thank goodness!) balls of fresh dough were included in platters across the table, just so we didn’t forget why we were there.

There was also plenty of food for immediate grazing, along with the all-important red wine, but we didn’t have to wait long before a pizza base (in an individually numbered box) arrived and we could load it up as we wished. The Marcellina pizza ovens are capable of turning out a pizza in just SIX minutes so any delay in eating was solely on our own heads.

pizza
The finished product!

Obviously I enjoyed my pizza (although I do rather wish I’d added the char-grilled capsicum to it) and, because I managed to eat just over half of it, it meant I had a rather tasty afternoon tea the following day!

I don’t normally do this but I’d like to commend Sassafras PR and Marcellina’s on what was easily one of the best events I’ve attended. It was well planned and interactive, with a brief, but informative, introduction. The area in which we were hosted was well lit and beautifully set up (important for photos and social media!). Crucially, for a Tuesday night, it ran to time. OK – super-speedy pizza ovens and getting your guests to build-their-own undoubtedly helps in that respect – but for anyone who has to get up the next day (whether that’s for work or for loud children – or a combination of both) this is crucial.

Even if you’re not able to take advantage of the 80c pizza special, I’d recommend taking the time to make a pizza pilgrimage to Marcellina’s on Hindley Street. A slice of South Australia’s culinary and restaurant-trade history.

Marcellina
273 Hindley Street
Adelaide SA 5000
8211 7560

Crowne Plaza, Adelaide

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Hotel bed
A lovely big bed with crisp white sheets – best thing ever!

date of stay: 22 April 2017

This will sound ridiculous. But if you own cats you will understand. It’s really hard to get a solid night’s sleep. Our little characterful fluff-balls have their own personalities. Amply-sized personalities. That sometimes manifest themselves LOUDLY in the wee hours of the morning.

So even when Master 6 has a sleepover, we don’t actually tend to get a solid 8+ hours sleep. To try to rectify this, for Christmas we decided that we would treat ourselves to a night or two away and play tourist in our own city.

There are quite a few hotels we’d like to try so settling on one came down to a compelling price on the weekend we had available. And so we found ourselves making a booking for the Crowne Plaza.

I booked through a third party website, although the Crowne Plaza (as part of the Intercontinental Hotel Group) does have a best rate guarantee if you book through them. A couple of days before our stay, I received a phone call from the reservations team – I thought this was a nice touch because, when booking online, there is always a slight panic that something will go wrong. By talking to a human being you can confirm your checkin time, bed configuration and request a late checkout. I was also offered a discounted room upgrade which we decided we didn’t need.

Andy actually did the checking in, while I was out at lunch with a friend (I know! Hard life for some!), and I turned up to check out our room. A massive bed with crisp white sheets (I never know whether the big beds or the sheets are the best thing about good hotels!), in a good size room with a decent size bathroom. Because we had a Superior King Room (this cost us $177) we had no bath – this would have been one of the upgrade features, had we gone for it.

The room also had some local and business magazines in it and a wall-mounted tv that actually just had all the usual free-to-air channels available (rather than the ludicrous cut-down hotel-special set of channels you sometimes get).

Another upgrade feature we missed out on was a view over Hindmarsh Square. Our view was north over some rooftops – again, not something that bothers us, but if a view is high on your list of priorities make sure you book appropriately!

We decided not to eat in at the hotel, for either dinner or breakfast (I’ve eaten at Red Salt a couple of times before) but we did check out the bar. Hotel bar prices are always a little steep but happy hour at the Crowne Plaza was great – an on-premise only Tatachilla sparkling wine for $6 a glass which was actually quite reasonable. The bar staff were switched on, attending tables and remembering what we’d previously ordered – so big ticks all round there.

Unfortunately, we didn’t think to pack things like bathers so we couldn’t suss out the pool (and gym, and spa, sauna, steam room …) – something we’ll be putting on our list for next time! I’m informed by a friend who has also stayed at the Crowne Plaza that the ‘health  and wellbeing’ facilities are great so perhaps learn from our mistake!

The Crowne Plaza is located in Hindmarsh Square so just a hop, skip and jump from tons of great restaurants, bars and even breakfast or brunch spots. Parking is probably a challenge so either make use of the hotel’s valet parking or do what we did, and use public transport!

Our weekend at the Crowne Plaza gets a big thumbs up!

Of course, you can’t do a weekend away without food … 

Poached eggs on toast
Brunch at Bambi & Co – eggs, spinach, rye bread and dukkah

Dinner was at Seoul, a small Korean restaurant on Hyde Street, just off Pirie Street. I recommend the kimchi pancake followed by bibimbap, paired with one of the Korean beers on offer. We had a few post-dinner beers at Brick City on Grenfell Street. And brunch was at Bambi & Co on East Terrace, where the coffee was excellent and I very much enjoyed my poached eggs and spinach.

Crowne Plaza Adelaide
16 Hindmarsh Square
Adelaide SA 5000
ph: (08) 8206 8888