Bar Reviews

A Little Light Bar Crawling

- Alex Prichard Leave a comment

Cage Under Lights
photo by Theen Moy, cc licensed
Peel Street … not actually this quiet …

As you’ll know if you live in Adelaide, our liquor licensing laws have changed, making it much easier for small venues to open.  And boy has there been a rush: bars are opening faster than … um, something very fast.

Thanks to an insanely hectic couple of weeks, I’ve actually had a chance to check out some bars, miss out on others and generally wear myself out.

What have I missed? Yes, I’m still the only person in Adelaide (or so it seems) who hasn’t yet been to Clever Little Tailor (CLT). In fact, I’ve got a friend who lives in London who’s been there so maybe I’m the only person in Australia … Every time I wander down Peel Street, CLT is full to the brim and I’m just not the kind of person who queues. In addition to this, I’m also old and grumpy and once I have my drink, I like to sit down quietly and have a nice chat. I guess I’ll just have to make sure that next time I head there I get there at 4pm when it opens!

So whizzing past CLT but staying on Peel Street, we headed in to Peel St, where we managed to find a sneaky seat at the bar, only to be told that it was booked for about 20 minutes or so. So now we book seats at bars in Adelaide? Peel St is actually more restaurant than bar and the menu, wine list and friendly service were enough for it to be put on the ‘to do’ list. If you want to head there for a meal I’d recommend booking. If you’re just having a cheeky drink, you’ll have to try your luck.

On the same evening, with still an hour or so to kill til our dinner reservation at Cos, we headed to Leigh Street. We knew that Udaberri would be totally rammed (and we were right) so we sat outside Casablabla and enjoyed a couple of drinks. We were actually able to hear each other talk! We left just before the belly dancing kicked in though …

On a separate occasion (this time a Wednesday night) I ducked in to Proof (at just 8 weeks or so old this is nowhere near the baby of the Adelaide bar scene …), and enjoyed a glass of Austrian Grüner Veltliner and a conversation with some friends. However, it was busy and I suspect come Friday nights you can expect to be shoulder to shoulder with the bar men (who, I might add, were nattily dressed in shirts, ties and waistcoats). Proof is on Anster Street, just off Waymouth Street (usually described as being behind Press*).

Meal wise on these occasions I ate at Cos, on Leigh Street, and Melt, on Waymouth Street. At Cos we had a lovely meal (sweetbreads, steak tartare and lemon tart for me, pork belly, fish and affogato for Andy, accompanied by Rieslingfreak No 8) and were very well looked after. At Melt, they were happy to adapt the tasting menu (insanely reasonably priced at $39 a head) to accommodate the vegan at our table. While some of the dishes were a little under-seasoned some were absolutely amazing. The stand out dish for me was the No 38 pizza: chargrilled courgette/zucchini, caramelised onion, speck, lemon and mint. That was one serious pizza.

This is just a tiny bite of the bars popping up all over Adelaide … what’s your favourite new drinking hole?

Loft Oyster and Wine Bar

- Alex Leave a comment

date of visit:  Wednesday 22 May 2013

disclaimer: I was a guest at the Loft launch party.

Untitled
how every good party should wrap up …

With licensing laws changing to accommodate small bars and an increasing number of wine bars, I think it’s obvious to all that Adelaide’s bar scene is undergoing a subtle change. While there may be some very real concerns about whether or not Adelaide can sustain all these venues, the people behind Loft Oyster and Wine Bar* certainly think it can.

Loft is a massive, first floor bar at the Morphett Street end of Gouger Street. It actually opened about a month ago and a friend hosted  his farewell drinks there a couple of weeks back. I was unable to head out that night but fortunately, karma looked on me kindly and an invitation to the official launch party landed in my inbox.

Once the issue of what to wear had been solved (and yes, if you’re heading somewhere straight from work this does represent a dilemma!), and we’d eaten some dinner, it was time for my friend and me to head to Loft.

The red carpet was out for the VIPs and we headed upstairs to be greeted with glasses of Louis Roederer Champagne. One of my biggest pet peeves of all time is people referring to random sparkling wine as Champagne. In Adelaide, of all places, we should know better. I’ve been to weddings in very flash hotels here where guests are offered “Champagne” only for it to be Australian sparkling wine (and not even locally produced). So I was thrilled that the invitation delivered on its promise, because a wine bar that messed that up would really suffer in the credibility stakes!

The bar runs along one side and the room is broken up at the far end by a circular curtain. The street facing side of the room has a balcony which was all opened up. This was fantastic because even though it was a relatively cool night, it helped keep the interior area cool and comfortable. The downside was, of course, that people were smoking on the balcony, and every now and then you’d get a breeze of slightly less than fresh air. I’m not sure how you’d fix that but maybe something the Loft management can consider is designating part of the balcony a smoking area and keeping the doors and windows there closed.

Being a launch party, I’m not in a position to comment on the usual beverage selection (or prices) but I was really impressed with a large counter which played host to an interesting and broad selection of white wines.  Someone with more than a passing interest in wine put it together:  there aren’t many venues where you can find Ducks in a Row Fiano side by side with Greywacke Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc and a Chablis … (name dropping over, I promise!).

Untitledunfortunately not my bar at home …

I didn’t try any of the canapés (yes, perhaps I ate too much at dinner) but my friend, purely in the interests of research and the integrity of this review, tried an oyster which received a thumbs up.

Loft was formally launched by Ben Tolstoshev of The Lane, with a very short and sweet speech that allowed everyone to get back to the serious socialising!

Untitled

Loft is open Wednesday – Sunday and for wine drinkers I’d say it’s a must visit venue. For everyone else, I’d head along and check it out because you’re bound to find something you’ll enjoy.  I know I’ll be heading back to take a serious look at those white wines …

* Loft’s website is under development:  currently it’s just a landing page.

Loft Oyster and Wine Bar on Urbanspoon

Giallo, Kent Town

- Alex Leave a comment

Untitled

date of visit: Friday 14 December 2012

Giallo, a wine bar on Rundle St East, has been on my ‘list’ for absolutely ages. Kate and I were trying to line up a drink and, while a work Christmas function chose the date for us (that’s my fault, fitting as much toddler free activity as possible into one evening!) there was some umming and aahing about venue. Both Giallo and Cork worked, with Giallo winning out – largely on the basis of parking and the “I haven’t been there before” factor (on my part).

Giallo has a stylish but not in your fact street front presence. I was walking on the opposite side of the road and if I hadn’t been looking out for it I suspect I might not have noticed it. Hint: it’s next to the post office/depot which you simply can’t miss.

As it was a very pleasant afternoon we sat outside, so I have no idea what the interior is like. The menu and the wine list that are online are not up to date (tututut) but give a very good indication of what you can expect to eat and drink. I began with a glass of Good Catholic Girl Teresea Riesling from Clare. This is a very atypical Clare Riesling: it’s not relying on a steely acid backbone and a ton of lemon/lime at all. It’s a lot more subtle than that. It’s a wine I’d revisit with this in mind, because at the time I was a bit shellshocked by it not conforming to type. Kate tried the Ngeringa Rosé from the Adelaide Hills. Next up, I was tempted to try a Portuguese wine until the bottles appeared and I made a last minute hasty switch to the Fraser Gallop Chardonnay. A really wise move as this is a lovely wine and one I’ll be seeking out in future.

After one glass of wine I was ready for something to eat. Unfortunatley for me, Giallo wasn’t quite ready to start its dinner service but a bit of a chat to our waiter, who had a quick conflab with the kitchen, meant that they were happy to put together something for me. This was probably helped (a lot) by my attitude of “well I eat everything so whatever is easiest will be fine”. I was presented with a beautiful, beautiful plate of salmon carpaccio, dressed with pickled ginger and microgreens. In amongst the dressing (once I decided I could indeed messy up the plate!) were caraway seeds, which not only made a great textural contrast but worked really well with the fish and ginger.

Untitled

It was a really delicious plate of food.

Giallo isn’t cheap: the salmon was $22 and the wines by the glass all hover around the $9 mark, but I think you’d struggle to find a venue that’s offering the same things at lower prices. I was also really impressed to see groups with babies and children arrive be made as welcome as those having post work drinks.

Although my visit to Giallo was only brief, I was impressed by the wine list, the food and the staff. Somewhere I’d definitely return for a more leisurely outing.

Giallo Wine Bar on Urbanspoon