Restaurant Reviews

Zambrero

- Alex Leave a comment

date of visit:  March 2010

The latest addition to Rundle Street, Adelaide is the very green Zambrero – the home of some very fresh, very fast Mexican food.

As I have the luxury of working around the corner I’ve been able to check out Zambrero not once, but twice.  On my first visit I opted for the Dos Capas – a taco wrapped in a tortilla, with the chicken filling, and plenty of salsa, salad and chilli sauce.  At around $5 this was almost the perfect lunch size for me … almost but not quite.

So on my next visit, I chose a beef burrito, not mentioned on the website.  First time around I’d been scared by how large they were, but I guess on the second visit I was feeling hungry or greedy … as by the time I was three quarters through my burrito I was well and truly full.  Not bad at all for $10.

The beef was definitely my favourite filling – laced with cumin, one of my favourite spices.  However, the Dos Capos was definitely nifty – the soft tortilla holds the taco (and filling) as it cracks and crumbles, so you can enjoy the pleasing crunch without ending up with filling down your front.

The salads are all super fresh – both times I’ve visited the small restaurant has been almost drowning in boxes of lettuces and avocados.  Most trade seems to be take away but there is a small dining area and the enthusiastic luncher can even take advantage of the margaritas on offer.  Apparently a beer garden is underway, which could make Zambrero a very dangerous place indeed … especially as Zambrero is open until 3am Fridays and Saturdays.

Zambrero

Tasty, fast Mexican

Rating:4.0 stars
****

Tangritah Uyghur

- Alex 3 Comments

date of visit:  December 2009

NOTE: since our visit the restaurant now claims to be under new management … we haven’t made it back to see if things have changed.

It was up to Andy to choose a venue for a Friday night dinner and, without hesitating, he knew he wanted to try out Tangritah Uyghur* on Grote Street.

This is a restaurant which is easy to miss – it is towards Morphett Street on the northern side of Grote, with a tiny shop frontage. A sign announces “Tangritah Uyghur Shish Kebab Restaurant: all foods are especially handmade”.

The Uyghur are an ethnic group which, predominantly, lives in north western China. They are Turkic, rather than Chinese, and their religion is Islam. In recent times, there has been some tension between the Uyghurs in China and the Chinese administration.**

Inside, the restaurant has just a few tables and the majority are set up bench-style, so you may end up sharing space with other diners. It is quite basic but as long as you’re not expecting silver-service I can’t see how this would be a problem.

There’s quite a range of dishes on the menu, and most are handily priced at just $10.  We opted for lamb kebabs (5 for $10), a lamb pan pie (both Uyghur specialties) and a dumpling soup.  To drink we just enjoyed the green tea.  This meant that the bottom line was just $30 for ample food for 2.

The kebabs were served on huge skewers with a sensible dose of chilli.  By this I mean that you could taste the chilli but it would probably only frighten the most sensitive palates.

For me the real wins of the meal were the pan pie and the dumpling soup.  In my opinion, it’s possible that Tangritah Uyghur’s dumplings give Dumpling King a run for its money.  Of course, that might be a point which requires further investigation …

The pan pie was not for the faint hearted … a lightly spiced lamb mince filling was encased in bread and then shallow fried.  This is the type of food I love but it’s possible that people watching their diet might feel a little differently!

We polished off all of our food and felt very full afterwards so I suspect we may have been a little ambitious when it came to ordering.  We watched tables near us and parties of 4 were happy sharing one of the $25 hot pots.  A lot of the food is very rich and works on the principle of taking a little meat and making it go a long way.  The lamb pan pie, in particular, would be fantastic winter fare.

If you happen to be near the Central Markets and you happen to be hungry, then a visit to Tangritah Uyghur should be on your list of things to do.

Tangritah Uyghur Shishkebab Restaurant on Urbanspoon

address: 116 Grote Street, Adelaide, SA, 5000

Tangritah Uyghur

Incredibly cheap and tasty

Cheap, tasty Uyghur food – specialties like dumpling soup, shishkebabs and lamb pan pies. Hearty and warming food.

Rating:4.0 stars
****

*If, like me, you have no idea how to pronounce this, it’s “wee-gar”.
** As this is a food blog rather than an ethnography or political blog, I’m going to leave it at that.

Farina

- Alex Leave a comment

 

 

FARINA HAS CLOSED.

date of visit:  25 Nov 2009

Adelaide has no shortage of pizza and pasta places … cafés line Rundle Street and menus merge in to one another.  It’s such a shame because Italy offers such a wide range of variations on the pizza and pasta theme that I can never understand why anyone would want to limit their eating.

This made the discovery of Farina particularly refreshing.  Earlier this year, unable to secure a booking at another venue, a group of us booked at Farina by chance.  On that occasion, we shared pizzas and wrapped up with dessert but we all came away impressed with the food and the service.  After all, what other pizza place offers a white anchovy pizza? Or potato, rosemary, truffle and taleggio pizza?

Subsequent visits have allowed for a more thorough exploration of the menu:  I’ve worked my way through quince tarts, pastas, pizzas, and sundry main courses.  The most recent visit saw a return to the potato pizza, rich with truffle followed by a pappadelle with star anise braised rabbit, chilli, rosemary and mushroom which was delicious, even if, after the pizza I was unable to eat all of it.

On the same evening others at the table enjoyed rabbit liver pâté, pizza with pork and fennel sausage, capsicum, olive, asiago and chilli, and braised rabbit with soft polenta, as well as a side dish of gorgeous rosemary roasted potatoes. Between four of us we also worked our way through two bottles of very sensibly priced local Shiraz. No surprise then that, on this occasion, there was no space left for dessert!

I’ve eaten at Farina now several times and not only is the food consistently good but the service is infallibly efficient and friendly. In short, the experience has never been short of excellent.

As you might expect, a trip to Farina is not bargain-basement material, but it cannot be considered expensive. And let’s face it – if you are after Adelaide’s cheapest pasta you are probably not after star-anise braised rabbit at the same time. But, if you do want to eat some interesting and innovative Italian food and eat it in a stylish, relaxed venue then you should get yourself to Hindmarsh Square.

Contact:  Farina Kitchen & Bar, 39 Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide, SA, 5000, phone: (08) 8227 1007

Farina Kitchen and Bar

Excellent and innovative city centre Italian

Rating:4.5 stars