Orana Restaurant

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Restaurant Orana is the epitome of modern Australian cuisine - native ingredients from far and wide, foraged by the chefs for use at the centre of their dishes.

The team, headed up by renowned chef Jock Zonfrillo, is proving Australian ingredients are being under-utilised.

Service is impeccable, the perfect mix of friendliness, knowledge and refinement. The choreographed placing of plates and other vessels on your table is an example of their well rehearsed performance.

And the performance extends to the food. There is theatre, but only enough to add to the sensory experience, it's not overdone.

Your night begins with an onslaught of snacks, which was the highlight of our evening - five rounds, with multiple offerings at each. We particularly loved the potato damper cooking on hot coals, served with macadamia butter for the vegetarian and lamb butter for the carnivore. My skewer of charred iceberg lettuce with carrot emulsion and the wattleseed ice cream were also standouts.



Four main dishes followed. One blew me away and the other three were pleasant but lacking some balance (mostly too acidic). The course I'm still salivating over is the pine mushrooms on a bed of glazed lentils and walnuts - warming, earthy, sweet and salty.



Two desserts finished our degustation. The first was a deliciously creamy, set buttermilk with strawberry and eucalyptus. The second was our favourite and ensured we finished on a high - a jerusalem artichoke ice cream, piped back into its own skin which the chef had transformed into a crispy shell, served with a ginger nut crumb. Perfection.



The dinner ends there unless you choose to purchase coffee and petit fours for an additional $15. You'd think with the price of dinner these extras might be included in the cost, as they are at Hentley Farm, but alas you are charged for these luxuries if you choose them. Close to $20 for still water was a surprise upon receiving the bill too - again I think this should be incorporated in the cost.

Overall we enjoyed our night, loved the service and thought the food showcased Australia's native ingredients with sophistication. It's a unique dining experience in Adelaide and one we'd recommend. 8/10.

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