Botanic Gardens Restaurant

Botanic Gardens Restaurant

Post
Subscribe

Posted 2015-10-15 by Chris Nugenfollow
It was a beautiful warm spring day, the perfect reason to have lunch at the . I'd put on a white summer dress and strolled in the Botanic Gardens, without a clue where the restaurant was. I stumbled across it, like how Hansel and Gretel found the confectionery house. Except there wasn't a witch, and my friend and I won't be eaten. In fact, I had a positive feeling that we will have a fantastic meal - and we did.

The venue was smaller than I expected but it made it cosy and comfortable. It was just beautiful to sit in an airy ambience surrounded by sunlight and greenery.



To start, we were offered housemade sourdough bread with cultured butter. The sourdough was made either with or without squid ink. The addition of squid ink gives it a more earthy essence.



When given the entrée platter, we were advised to eat it in a specified order: kingfish, followed by duck ham then pork terrine. Kingfish sashimi is my favourite crudo dish but this one was devine. It was served with avocado, pickled kohlrabi, puffed wild rice and parsley. I thought there were lots of competing flavours, but they all worked together because the proportions of each component were just right. The next one was cured duck ham with chicken liver parfait, witlof, plums, and seed crisps. There was a lot of technique in this dish. But for all that effort, I still liked the kingfish more. The last dish was my least favourite, probably because it's something I'm not so used to. It was pork and horseradish terrine with plum ketchup, ginger bread and mustard leaves. It was quite strong with a slight fermented taste to it. I did finish this dish and was starting to enjoy it as I kept trying.



For main, I had the Coorong mullet with caramelised octopus, warrigal greens, spring onions and centella leaves. I picked this dish for two reasons: I've never had mullet at a restaurant so was curious how they served it; and I've never had centella leaves with mullet. In fact, I've never been to a restaurant who served centella leaves. But it's the Botanic Gardens. They grow their own herbs and vegetables. I was afraid that the centella may ruin the dish. But I won with my gamble. All the components worked well with one another. The mullet was only slightly seasoned. The flavour was more in the caramelised octopus, which could have been more prominent. The greens and centella leaves added pungent freshness to the dish. The only criticism I have is the tiny little bones in the mullet that would have been impossible to remove. But these bones were small enough to be eaten. I just had to be slightly careful in swallowing. Perhaps this is why mullets are not usually on the menu at restaurants.



My friend had lamb neck with belly bacon, globe artichokes, preserved lemon, spring peas, and wild pea tendrils. The lamb had been cooked for 16 hours and was so soft and falling apart. The bacon and other accompaniments added even more depth to the lamb. This was one of the best lamb dishes in Adelaide.



For dessert, we could not ignore the bombe alaska with pistachio, cardamom and strawberry icecream, and cumquat and rosewater. It was my first bombe alaska and well worth the wait. The meringue was just the right consistency The icecream had such strong aroma. The bombe was the bomb!



We had caramelized quince and frangipane tart with whipped white chocolate and native violets. I'd lost my photo somehow but the dish beautifully presented, and a decent size for just petits fours. The dish was quite sweet as both components were sweet. If we didn't have the bombe Alaska first, then this would have been a good way to finish dinner.



Overall, stumbling across the Botanic Gardens was a bit like discovering a confectionery house. It gave me lots of little sweet surprises. I'll definitely wonder around the forest every now and then!

#adelaide_city
#australian_restaurants
#fine_dining
#food_wine
#restaurants
#romantic
%wnadelaide
192327 - 2023-06-16 03:42:59

Tags

Free
Outdoor
Festivals
Music
Markets
Nightlife
Family_friendly
Fundraisers
Food_drink
Community
Arts_culture
Random
Educational
Shopping_markets
Theatre_shows
Copyright 2022 OatLabs ABN 18113479226