THE LITTLE RICKSHAW
A menu of Southeast Asian spice and soul showcases the best of the Fleurieu Peninsula, writes KATIE SPAIN.
If the number of local winemakers dining at The Little Rickshaw is an indication of community support, owners Mike and Trinh Richards have it in spades. Wine and hospitality stalwarts are all part of the patchwork at this Southeast Asian-inspired restaurant. The regulars were there in 2017, when TLR launched as a pop-up Vietnamese takeaway stand in the quaint town of Aldinga. Back then,
Trinh and Mike juggled hospitality day jobs and ran their little stall on Sundays with the help of Trinh’s mother Loan (aka “Ma”) who grew up in Vietnam’s Bao Lô. c and her husband (a former fisherman) who hails from Mũi Né.
Word of mouth buoyed TLR’s transition from pop-up, to café, and finally, the bustling haunt it is today. A wooden A-frame leads the way to the 1850s blacksmith hub’s rustic rabbit warren of stone and corrugated iron walls. The long, narrow kitchen looks out over a courtyard which, weather pending, allows enthusiastic waitstaff to comfortably welcome 40.
Over the years, the menu underwent a culinary metamorphosis of sorts. It just keeps getting better. The efforts in the kitchen are collaborative, adventurous and inspired. TLR’s soul is Vietnamese but dishes (split across bites, grazing, feasting and dessert) shift and change with the seasons. In winter, Thai spices permeate curries and during summer, the hibachi gets a workout. Japanese flavours such as kosho, koji, smoked soy, and white shoyu feature in the likes of plump Abrolhos Island scallops nestled in decadent bone marrow and torched miso butter.
In among the exotic ingredients is a healthy smattering of Fleurieu Peninsula producers; Feather & Peck eggs, Choice Mushrooms, Cape Calamari, Fleurieu Milk and prime Ellis Butchers cuts.
All dishes are best shared and many put vegetables in the spotlight. Vegan kimchi dumplings heave with a medley of house-made kimchi, roast carrot, gochugaru (Korean chilli powder), candle nuts, gochujang (fermented red chilli paste), roast capsicum, Japanese brown rice vinegar and sesame oil. Protein is put on a pedestal, too. Wagyu thin skirt topped with a chimichurri-style betel leaf sauce and bonito vinegar is an exercise in balance, while the palate-bending garlic chilli handpulled noodles with char-grilled SA king prawns showcases the kitchen’s 19-plus varieties of chilli. The small but beautifully executed dessert menu highlights Trinh’s love of pepper; none more than the savoury pink pepper panna cotta with Davidson’s plum compote, star anise and crisp palm sugar wafers. Like the clientele, the wine list heaves with small-batch innovative McLaren Vale producers. A seat among them is coveted but well worth the effort.