Capital suggestions
Peruse the menu of Adelaide’s best food and drink
01. SHŌBŌSHO AND SHOSHO
In the heart of the CBD, the Shōbōsho (shobosho.com.au) vibe is loud, lively and veiled in smoke from the open kitchen’s yakitori grill and wood oven. In chef Adam Liston’s own words, it’s an “in-your-face, loud kind of izakaya”. Cult favourites here include the katsu sando (crumbed pork sandwich) and spit-roasted teriyaki chicken. Dine at the communal tables for maximum impact.
At sister izakaya ShoSho (shosho.com.au) in leafy Hyde Park, Adelaide’s answer to South Yarra or Paddington, the mood is more sedate – but only just. A terrific retro playlist (compiled by Nate, the restaurant’s fish supplier) keeps the mood upbeat while the Japanese-Korean-Chinese menu strikes all the right notes. A shallot pancake stuffed with Laughing Cow cheese is ridiculously good, as is the tempura crunch of shiitake mushrooms filled with rare-cooked Wagyu mince. Delicious wine list, too. Dining alone or à deux, be sure to grab a seat at the bar for prime people watching and good chats with staff.
In design and dishes, Osteria Oggi (osteriaoggi.com.au) is the full Monti – as in the hip but ancient Roman suburb renowned for its mod-trad Italian restaurants. The awardwinning interiors combine cloister-like archways with a 20-metre moulded-concrete bar and, out back, a bustling piazza with vine-tangled pergola. It’s like a Fellini film set, with a dramatic staircase leading from the dining room to the gleaming kitchen and a glass-walled salumi room with a fire-engine-red meat slicer centrestage.
The piazza booths are prime real estate but communal seating is best for those wanting a shared Italian feast. Or perch at the bar and begin with smoked scamorza and San Daniele prosciutto croquettes followed by a bowl of oven-baked reginette (crinkle-cut ribbon pasta) with eggplant, tomato, creamy fior di latte and chilli (it’s also available for takeaway).
Oggi is also Roman in its taste for fresh and regional produce – plus the finest imports – served without fuss. Expect blue swimmer crab from Shark Bay, Spencer Gulf prawns and Port Lincoln vongole tossed through squid ink fiori with samphire and ’nduja crumb. Pastas and breads are made in-house daily so even something as simple as spaghetti is a revelation. The wine list is decidedly Italian but has a generous selection of local and other Australian vintages. No matter where you start, the inspired combination of tiramisu and affogato is a clear-cut finish.
03. CENTRAL MARKET
The magic of Adelaide Central Market (adelaide centralmarket.com.au) lies as much in its bounty of South Australian produce as in the way it distils the state’s diversity – cultural, agricultural, gastronomic – into a single location. Since 1869, it’s been the city’s beating heart; a place not merely to shop but to meet friends, eat and drink.
Many of the 70-plus stallholders have served Adelaide for decades. The Old Lolly Shop (known as Blackebys until earlier this year) at stall 33 has been supplying local sweet tooths since 1906. Lucia’s Pizza & Spaghetti Bar, opened by the late Lucia Rosella in 1957, has long been the city’s preferred pizza and pasta fix. Devotees know to go on a Friday for the lasagne layered with up to 14 sheets of pasta.
Market stalls, predictably, feature produce from the Hills and hinterland. There are butchers, Con’s Fine Food continental deli (since 1959) and and a fishmonger (since 1960), Angelakis Bros, the place to shop for Pacific oysters, line-caught squid and barramundi wings.
Kangaroo Island has its own shingle, so too the Barossa Valley and the outback – via Indigenous-owned Something Wild with its bush-meat selection ranging from magpie goose pie and wild hare to wallaby shanks and green ants that retail for more than $600 a kilogram.
There are stalls, too, devoted to yoghurt, mushrooms (including truffles in season) and coffee beans from Ethiopia and East Timor. But a trip to the market is as much about picking up a plate of food as it is the produce. There are several versions of giant paella, including Le Souk’s Algerian one laced with SA mussels, chicken and sausage. There’s Malaysian laksa at Doreen and Charles Lo’s Asian Gourmet, as well as Vietnamese rice paper rolls and Turkish lokum (aka Turkish delight) in lush flavours of pomegranate and pistachio or apricot reminiscent of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.