Mantra on King William

We have been aiming to head to Mantra on King William for years literally since it opened in 2007.

Tonight we are celebrating,

You enter mantra through an over-sized front door, it adds to the grandiose oldie world atmosphere created inside.

The dark wood antique tables are set with beautifully shining glassware calling out for wine.

The menu is a hand written backboard, beautiful handwriting. Unfortunately the Sous Vide Lamb Backstrap was unavailable.

We chose Patrocinio Zinio Tempranillo Graciano Doca Rioja from Spain ($44)

Herb bread with Oil - the oil contained seaweed, salty, moreish, perfectly matched with the rosemary flavored bread.

A wonderful Cauliflower velouté with green pea and chive garnishing, It was very creamy and had a nice Parmesan taste unfortunately the chive garnish was a little overpowering and detracted from the overall flavor

Red Braised Pork Hock with Roasted Green Lobster and crisp Hen's Egg ($36)
The boy had been considering the Sous Vide Lamb however that was unavailable he went the pork hock instead. The egg was poached then coated in polenta and fried. whilst the inside of the egg was still runny the polenta on the outside was very rough, not a favorite. The cucumber was a refreshing break to the fatty pork hock although with only 4 slices it hardly counted as a main ingredient. This dish is served with a stock poured over at the table, this was a nice touch and a very nice stock.

Grass Fed Fillet of Beef with Chevre filled Zucchini Flower and truffled potato puree ($35)
I ordered medium rare, perhaps I should have ordered rare as the beef was very tough. I loved the chevre filed zucchini flower I didn't realise the flower continued to be attached to the zucchini as it grew, the zucchini was really crunchy and the flavors contrasted well with the beef. The Truffled mash came across as quite nutty and was very creamy. The surprise delight was the little roasted potatoes at first I thought they were scallops (perhaps I had had too much wine) and was delighted how they added texture to the whole dish.

Steamed Broccoli with anchovy Cream ($9) and Roasted New Potatoes with Dijon Cream ($9)
The sides were a big disappointment.
The broccoli itself was delicious served in a little butter perfect the anchovy cream not so much.
The potatoes would have been much better on their own, the Dijon Cream coated the skin and didn't really add anything to the flavor, something was need to cut through the grease a light roast potato with herbs and sea salt would have been a much better match. Not even the tiny tongs could make these sides work.


The overall ambiance of Mantra has been well designed, The waitress was lovely and took time to discuss the menu with us. We went on a Wednesday night and there were 3 other tables booked. I believe there are some changes going on in the kitchen at the moment and hopefully things will pick up. We had a nice evening but ultimately the food did not live up to expectations and with so much tasty competition just down the road it's not worth the price


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Mantra on King William
36 King William Rd
GOODWOOD SA
Tel. 08 8377 7201
e-mail: ben.warren@mantraonkingwilliam.com

Opening Hours: Tue-Fri: Lunch & Dinner
Sat: Dinner
Sun: Breakfast

The Stag, Rundle Street

Friday Late night shopping can really wear you out. We went looking for food on Rundle Street and decided to try The Stag I've had the cone of chips here before and loved the cone holder they bring to the table, It advertises itself as Adelaide's worst vegetarian restaurant, due to the quantity of meat on it's menu.

The boy went the Jucy Lucy ($20) at the recommendation of the girl behind the bar. The Jucy Lucy is a cheeseburger with the cheese inside the beef pattie.

I went the Chili Lime Chicken($26), Half a chicken marinated in Chili and Lime served with chips.

Unfortunately neither of us thought our food was great. The Jucy Lucy was really greasy, which I guess it to be expected but there was no salad or anything to cut the grease just bun-burger-bun. I was a little worried when I ordered the Chicken that it would be too big or too spicy, I asked the girl behind the bar if it was very spicy, her response of "I dunno" showed she couldn't care less. It arrived and was quite small and not spicy at all, it was a really sweet coating, and the flavour was only on the skin it hadn't made it into the meat at all, more like a glaze than a marinade.

I have to admit that the chicken was cooked well, nice, juicy and tender with a crispy skin. But very disappointing meal, afraid we won't be heading back.


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McLaren Vale Wine Tour -d'Arenberg

A few weeks ago I awoke extremely early for a Sunday morning and headed out to McLaren Vale with a great group of friends to celebrate C's 33rd Birthday. Our first stop was d'Arenberg



d'Arenberg is located in a beautiful building, surrounded by vines. the Building is split in two, Restaurant on one side and most importantly the cellar door on the other. The cellar door is warmed by an open fire and has a very long bar to cater for the many samplers.


I've never seen so many wines on tasting in one cellar door. We did our best to try them all but with a whole day of wine drinking(ahem, Tasting) ahead after trying most of the whites I cherry picked a few reds to try.


I had a wonderful Idea that I would photograph all the really tasty ones and then I would have a record of which ones I liked!! The first to get photoed was the feral fox, Pinot Noir. Unfortunately my plan went out the window here as I took the photo before I tried it! The label was just so pretty.
It's strange, after years of buying cheap wine in bottle shops I had decided that the prettier the label the worse the wine (The worst wine I ever tried was in Edinburgh, I can't remember the name but it came in a metallic pink bottle and had a silhouette of a girl dancing, Very cool bottle very bad wine). If it's a good wine it doesn't need a fancy label to sell it.
I'm not sure if that works in Australia. This wine was tasty and the penguin wine guide gave it 91 points which is apparently a good thing.


Next up was The Wild Pixie, (95% Shiraz, 5% Roussanne) I'd never heard of the Roussanne grape before, I liked it. I also liked that the fruit are foot trod! just think of those purple toes!


This was my favorite from d'Arenberg The Derelict Vineyard, Grenache.
This was light and tasty with flavours that made your mouth watter. A vineyard was discovered overgrown and unattended, the vine was nursed back to life and this is the wine it produces. mmmm.


Lastly who can go past a bubbly red. Peppermint Paddock fills you with bubbles perfect on a summers day or in this case a cold autumns day warming up by the fire.



Thanks to Robyn's Southern Spirit Tours who were our guides and Drivers. Everyone had a great day definitely one to do again.

Ristorante Pinocchio, Unley Rd

Me and the boy headed out for Dinner the other night to Unley Road. I really fancied Asian food and there are a couple of nice restaurants there I fancy trying.

However the menu and fantastic atmosphere of Ristorante Pinocchio changed my mind and had me craving Italian instead.

The Restaurant is quite new to the Unley Strip (I think it used to be an internet cafe, but the renovations make it un-recognisable) The furniture is wonderfully solid, big heavy chairs selection of small and huge long tables make it perfect for couples or large groups. The fresh white walls are decorated with colourful Pinocchio paraphernalia of all shapes and sizes from days gone by.


It was a cold night so we started with a bottle of Italian red to warm us from the inside out! I think it was a Zinfandel although I can't quite remember, the Fruity blackcurenty flavours still linger strongly in my mind.


The menu was vast and so were our appetites! We ordered Antipasto 'La Fraschetta' for starter and both ordered Specials for main.


The Antipasto ($17.90) was a lovely way to start the meal, little tastes which left you longing for more. I'm not sure what the little fish were (Maybe sardines?) but the salty tang combined with the marinated mushrooms was fantastic! And the prosciutto was melt in the mouth but not wafer thin.


I tried an olive (which I thought was very brave!) and it wasn't as strong as others I've attempted but I'm just not an olive fan. I think the seeds are cardamon seeds? The boy likes them and did his best to eat our fair share!


The Salmon was a replacement for the Tuna special which had sold out (I liked that they had a replacement option available as often once it's gone it's gone...too bad!) The Salmon was grilled and served with a Truffle butter and steamed vegetables (we thought the waitress had said roasted veg so we didn't order a side of potatoes. and It was a little on the small side without ordering the side, next time we will know better).


I finally decided on the Umbricelli alla Bolognese ($24.00) Homemade pasta, like a thick spaghetti, tossed in a slow cooked veal and pork bolognese. mmmm. The pasta was quite al dente and had a really nice flavour to it, I'm not sure I've ever had homemade pasta before? The sauce had a lovely rich meaty flavour and not as tomato-y as I was expecting.

Definatly a place we will go back to.


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Pinocchio Ristorante
50 Unley Road (Opposite Boho)
Parkside
Tel: 0414157974
e-mail: edoterni@yahoo.it

Open Lunch- Tue-Fri 12.00 - 3.00pm
Dinner- Tue-Sat 6.00 - late

Breakfast at ETC (East Terrace Continental)

East Terrace Continental (ETC) is probably my favorate breakfast place in Adelaide.


The boy took me here when I first arrived in Adelaide. I ordered a ETC works, full breakfast, when it arrived I cut my first peice of bacon and my breafast ended up upside down on the floor. I started my very British appologising,"Oh dear, no it was my fault, dreadfully sorry..." when the waitress whisked it away and appeard a few moment s later with a new breakfast from the kitchen. I was so Impressed with the service I have recomended this place time and time again.


Today was no disapointment, We ordered breakfast at the front counter and impressivly quickly it arrived at the table.



I ordered the ETC Full breakfast.


The boy ordered the Mixed Grill


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East Terrace Continental
6 East Terrace
Adelaide 5000
Tel:08 8359 2255

Hours: 7am-4pm 7days
Breakfast: 7am-3.45 Lunch 11am-3.45

Champagne Breakfast at the Stamford Grand Glenelg

The boys parents gave us a Champagne breakfast gift voucher for Christmas at the Stamford Grand.

I bought a new camera so this post is all photos.

Very nice breakfast, lovely way to start a Sunday.

Loca-vore Stirling

Sometimes friends know exactly what you need, or maybe you are friends because you are similar. I woke up late after a night out and found a text on my phone "Tea and cake?"

Perfect! My friends picked me up and we went to Stirling the home of Tea and cake!

Loca-vore on the main street looked nice and had a few people sitting on the outside tables.

We headed inside and stood at the bar, 2 staff making coffees paid no attention so we found a menu and took a seat. sign on the table sent us back to the bar to order.

A long time later we managed to order
One Iced Coffee, with Apple Tartin
One cup of tea, (no pots avaliable) with Apple Tartin
One Hot chocolate with citron Tart


Cue Iced Chocolate. Nope not our order... The waitress plonked it on the table and started to walk away before we could adk what it was. her responce when we explained we didn't order it was "Huh, but then I'll haveto make it again, can't you just have this one?" erm no.


Cue Apple Tartin, hmmm, I didn't really enjoy it too much something... maybe cloves?


The Citron Tart was much nicer, very sweet


After we had pretty much finished our cake the hot chocolate came out, and then my tea (well hot water a tea bag and the ultimate sin hot milk)

I really likes the ethics of this place, Local ingrediants sourced from within 100km. such a shame the service was such a let down

Photos by Dr Vix