Talk of the Town at the Press

Bonne soirée chers amis...

Around a week ago, I went to the highly recommended new-ish restaurant in Adelaide (the new talk in town!). The Advertiser gave them a really good review, and a few friends of mine (along with some harsher critiques) also gave good recommendations. If you do intend to dine here, I highly recommend that you book (I went on a Tuesday night with another friend of mine, booked approximately a week ago, and they only had a few tables remaining, and I could see why when I got there!).

The decor of the place is very nice and dimly lit (gives it that chic and cosy feeling). There are two levels, with the top level mainly as dining tables, whereas the bottom level (where you first enter) has a few more longer tables. This time around, my friend and I decided to try something out of the ordinary. We were quite impressed that this place actually serve offals, so that is in fact what we decided to go for. We did order 3 dishes with a dessert to finish off.

First up was lambs tongue:

Grilled lambs tongue, beetroot & horseradish

At first, I was a bit hesitant as this was definitely NOT an ordinary dish for my tastebuds, however, I did actually enjoy it! My friend said this was her favourite dish for the night, but mine is the next one coming up. The texture of the tongue was slightly chewy, but soft. The grilled flavours were quite nice and the beetroot was very nice; I wasn't a big fan of the radish though as some parts were slightly raw and there was evidence of the 'green taste'.

Next was my favourite dish!

Honey & anise roasted sweetbreads, turnip purée & parsley sauce

Absolutely loved the combination of flavours of the sweetbreads! The sweetness of the honey and slight spiciness of the anise, along with the sauce is just amazing! I could eat lots from this dish. The beans were nice and fresh as well (not overcooked), but my only criticism for this dish was once again, the slightly 'green' tasting turnips (not all, but some). 

The final big dish was the Press* mixed-grill:

(From top to bottom) - liver, caramelised onion, minute steak, poached egg, house-made sausage, apple slaw, brains

The liver was nice, but extremely rich in flavours (there should have been some sort of fresh salad or something light to go with it instead of more of the apple slaw). The minute steak was over-cooked in some parts, but not bad (could have better flavours). Poached egg was done perfectly, but it wasn't seasoned properly - having it with the apple slaw did improve it, but it could be better, and also would've preferred it slightly warm rather than cold. The house-made sausage was average; it was a bit fatty in some parts which created a nice soft texture, but I would have preferred if it has a bit more flavour rather than the "common" sausage flavours. I must say, I was a fan of the lamb brains - although the texture was a bit 'off-putting', the flavours of the coating of the brain and the apple slaw worked really well. I think the brains could be better if it was a bit more crispy, but I did like it. 

Finally the dessert:

Raspberry ice-cream and raspberry soufflé 

I must say, throughout the night, I did enjoy the dinner, but the dessert was a bit of a let down. The coffee I ordered (short black) did take a LONG time to arrive, AND the temperature must've been too high as the flavours of the coffee were distorted and unpleasant (coffee-drinkers would know what I'm talking about...the semi-sourish flavour if the water is too hot). The soufflé looked amazing, but it wasn't great; the bottom was moist and wet which ruined the fluffiness texture of what soufflés are supposed to be like. The ice-cream was refreshing, but they could make things more interesting if they played up the raspberries a bit rather than just using ordinary raspberries (e.g. honeyed raspberries or gin-infused raspberries).

Apart from the dessert, it was a really good night. The waiters and waitresses were all really nice - excellent service I must say. I'd definitely be returning back there to try some of their mainstream dishes (as they did look amazing). The plating was pleasant and the price wasn't anything ridiculous. The place wasn't extremely upper class, but it was really quite nice (good place to bring dates, few friends, close family, small dinners). Highly recommended ;)

Man Date at Fancy Burger and Ended with Gelato?

Bon soirée mes chers amis. Hope all of you have been keeping well and enjoying the beautiful (and often dramatic) weather in Adelaide.

A week or so ago, group of guys (i.e. men date) decided to try out a burger joint that many people are raving about. For me, this will almost be a "battle of the burgers", or "burger off" between Fancy Burger and Burger Foundry (refer to the blog ~ Burger Foundry has been Founded by Me). These 2 burger joints are definitely not close to each other (distance wise around 1 hour apart); Fancy Burger (FB) is located in Blackwood (refer to address below post), whereas Burger Foundry (BF) is in Magill.

One thing about 'gourmet burgers' that the majority would agree upon is that once you've had them, you usually wouldn't turn back to "normal" fast food (well I certainly wouldn't!); the green leafy vegetables are ACTUAL green and fresh salads (compared to pre-chopped iceberg lettuce that is often frozen and wilted which the majority of fast food places use), and the quality of meat is usually top notch in gourmet burgers - the fat content therefore is often less compared to common fast food places...not even exactly sure as to the meat they use. Anyways, if you haven't already tried gourmet burgers, I do highly recommend you try them (and its an effective way to cut down your junk food intake as well I'm sure).

Back to FB, I decided to order The Biggy and tall hot chips with smoked chilli mayo to go with it. I really do like beetroot and egg in my burgers, hence why I ordered The Biggy (plus it also allows me to make a comparison to The Aussie from Burger Foundry). So with the actual burger, there are positives and negatives:

The Biggy (from bottom to top): relish, cheddar cheese, herby mayo, crispy bacon, 100% South Aussie Beef, free range egg, salad, beetroot

What did I like about it? Well for starters the smells wafting from the burger was amazing. The beef was pretty juicy and the bacon was crispy enough; would've liked a bit more "salad" and relish (which was pretty tasty), but hey, overall it was pretty awesome. However, I do prefer BF's beef (it may be a bit drier, but there is much more flavour in the meat), the bun is better than FB's burger, and their beetroot relish instead of slices of beetroot is also a better idea; their mesclun greens also did win me over with their burger, but having said all that, The Biggy at FB is still very decent (oh and size wise, the burgers are actually bigger at BF as well). 

Next is the comparison of the chips:

Hot chips

Smoked chilli mayo

Now these were pretty awesome chips and that was one MEAN dip (it was A-W-E-SOME!). The chips were a bit more 'fancy' as well; they were sprinkled with rock salt and rosemary as well. For me, it could do with a bit less salt in some instances, but overall the taste was pretty good. The mayo was just....wow...really. It was playful and light and tasted incredible with the chips (not sure of the health content but let's not even go there). The chips at FB would be a winner compared to BF (yes, the chips at BF taste pretty good, but they are DRENCHED in oil!).

So overall, Fancy Burger is a neat lil burger joint located in Blackwood. What I like about them is that they do also sell cider/beer (which does go down pretty well with the burgers), so if you live close to that side of town, drop in for a bit. Oh and also, the service was great!

Next stop was ice-cream, or gelato rather at the east side. We dropped into Gelato Bello located on 87 Glynburn Rd, Glynde SA 5070, a bit closer to my side of town. They do have heaps of wicked flavours and also, they open till later at nights compared to most other gelato places and ice-creameries.

They have so many different flavours, and not only that, they have sorbet as well (for those of you who are lactose intolerant or trying to avoid dairy products). Also, they serve them in quite a few different ways such as in waffle cones (thank my model, ML, for the side profile of the waffle cone licking shot on the right), or just simple cups (in my case) ~ quite sure they do sundaes and lots of other things as well.

The choice was so hard, but in the end I decided to do all dairy gelato:

Baci, pistachio and cassata

Even though it was only served in a foam cup, that is not important... the gelato was REALLY good. The cassata was light and loved the candy jellied pieces in them. The pistachio gelato is fantastic! You can taste and bite into "actual" pistachios and the flavour is evident, not JUST from artificial flavouring. Now Baci, who can forget the beautiful taste of Baci! Definitely recommend this place. 

So the mandate was pretty chilled. Maybe YOU should go on one too?

Au revoir ;)