Sunday, May 25, 2014

Away from home - Adelaide

Hubby and I seem to be slowly ticking off state capitals when we take our annual leave. This time we flew to Adelaide, South Australia. We last visited Adelaide about 10 years ago. Back then we stayed at Glenelg, a beachside suburb, about a 30-minute tram trip from the CBD. This time we stayed in an apartment in the CBD.

Similar to past Away from home posts, this post describes our grocery list for the week, the meals we prepared and some of the restaurants and cafés we visited.

We were away for eight days, the same length of time as our Brisbane trip. It seemed a lot shorter, maybe because we arrived late on the Thursday before Good Friday, and I ended up working late about half the nights coding web forms. So much for travelling to another city to ensure that we were not tempted to work!

Our apartment had a kitchenette with microwave, cooktop, oven, refrigerator, toaster and tea-making facilities but limited utensils. We had to ask for a baking tray from the front desk and I ended up using a soup ladle for a turner/spatula and using baking paper as lids for frying pans and bowls.

We were only a couple of blocks away from a supermarket, Adelaide Central Market and Adelaide's Chinatown. We knew that most of the shops and restaurants would be closed on Good Friday so shopping was a priority after we checked in. And it seemed to be a priority for everyone else! The supermarket was so crowded and there was not much left on the shelves.

What we bought

  • Bakery
    • One loaf of bread
    • One pack of lebanese bread
  • Fruit and vegetables
    • Capsicum, 1
    • Cucumber, 1
    • Dill, 1 bunch
    • Eggplant, 1
    • Garlic, 1 bulb
      This is the smallest bulb of garlic we were able to buy. I only used the last cloves a couple of weeks ago.
    • Lemons, approximately 2
    • Lettuce, 1 bag of rocket
    • Mushrooms, fresh cup
    • Mushrooms, dried porcini
    • Potatoes, approximately 2
    • Sweet potato, 1
    • Zucchini, 1
    • Red onion, 1
    • Tomatoes
    • Fruit for snacks
  • Meat
    • Chicken breasts
    • Herb and garlic marinated kangaroo kebabs
    • Savoury Thai marinated kangaroo steaks
  • Seafood
    • Smoked salmon
  • Canned and packet food
    • Felafel
    • Soup, 3 cans
    • Udon noodles
  • Chilled and frozen food
    • Cheese slices
    • Cottage cheese
    • Dips
    • 6 tubs of yoghurt
  • Other groceries
    • Chicken stock cubes
    • Lemon pepper seasoning
    • Olive oil cooking spray
    • Sachets of tomato paste
    • Sachets of quick oats, which we actually brought from Sydney

We did very well. We left behind the cooking spray but brought home the dill, garlic, a pack of noodles, stock cubes, lemon pepper seasoning, tomato paste and quick oats.

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Meals we prepared

Breakfast

Breakfast was oats or grilled tomato and cheese or cottage cheese on toast.

Lunch

I only prepared one lunch - smoked salmon sandwiches that comprised:

  • Slices of smoked salmon
  • Cottage cheese mixed with dill and lemon zest
  • Salad vegetables: lettuce, mushroom, cucumber
Dinner
  • ‘Lebanese Feast’ based on our Turkish Feast
    • Lebanese bread
    • Dips
    • Felafel
    • Simple salad dressed with orange juice and lemon pepper seasoning
  • Savoury Thai marinated kangaroo steaks with a warm vegetable salad and low-fat chips

    To make the warm vegetable salad:

    1. Dice zucchini, eggplant and sweet potato.
    2. Place sweet potato in a microwaveable dish and microwave covered on high for 2-3 minutes.
    3. Stir fry the zucchini and eggplant with some garlic until the vegetables are soft.
    4. Mix in sweet potato and set aside to cool.
    5. Dice tomato and place mixed salad leaves and tomato in a bowl.
    6. Add cooked vegetables and mix.

    I used leftover tzatziki dip as the dressing.

  • Mini-pizzas

    I originally planned to use the lebanese bread as pizza bases but discovered the bread had gone mouldy. So I ended up using slices of bread instead and made ‘mini-pizzas’

    There were three types of pizza:

    • Garlic pizza comprising garlic, cottage cheese and dill
    • Smoked salmon pizza with smoked salmon, red onion, zucchini, mushroom, and garlic topped with either cheese or cottage cheese sprinkled with lemon pepper seasoning
    • Vegetarian pizza with red onion, zucchini, eggplant, mushroom, sweet potato with a tomato paste-garlic-dill sauce and topped with cheese or cottage cheese

    The pizzas were served with a simple salad flavoured with leftover spicy capsicum dip, lemon juice, lemon pepper seasoning and lemon zest.

  • Kangaroo kebabs with a warm vegetable salad and low-fat chips

    We used the leftover beetroot tzatziki dip for our salad dressing.

  • ‘Chef's Mess’ noodle soup, which basically comprised all the leftover vegetables and noodles in chicken stock

    Hubby went out foraging for some additional supplies and came back with noodles, stock cubes, bean sprout shoots, and dried porcini mushrooms - the only mushrooms he could find at the supermarket. The mushrooms added a strong earthy flavour to the soup and turned the stock a deep brown colour.

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Places we visited

Following are some of the Adelaide restaurants and cafés we enjoyed:

  • The Balcony Restaurant, North Terrace, Adelaide CBD (Now Verandah Dining at the Strathmore Hotel)

    The problem visiting a new city where you don't know many people is finding places to eat. Being close to Chinatown and in a university student/backpacker area, there were plenty of low-cost, fast-food choices but I was hankering for something non-Asian. Online community to the rescue!

    The Balcony was only a couple of blocks from where we were staying and situated on the enclosed balcony of an old hotel overlooking North Terrace. The atmosphere seemed perfect for intimate dinners-for-two or small groups of friends.

    For our entrée we shared a dozen oysters with a pomegranate mignonette. I love oysters. If there are oysters on the menu we always like to at least share a dozen and we like to try something a little different. It was at a restaurant that we first tried a smoked salmon and brie combination, a recipe I've been meaning to post for years!

    We were tempted by the chicken dishes but we wanted to try the Stone Grill, what The Balcony is known for. so we opted for the Aussie Fare stone grill of kangaroo, crocodile, rack of lamb, and barramundi.

    A hot stone slab is brought out on a plate with a side of onion fries and a spicy tomato chutney. The meats are cooked on the stone grill and the waiter was very helpful in explaining how to cook the meats. It is probably not something we would do again - we were hungry and waiting for the meats to cook was frustrating, especially the kangaroo and rack of lamb. We have eaten crocodile before in a meal where it was heavily flavoured. This was the first time we had tired it plain. Personally, I think it has the texture of chicken but tastes like fish. Of all the meats, it was a bit plain and it really needed to be spiced up with the chutney, which was delicious.

    However, the desserts were divine! Hubby had the affogato with cointreau and I had the orange liqueur semifreddo with blueberry compote and chocolate shavings. Decadent!

    We discovered The Balcony the second-last night we were in Adelaide and wish we had found it sooner. It is a restaurant that we will definitely visit again when we return to Adelaide.

  • Eating in Italy, North Terrace, Adelaide CBD (Closed 2020)

    The Adelaide CBD was quiet on the Easter weekend and we had difficulties finding cafés open that provided a cooked breakfast. Mum and I have found that in busy shopping malls, some of the quietest and most pleasant cafés are those in the high-end department stores. With this in mind Hubby and I wandered into Myers and found Eating in Italy. The restaurant also has a street entrance on North Terrace but, as we were not viewing the “statues, war memorials and significant buildings”, it is unlikely we would have found it otherwise.

    Our large coffees were just what we needed to wake up and we enjoyed them while sitting at a table near a window looking out over North Terrace. I imagine the table would be a great people-watching spot on a busy working day or a non-holiday weekend. For breakfast we had smoked salmon, poached eggs, rocket and seeded mustard with focaccia. The dish was suppose to have grilled cheese, but we asked for it without cheese. Perfect start to our day.

  • Hello, Yes, Eliza Street, Adelaide CBD (Closed 2015)

    In the local newspaper I read about a robbery at a café called Hello, Yes. Not only was I intrigued by their name but I was interested in their suspended coffee programme where you can buy coffees in advance for people in need. It turned out that Hello, Yes was only a couple of blocks from where we were staying.

    If you didn't know Hello, Yes was there, it would be easy to walk right past Eliza Street and continue on towards Light Square or to the CBD. Eliza Street is a quiet, nondescript, narrow street comprising what looked like warehouses or garages and backs of building that front Waymouth and Franklin Streets.

    Hello, Yes is located in an old warehouse. I loved the quirkiness of the decor, the ‘industrial’-style lighting, the eclectic mix of furniture. Our large coffees were large(!) and were promptly served. However, it took a little time for our breakfasts to arrive. Not that it mattered (maybe we were relaxed). Hello, Yes is a nice quiet place, perfect for a private chat and to relax. Hubby and I both had the ‘Great Doctors Breakfast’- bacon, dukkah-dusted poached eggs, haloumi, balsamic-roasted mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and seasonsal greens with sourdough. It was worth the wait - fresh and tasty, and beautifully presented.

  • The Oyster Shop, Jetty Road, Glenelg (Closed 2017)

    One of our enduring memories of our stay in Glenelg was a busy fish and chip shop, from which we bought dinner one night. What distinguished this shop from many others we have visited was the fact they sold oysters.

    We are pretty sure that The Oyster Shop is the same store. It's in a different location closer to the beach and now providing an option to dine-in and has different management but the colour scheme is the same, it is still very busy (we managed to grab the last table) and oysters are still on the menu!

    We started with the mixed dozen, where we could pick and choose the types of oysters we wanted in our dozen. We decided on half a dozen natural and, (something new) half a dozen sweet chilli and cheese. Yum!

    The Oyster Shop had a number of ‘meal packs’ such as a Fisherman's Basket. However, these packs always seem too much, so we ordered two grilled barramundi, small chips and a large salad. The barramundi was lovely and fresh, the ‘small’ serve of chips was generous and the salad OK. It was a good meal.

    We sat at a high table near the counter, which meant that we had people around us waiting for their takeaway meals. However, the table was wedged behind the refrigerator of drinks and looked out on the side street, so it afforded us some privacy, and provided us with another great people-watching spot while we waited for our lunch.

  • Yummy Banh Mi, Semaphore Road, Semaphore (Now trading as "Ocean Rolls")

    Banh mi is a Vietnamese roll comprising a baguette, cold meats, and salad. We stop by our local Vietnamese bakery a couple of times a week to pick up banh mi for lunch. So, when we visited Semaphore for the Adelaide International Kite Festival and was deciding on lunch, Yummy Banh Mi was a welcome find.

    The shop was very busy and there was a little wait for our teriyaki chicken banh mi (a fusion of Japanese and Vietnamese flavours) but it was worth it! What better way to enjoy our banh mi than sitting in the park beneath the Time Ball Tower, away from the crowds milling around the beach, watching the kites flying above them all.

One last place ...

In the latter half of our trip we hired a car and visited surrounding towns. After picking up the car, we drove out to Murray Bridge and arrived there about 10:30am. The lady at the Tourist Information seemed quite shocked when we confessed we hadn't had breakfast and were looking for a café. We gently vetoed her first suggestion of a fast-food pasta restaurant but decided to try her second suggestion, the ‘German Cake Shop’.

The GCS Cafe and Espress Bar is no longer a bakery but a ‘Gourmet Coffee Shop’ serving all-day breakfasts, lunches and light meals.

Coffee could be ordered in small, medium, large or jumbo mugs

The GCS definitely know what we caffeine addicts need!

The breakfast menu was extensive. Hubby ordered the Brekky Salad - bacon, poached egg, tomato, mushroom, rocket lettuce with balsamic dressing and pesto. Despite all the different breakfast options, I couldn't find a simple vegetarian meal so opted for a ‘create-my-own’ breakfast by ordering poached eggs on toast with a side of tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach.

More photos

Since I set up my Instagram account, I seem to be photographing nearly every meal, especially if it's a new restaurant or café. So there are plenty more photos of our meals at these and other South Australian eateries at my Instagram account: instagram.com/fromdebskitchen.

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