Eat, Pray, Love: April 2014

Pies and sausage rolls are typical Australian cuisines whereby you can have them for breakfast, brunch, lunch or high tea. To get one of the best sausage rolls in the town, you gotta have to visit the Red Door Bakery. There are two shops each in the suburbs of Goodwood and Croydon. Nevertheless, I love to go to the latter which is the pioneer.

Situated conveniently near to the train line as well as 5-10 minutes drive from the city, this bakery is the all time favourite for Adelaideans. Coincidentally or not, the entrance door is painted red, signifying the name of the bakery.

There are various options offered by the bakery, including pastries, desserts, sourdoughs, toasts, pies and sausage rolls. The popular items here are the pork and sage sausage roll, creme brulee tart, salted caramel chocolate cake as well as the chilli jam!

During my visit there, I ordered the Hay Valley lamb and Morrocan eggplant sausage roll. I opted for additional chilli jam ($1). The chilli jam came in a spoon and there was nothing that I can fault it. The Moroccan spices was strong and complemented the lamb well. The flakiness of the pastry was demonstrated as I cut through the sausage roll with my knife. It was beautiful and fell apart into pieces.

Hayvalley lamb and Moroccan eggplant sausage roll

My friends ordered the Berkshire free range pork and sage sausage roll. It was the dish of the day. Among other sausage rolls, the chilli jam accompanied the pork sausage roll especially well. The pork sausage was flavoursome and well seasoned. The flavour was further enhanced by the presence of sage.

We ordered the traditional chicken pie with the tomato chutney as accompaniment. Tomato chutney was not as amazing as the chilli jam. The chicken pie, again, had the beautiful pastry covering the chicken. As compared to the lamb and pork in the sausage rolls. the chicken was more moist. I still love the pork and sage sausage roll though.

Traditional chicken pie; Pork and sage sausage roll; Lamb and Moroccan eggplant sausage roll

We ordered the creme brulee and salted caramel chocolate cake for dessert. The creme brulee had a lovely top crisp. Using the back of the spoon to knock at the top, the crispy caramel layer cracked into pieces, indicating a good creme brulee. The custard was light and the tart casing was great too.

Creme brulee tart

The salted caramel chocolate cake had a layer of set chocolate on top and few sprinkles of sea salt. It was a dense and moist chocolate cake with gooey salted caramel in the middle. The caramel had the right consistency and went well with the chocolate cake. I really love the addition of the salt on the cake itself as it provides another dimension of taste as you eat the cake in a whole.

Salted caramel chocolate cake

Red Door Bakery is definitely the best bakery in Adelaide/SA. The hot cross bun made by the bakery during Easter period was crowned as people's favourite for the year 2014. I can't wait for the next Easter to try it out!

Red Door Bakery

Website: http://www.reddoorbakery.com.au/
Address: 22, Elizabeth Street, Croydon.
Trading hours: 8am-4pm (Wed-Sun)

Love, Victoria

I have always wanted to make a visit to PUBLIC since its first debut 1.5 years ago, especially even after the chef was awarded the best chef in 2013 SA Restaurant and Catering Awards for Excellence. However, the chef has set off to open his new restaurant and PUBLIC is headed by Luke Southwood at the moment. Luke Southwood won the eighth place in MasterChef Professionals and has worked with SA food icon, Maggie Beer before.

With the change of head chef, there is a change in menu. Current menu has emphasis on simplicity, elegance, delicacy and love. The inclusion of tapas plate in the menu also reflects the Spanish background of the head chef.

Without further ado, let me share with you my dining experience at PUBLIC. It is situated at the corner lot on Franklin Street, not far away from King William Street.

During my visit at PUBLIC, I ordered the homemade gnocchi with braised chicken, hamlets speck, capsicum, cherry tomato, basil and confit garlic. What more I could say about this dish? I can't help but to exclaim its goodness! The softness of gnocchi, with well marinated braised chicken, and a naughty addition of hamlet specks, just renders the exquisite taste. The cherry tomato and capsicum fit in the picture perfectly. Parmesan cheese adds in more savouriness into the whole dish. What could be better than adding parmesan in a pasta dish? This dish is filling and satisfying. Unlike other gnocchi dish, I did not feel sick after eating halfways. I actually finished the whole dish on my own! Light, fresh but full of flavour.

Handmade gnocchi

My friend ordered the wagyu burger with caramelised onion, tomato, lettuce, swiss cheese, lime aioli and crispy baby potatoes. The brioche bun is soft, glazed and crispy at the top. Wagyu pattie is fresh, moist and well seasoned. In contrast with burger and chips from other burger joints, the crispy baby potatoes are a smart sides to come with the burger. It is of bite sized, golden yellow and crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. It was a delectable meal!

Wagyu burger

The interior design is inspired by the theme of public spaces, incorporating the eclectic mix of 'old and new'. The seatings were pretty sufficient for the white collars to have a quick lunch.

Interior of PUBLIC

PUBLIC does have some appealing pastries and desserts available for purchase near the counter. Besides that, PUBLIC is also opened for bookings for engagement parties, birthdays or special events. Do try their tapas if you happen to visit PUBLIC on Friday night.

Eclectic mix of old and new

Website: http://publiccbd.com.au/
Address: 12 Franklin Street, Adelaide
Trading hours: 7am-5pm (Mon-Thurs), 7am-late (Fri)

Love, Victoria

Melbourne high-end chocolatier has extended its flagship to Adelaide, opening its first salon in South Australia at the legendary Adelaide Arcade. The craze has begun ever since it is opened, coupled with the approaching Easter event, Koko Black has seen a steady flow of customers visiting the store.

Koko Black is proud of its hand crafted chocolate, desserts as well as the chocolate beverages. On one catch up session, my friends and I ordered the dessert degustation to share. The degustation includes chocolate alchemy cake, opera gateau, raspberry chocolate mousse, Belgian mousse and chocolate ice cream.

Dessert degustation

The Belgian mousse is light, velvety and rich in chocolate. The mousse recipe is direct from Belgium, so you can expect that the quality of the mousse is up to the par of authentic Belgian dessert.

The chocolate alchemy cake is the salon's signature dessert. It is a chocolate cake, layered with Madagascan chocolate creme and topped with chocolate bar. According to experts' opinion, Madagascar cocoa is the finest of all due to its genetic variety and the island's rich soil. The chocolate cake has a light texture, coupled with the soft creme, it makes a delightful dessert.

Cutting across the raspbery chocolate mousse, the Madagascan vanilla custard flows out from the centre of the cake. In contrast with other chocolate desserts on the plate, this gives an appetizing touch to the plate due to the sourness of raspberry. The sourness of raspberry and sweetness of chocolate are balanced well.

My favourite dessert on this plate is the opera gateau. Different from its other counterparts around the world, it has a twist with the addition of chewy salted caramel as part of its layer. Aside from that, the layers are composed of roasted coffee infused dark chocolate mousse and hazelnut dacquiose. It is unstoppable once you dug into this dessert, especially if you are one of those salted caramel fans.

The last dessert on the tasting plate is the chocolate ice cream with praline. Again, the chocolate is evident in the ice cream. The crunchiness of praline contrasts with the smoothness of ice cream, making it a good combination.

From the left: Belgian mousse, Chocolate alchemy cake, Raspbery chocolate mousse, Opera gateau, Chocolate ice cream

In addition to the dessert degustation, we ordered the baked chocolate tart with creme anglaise to share as well. I expected a dense and hard chocolate tart, but I got a soft and moist cake made up of 64% Madagascan chocolate in the tartlet casing instead. The texture of the chocolate cake is near molten and its warm temperature is just nice to be savoured. The vanilla anglaise is just a beautiful complement to the tart.

Chocolate tart with creme anglaise

There is a balcony seating for Koko Black's patrons. I really love the design of the store. The lighting is comfortable and you are able to see the truffle display from top too. The service is amazing and professional as well. I had pleasant dining experience for the two visits I was there. The waitress was quick to service, polite and helpful.

Chocolate display viewed from the balcony

On another occasion, we ordered some truffles to go with our hot chocolate drinks. My friend ordered the Yuzu truffle. It is made up of Japanese citrus fruit infused in dark chocolate ganache. I ordered the orange and cointreau truffle which is the milk ganache with cointreau-marinated candied orange. Both truffles were rich and yet not sickly sweet due to the citrus fruit content inside.

From the back: Yuzu truffle, Orange and cointreau truffle

The hot chocolate drinks available are the Classic Belgian, Chilli, Mocha, Cinnamon and Hazelnut. I ordered the Classic Belgian whereas my friend ordered the Hazelnut ones. Both hot chocolate come with a nice pattern froth. Both the Classic Belgian and Hazelnut hot chocolate are my favourites. The Hazelnut hot chocolate has a fragrant hazelnut scent in it while the Classic Belgian has the rich chocolate feel. By far the best hot chocolate in Adelaide (along side with Steven ter Horst hot chocolate).

Classic Belgian hot chocolate

Do visit Koko Black on Adelaide Arcade if you happen to be on Rundle Mall or have break in between classes. The truffles would also be a great idea if you are looking for gifts.

Website: http://www.kokoblack.com/

Address: 50-52, Adelaide Arcade, Rundle Mall

Trading hours: 9am-5.30pm (Mon-Thurs), 9am-9pm (Fri), 9am-5pm (Sat), 10.30am-5pm (Sun)

Love, Victoria

Are you happened to pass by Unley Road and looking for brunch places to go? This blog might give you some ideas. Situated along the stretch of Unley Road are two cafes, A Mothers Milk and Roseys. They are just 17 shops apart (Yes, I actually counted it!)

A Mothers Milk is a corner store cafe offering outdoor seating for its patron. For one visit, I chose the roast pumpkin bruschetta for my brunch of the day.

The exterior of A Mothers Milk

A Mothers Milk serves specialty coffee. Ohh and the barista training is available here too!

The turf of a barista

Flowers on the table always capture my eyes

For the roast pumpkin bruchetta I ordered, it came with Danish fetta, tomato chutney and pine nuts, being served on the sourdough. This dish encompassed every single taste element, including the saltiness from Danish feta, sweetness from pumpkin, sourness and sweetness from the chutney and bitterness from parsley. The roast pumpkin mash was smooth and silky. Crunchiness can be found from the pine nuts and sourdough. On overall, it was an enjoyable dish. The addition of pepper was apt as well.

Roast pumpkin bruschetta

Website: http://www.amothersmilk.com.au/
Address: 105 Unley Road, Unley 5061
Trading hours: 7.30am-4pm (Mon, Wed-Fri), 8am-4pm (Sat-Sun)

Roseys is another brunch gem that you could find in Unley. There is a small yard behind the cafe which provides seating for its patron. Covered by the canvas, it is a great place to enjoy your brunch during spring or autumn with the pleasant breeze caressing your cheek.

On one visit, I ordered the zucchini fritters with dill mayo, poached eggs, smoked salmon and fried capers. It was a delightful dish! Dill mayo always complements the smoked salmon well and I can't find any fault in it. The presentation was lovely! The fried capers, graced the fritters well with its saltiness. The fritters had some crunch on the outside and was not too floury. Besides that, the poached eggs had runny yolks. It was a great dish on overall.

Zucchini fritters with dill mayo, fried capers, smoked salmon and poached eggs

My friends ordered the eggs on toast with addition of balsamic mushroom and bacon. You can choose the way you want your eggs to be cooked. One of my friends opted for scrambled eggs and it was cooked well. The texture wasn't hard and thick. The element on the plate in which I found amusing was the rye bread. It was really special and the grain component inside can be intensely tasted.

Scrambled eggs, with balsamic mushrooms and rye bread

Sunny side up with bacon and rye bread

Happy days

Website: http://www.roseys.net.au/
Address: 139, Unley Road, Unley 5061.
Trading hours: 8am-4pm (Mon-Thurs, Sat), 8am-late (Fri), 9am-3pm (Sun)

Brunch is not quite breakfast, it's not quite lunch, but it comes with a slice of cantaloupe at the end. You don't get completely what you would at breakfast, but you get a good meal. -The Simpsons-

Love, Victoria

Can you have Indian food for lunch, dinner and supper? You certainly can, with Indian Temptations! Situated along the stretch of Main North Road is this popular Indian restaurant, specialising in North Indian food. The aroma of spices and spiciness of curry can be smelt from far as we walked from our car to the restaurant. Our taste buds and stomachs get stimulated and ready for a mouth watering experience even before we ordered. This blog post encapsulates 3 different visits over 3 years.

Samosa Chat is a good option if you want to have saucy samosa dish. The samosa is cut into smaller pieces, and served with mint chutney, tamarind chutney, chick peas, yogurt and diced onions. A tangy savoury snacks to spur your taste buds into their fullest swings.

Samosa Chat

The flaky yet delightful pastry of Delhi Samosa can bring a great start to the dining experience in Indian Temptations. With $5, it comes with 2 generously big servings of samosas which are filled with potato, peas and ground spices. The dipping sauce which is made of tamarind, accompanies the samosa well. I really love the pastry, as it brings forth a tinge of honey-like sweetness when I crunch on it. Hallucination or not, I have no idea why I taste the sweetness as the pastry dough recipe has no sugar or honey in it.

Delhi Samosa

Not a fan of samosa? You can get the onion bhaji, fritters of sliced onion in chickpea batter as entree. This filling entree comes with the tamarind sauce as well.

Onion Bhaji

The garlic naan is a must-order-item to go with the curries in Indian Temptations. It is fried to get the crispiness on the surface and topped with garlic powder. It is not too floury as naan in Malaysia but can still be very filling as the serving is huge.

Garlic Naan

Butter chicken and Lamb Roganjosh

Curries are essential to Indians and plenty of spices are being put into them. To get a perfect balance between the spiciness, sweetness, creaminess and savouriness of curry, the technique of cooking involved has to be up to par. Indian Temptations has done a great job in this. Among all the curries, butter chicken is one of the famous items in this Indian restaurant. It is suitable for those who can't stand spiciness as this curry is mild, filled with marinated chicken cooked in tandoori spices, tomatoes and cream.

The lamb roganjosh exudes medium spiciness which has tender lamb cubes cooked in a rich herbed oil and Indian spices. The lamb is falling apart as we delve into it, together with the naan and curry, you can be assured that you are brought to Northern India.
Fish curry is another popular item on the menu. The level of spiciness is hot but still tolerable. The curry is not as thick as the one in butter chicken or lamb roganjosh. However, it still provides our taste buds a delightful memory, in which you will scoop more curry onto your naan and gallivant on it.

Fish curry

Goat curry is served together with the bone. Tender goat meat it has and the curry tastes better when you suck on the bone.

Goat curry

There are a few vegetarian curries available on the menu, but the spinach paneer is the popular one. It is made up of spinach and potato simmered in a creamy sauce. Cubes of cheese can be found in the curry and the flavour of spinach is amazingly thick. Every single mouthful is full of spinach. Highly recommended for those who love spinach (like Popeye).

Mango Lassi

To cleanse your palate with something sweet after the spiciness, opt for mango lassi. It is the combination of mango, milk and yogurt, blended to produce a thick drinks.

The pricing of Indian Temptations is considerably cheap, when compared to its servings. One of the plus point is that you can phone them up to order and get a takeaway later. So why not have a try soon?

Website: http://www.indiantemptations.com.au/
Address: U3/490 Main North Road, Blair Athol
Trading hours: 11.30am-2am (Mon-Sun)

Adelaide is getting more and more happening nowadays with new cafes springing up, setting up an unique food culture limiting to this laidback yet cosy city. You can see food trucks mingling around on Rundle Mall or North Terrace, not to mention the ongoing monthly Fork on The Road and Night Market event! In addition, vacated spaces have been utilised and transformed into places which gather foodies around.

Market Shed on Holland is the newest addition to the food culture in Adelaide. It was formerly an old undercover shed, situated on Holland Street near South Terrace. The focus of the market is on certified organic, sustainable and local produce. SA is blessed with great local produce, ranging from Kangaroo Island eggs to Coorong Angus beef, as well as wineries.

I was so thrilled before I made a visit here, and it did not disappoint me at all. The experience was unforgettable and the Market Shed has become my favourite food market at the moment! You gotta have to visit here if you are in Adelaide!

The weather wasn't in its best mood on the day when we visited the Market Shed. Yet, this did not dampen our excitement and thank God that it is a covered market. So, all good!

Entrance of the Market Shed

The market was buzzing with food stalls, local produce and stage performance when we arrived. Streams of customers were seen enjoying their food, with great relaxing music in the background. This lively vibe is definitely what we need everyday!

Busker in the market

First up, we visited the Walnut Bar! The walnut bar's signatures are its rosemary infused walnuts and housemade almond milk.

The Walnut Bar entrance

I can't help but to rave about the delicious, one-of-a-kind signature rosemary walnut from here as it is something that you wouldn't want to miss! THE walnut is roasted, mixed with rosemary infused honey and salted with Himalayan salt. This is one big piece of goodness! The moment when you bite on the walnut, fragrance of rosemary spreads across your palate, travelling up to your nose. Next up, sweetness of honey and saltiness kick in, creating an unforgettable experience. THE thing to die for!

The housemade walnut from The Walnut Bar

We were contemplating whether to order the thickshake or the almond milk. In the end, we settled down with the Chocolate Walnut Thickshake. It consists of almond milk, banana flour, cocoa, walnut and chia seed. The thick shake lives up to its name, considering that every single sip is full of texture, flavour and substance!

Trade of the day

The bite sized Italian entrees from Francesco's Circchetti caught my eyes when I first entered the market. Hence, we decided to have a try. We ordered the polenta grigliata (chargrilled polenta with vegetables). The kind stall owner even offered us some side dishes for free. We got the verdure mediteraneo (organic roasted vegetables with preserved lemons, extra virgin olive and home dried tomatoes) and peperonata (organic capsicum, eggplant, onion and olives). The meal was amazing as it is close to authenticity.

Bite sized Italian food

Take a look at Bona Food fridge for their vegan options. Colourful combination and tempting looks, it will never hurt to get some home or have them there.

Healthy and vegan options

Pies are the all time favourite of Australians. A farmer's market will not be complete without a bakery. Bull Creek Bakery's pies are woodoven baked and popular option such as beef pie is on the menu.

Bull Creek Bakery

Another bakery in the precinct is the Mother and Sons Bakery. Fresh sourdough, rye bread and pastries can be found here. The smell of fresh bread is indeed refreshing!

Mother and Sons Bakery

Apart from Francesco's Circchetti, Little Orange Arancini and Pizza Bar is another great Italian option that you can consider. It has breakfast pizza, fritole as well as its signature arancini balls.

Little Orange Arancini and Pizza Bar

Woodfire pizza

Besides serving the conventional arancini balls which use arborio rice, Little Orange has brown rice option available as well. We ordered the brown rice arancini with porcini mushroom and rocket pesto, as well as arborio rice arancini with beef ragu and parmesan cheese. They were lovely, crispy on the outside, full of bursting flavour and moist on the inside. The pesto and red pasta sauce complement the balls perfectly.