Eat, Pray, Love

Field mushroom soup

Next up, we had the king brown salad as the entree. It was made up of parsnip skordalia, hazelnut and watercress. The salad was satisfying with the big juicy king brown mushroom.

King Brown Salad

We moved on to the main dishes. The portobello burger was first to come out. It was the dish of the day. It was served with brioche bun, onion rings, cheddar and truffle aioli. The sides were mustard and chips. The flavour combination of the cheddar, truffle aioli and portobello was lip smacking. The cheddar gave the sharp taste to the burger, yet not pinning down the portobello. Oh! And the chips were great too!

Portobello Burger

Apart from the portobello burger, we also had the wild porcini gnocchi with white wine and gorgonzola cream sauce. The gnocchi was pillowy and the extra time of frying in the pan produced a great crusty layer on the outside. The sauce was rich and creamy too.

Wild porcini gnocchi

If you are feeling omnivorous, do order the shimejji and confit duck leg with pink oyster mushrooms and pea veloute. The fat was rendered well and I loved the crispy skin on the duck leg. The pea veloute was smooth and not too overpowering.

Shimejji and Confit Duck Leg

Now this was the fun part, watching how the chef incorporated mushroom into dessert. We were served the button mushroom and chocolate espresso cake with meringue and truffle ice cream. The ice cream was really intense with the truffle oil flavour. The cake itself was not sweet, hence the meringue had the role to sweeten the dessert. This dessert definitely had a savoury touch with this addition of truffle oil.

Button mushroom and Chocolate espresso cake

On overall, it was an interesting tasting as usual. The mushroom month will continue until the end of July, so go and satiate your mushroom cravings before you are too late. Because I tell ya, it will be rewarding! Cheers.

Website: http://www.thehighway.com.au/
Address: 290, Anzac Highway, Plympton
Trading hours: 11am-12pm (Sun-Wed), 11am-2pm (Thurs-Sat)


Love, Victoria

The weather was getting a bit too chilly for May with the howling wind, splashing rain and frosty mornings. And it is this exact weather that gives me the best excuse to store more fats and have more meat! Speaking of meat, The Highway's does offer something different to the adventurous foodies. In its fourth year, the game season is to be launched once again from 18 May. Foodies from South Australia as well as other states are expected to join this annual culinary delight in this coming 2 weeks (18 May - 31 May).

I was invited to the Highway's to sample their game menu. All the food and drinks were complimentary.

Going wild every game season, the menu this year will be featuring wallaby, buffalo and venison. All the game meat are sourced fresh from local outback game meat supplier Something Wild in the Adelaide Central Market.

There are two options of entree that you can choose from. We started off with the first entree, crumbed quail eggs with beetroot puree, pressed red foo potato and micro cabbage. The eggs were crunchy and the pairing with sweet beetroot puree was intriguing. The layering of potatoes was a fancy and textural addition to the dish.

Crumbed quail eggs with beetroot puree, pressed red foo potato and micro cabbage

The second entree was pancetta wrapped wallaby with grilled artichoke and saffron aioli. This was the dish of the night! It reminded me so much of the pressed lamb in Georges. The smell of wallaby was not too strong. It was so tender that I can pull the meat apart and melted in my mouth. The pancetta added the umami flavour and saltiness to the dish. The saffron aioli was really good too!

Pancetta wrapped wallaby with grilled artichoke and saffron aioli

Moving on to the main course, there are three types of game meat - kangaroo, venison and buffalo - which constitute the menu.

The first main course was the native currant and tomato braised kangaroo tail, served with mixed radish, frisee salad and grilled bread. As kangaroo meat itself has a really strong smell, the chef chose the native currant and tomato to braise the meat to subdue the pungent smell. The side salad was fresh and the grilled bread counterbalanced the rich braised kangaroo tail.

Native currant and tomato braised kangaroo tail, mixed radish, frisee salad and grilled bread

Next up was the venison denver leg steak with portobello mushroom, celeriac puree and nasturtium. It was the prettiest looking dish of the night. The venison steak was cooked to perfection with its attractive pink meat. The meat was so tender! And who would resist the plump and juicy portobello mushroom?

Venison denver leg steak with portobello mushroom, celeriac puree and nasturtium

The last main course offered on the menu was the buffalo burger with ciabatta roll, cheddar, caramelised onion, spinach and kutjera radish. The buffalo meat had a similar taste to beef and this burger was like the classic beef and cheese burger. The choice of native ingredients used in each dish was commendable because it portrayed the Australian outback spirit and complemented well with the meat.

Buffalo burger

Last but not least, it was dessert time! We had the duck egg brulee with salted caramel ice cream and pistachio soil. It sounded and looked like an ordinary dessert but surely it tasted different from the normal creme brulee. The duck egg had rendered the dessert so rich and creamy. The caramelisation on top of the brulee was brilliant and the salted caramel ice cream was smooth.

Duck egg brulee with salted caramel ice cream and pistachio soil

Braised Lamb Leg

Maddy ordered the Shakshuka with carcciatore, baked eggs and salad. The tomato components of Shakshuka was pretty prominent and the egg was baked well. It was a lovely dish.

Shakshuka

Queen Street Cafe is a lovely spot in the suburb for brunch all week round. I especially loved the seat by the window because that was a good spot for 'sunbathing' and food photography.

Address: 12, Elizabeth Street, Croydon.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Queen-Street-Cafe/160196257345095
Trading hour: 8am-4pm (Mon-Sun)



Love, Victoria

Sunset taken from the bar

We grabbed some drinks before digging in into the food. We ordered the Paloma Cocktail Jug for sharing. It was a citrusy Mexican classic and pretty similar to Margarita. The alcohol content was not too overpowering and it was a refreshing drink. A pretty good start to our meal!

Paloma Cocktail

The restaurant menu was divided into small, medium, large and steak sections.

For small, we ordered the Spinach, Kefalotyri Sheep Cheese Croquettes with beetroot and turnip pickle. The croqueettes were crispy and brought out the earthy flavour of the spinach. Hence, the sweetness of beetroots came in handy to balance out the earthiness.

Spinach, Kefalotyri Sheep Cheese Croquettes

For medium, we ordered the Slow Cooked Grilled Octopus with confit kipfler, chorizo and ramesco sauce. The octopus was on the tougher side which might be related to its cooking technique. The ramesco sauce is a nut and red-pepper based sauce. It was smooth and made a great accompaniment with the other ingredients on the plate.

Slow cooked grilled octopus

We also got the Falafel Salad for our vegetarian friends. It contained chickpeas, quinoa, pearl barley, radish, preserved lemon and chilli, being tied together with the green tahini sauce. The salad was well seasoned and I enjoyed the slight crunch from the peas.

Falafel salad

Our vegetarian friends also ordered the Smoked Eggplant. The baba ghanoush was served with sumac, labneh, cranberry and dressed with leaves. It was well received by my friends.

Smoked eggplant

The last medium dish we ordered for the day was the Tongue 'N' Cheek. The dish was made up of ox tongue rillette, confit pork cheek, with fennel and apple salad. The pork cheek had a caramelised skin but it was not crunchy. Similar to human cheek composition, the pork cheek was mainly fats. Besides that, the rillette was well seasoned and I also enjoyed the salad. Fennel and apple always made a good combination.

Tongue 'N' Cheek

Moving on the large dish, we ordered the Chermoula Crusted Lamb, Eye of Shoulder. The lamb was cooked perfectly with its salivating pink appearance. It was tender and melts in our mouth. The barberry rice with pistachio, apricot and sweet carrot had unbeatable flavour despite my preference to have the rice cooked just slightly longer. The saltiness and sourness (from lemon) were not so prominent in the yoghurt even though it was still nice to eat with the lamb.

Chermoula crusted lamb, eye of shoulder

Do take note also that 2KW has strict dress code for their patrons. So be dressed up!

Address: Level 8, 2 King William Street, Adelaide
Website: http://www.2kwbar.com.au/
Trading hour: 10am-12am (Mon-Thurs), 10am-1.30am (Fri), 12pm-1.30am (Sat), 11am-12am (Sun)



Love, Victoria

Adelaide dining scene has become more and more interesting with the lineup of famous chefs opening restaurants in Adelaide. One of them is Chef Sean Connolly. He was the host of TV food program 'My Family Feast', writer of his cookbook, producer of his home cooking merchandises and winner of Chef of the Year. His most recent venture was the opening of Sean's Kitchen in Adelaide. This multi million dollar restaurant is located next to the historic Adelaide Casino.

Australia is blessed with the sexy coastal line, stunning blue-green seas and relaxing beaches. The view of the sea never fails to mesmerise me, especially after I visited the famous Whitehaven Beach at the Great Barrier Reef region.