Tag Archives: #Adelaiderestaurants

Whipped Bake Bar Cafe – Brunch at Semaphore, Adelaide

September 14, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Whipped Bake Bar Cafe has become a local institution since it opened on Semaphore Road in 2008. It is predominately a place to get breakfast, brunch or lunch, or to grab a coffee and a sweet treat.

We decided to grab a late brunch on a busy Sunday. Semaphore Road was crowded with people out enjoying the sunny spring weather. While we were able to be seated immediately, there was a continuous flow of new customers for the whole time during our visit. Whipped has three distinct seating areas – tables for two as you walk in the door, a middle section with larger group tables, and then an outside area – and all three were full. Its outdoor area is well protected from the weather and heated in winter, and is also dog friendly.

The menu contains many breakfast and brunch style items ranging from toast and muesli to a full breakfast of bacon, eggs with all the extras. There are also burgers, frittata and wedges if you are not after breakfast. They have a wide range of coffees, teas, smoothies, juices and other drinks also available. The kitchen at Whipped runs from 7am to 2:30pm, after that coffee and cakes are still available until 5pm.

Our order was for Smashed Avocado (avocado with lemon, rocket, poached eggs, goats cheese on toasted ciabatta and served with a haloumi cigar and a balsamic reduction) and the Grilled Haloumi Burger (grilled haloumi, roasted capsicum, roasted Swiss brown mushroom, caramelised onions, lettuce, tomato relish and herbed mayo + chips). We washed it down with Pinky juice (watermelon and apple) and English Breakfast Tea. The prices for each meal were reasonable at AUD$16.90.

Our meals were brought to our table in a reasonable time even though the cafe was quite busy. They were delicious and just the right size servings to fill us up without being too big. The cakes on display were tempting but we decided to leave them for next time.

Whipped Bake Bar Cafe caters well for customers with particular dietary requirements. There are many vegetarian meals on the menu, and also coffees are able to be made with milks including soy, lactose free, almond and coconut. The menu is seasonal, and therefore has just changed over to the new spring offerings.

Whipped Bake Bar Cafe is located at 35 Semaphore Rd, Semaphore, so do yourself a favour and give them a go and remember to mention Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you.

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 8
Atmosphere = 8
Service = 8
Price = 8
Food =8

Overall = 8

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Australia, Restaurants

Welcome to the Jungle Room, Kent Town Hotel, Adelaide

August 30, 2016 OurWorldinReview Leave a comment

Just east of the city at the far end of Rundle Street sits a hotel that offers its customers a unique dining experience. The Kent Town Hotel is unobtrusive from the outside but once you step through those doors, you enter a different landscape. Welcome to the Jungle!

The Kent Town Hotel has themed their establishment on living in the jungle. You can imagine Tarzan swinging through the canopy, calling to his animal friends. Then once he arrives back at the tree-house there is a huge feast awaiting him on a long wooden table.

The Kent Town Hotel has three different sections based mainly around the Jungle theme, the Crafty Monkey Bar, the Rooftop on Rundle and the Jungle Restaurant. All three sections offer their patrons an enjoyable experience, from playing 8 ball on the billiard table, to the night-time dunking machine on the roof.

Our experience at the Kent Town Hotel was to celebrate a 21st Birthday. The dinner was held in the jungle restaurant and upon entry you are greeted by a large sitting gorilla guarding the eating area from predators. As you walk around the room other animal statues like the elephant are in place to give the room that extra Jungle Book feeling.

Gorilla statue — Gorilla guarding the entrance

The long tables, chairs, model trees, slippery dips and canopy walkways all add to the atmosphere of the place and the food style enhances the theme. The Jungle restaurant serves Churrasco BBQ cuisine which is South America cowboy styled barbecued meat on large metal skewers, which their friendly staff glide around the room cutting off portions for everyone. The Jungle restaurant offers different dining packages for its customers, but our package for this special night was the AUD$45 pp Churrasco experience which was extremely delicious and extremely filling.

The Churrasco experience offers its diners a selection of 8 different BBQ meats and 7 different accompaniments. If you are like me, you want to try all. I encourage you to pace yourself. Don’t go out too hard eating heaps of the first meat. You can always have seconds afterwards once you’ve tried them all.

Another encouraging aspect is that being a BBQ meat restaurant they still look after their vegetarian customers. Our vegetarian had a sampling plate with 8 vegetarian options, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Vegetarian Plate — Vegetarian sampling plate with 8 different option

The Kent Town Hotel is located at 76 Rundle street Kent Town, across the road from a Bunnings Warehouse. The best way to get there from the city is to either jump into a taxi or try a local bus heading towards The Parade, Norwood. For a fun night and a lot of good food, head to the Kent Town Hotel and The Jungle restaurant. Remember once you get there tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 9
Atmosphere = 9
Service = 9
Price = 9
Food =9

Overall = 9

Inside seated area in the Rooftop on Rundle area

Australia, Restaurants

NNQ restaurant for a taste of Vietnam – Adelaide

August 15, 2016 OurWorldinReview 2 Comments

Travelling throughout the world, there is one piece of advice that I’ve learnt which I would like to share with you. Sometimes the gems are hidden in the suburbs! During exploration in a new city we have come across a place that has that special quality on many occasions. Nghi Ngan Quan or NNQ restaurant is one of those hidden gems not too far from the Adelaide city centre. NNQ is located at 65 Woodville Road, Woodville. It is inside a glorious old heritage bank building and offers Vietnamese cuisine of the highest quality.

On a recent night out we decided to stop by at NNQ for a quick meal before attending a local music concert. It is important to know that NNQ don’t do bookings for groups under six people. For small groups they work on a first in, first served basis. This seems to work well for them as they always have people popping in for a quick bite. Don’t be put off by not being able to book because the number of tables allows them to turn over their customers quickly. If you do happen to wait they have a nice comfortable bar area, where you can order some pre dinner drinks. Waiting times can vary, but we haven’t waited longer than ten minutes to be seated.

On this occasion we were shown straight to a corner table and given time to read the menus before being offered further service. NNQ’s food menu is extremely large with maybe ten pages of available dishes. Much the same can be said for their drinks menu, with various quality wines to choose from. Take your time, and select the dish that best appeals to you. Then match it with a nice glass of wine and enjoy.

The restaurant’s floor plan is pretty big, with seating available across two floors and an outdoor al fresco area. The restaurant is nicely decorated with neutral grey colours and comfy wicker styled chairs. There are numerous pictures hanging on the walls depicting Vietnamese culture and scenery. These pictures always encourage me to go on a holiday (but, that could be just me).

stone tables, wicker chairs restaurant setting — NNQ’s neutral colour decor and wall hangings. Where do I sit?

With such a large restaurant the service staff do a great job of ensuring they look after everyone. Our lovely waitress was extremely helpful and encouraged us to try something off their new menu. We ordered entrées, selecting the chicken satay skewers and the suggested wonton soup. For our mains we decided on the grilled lemon-grass and chilli chicken and a serving of the salt and pepper soft-shelled crab. These dishes were accompanied by a side of rice.

It isn’t too long before our entrées arrive. The two chicken satay skewers are covered with a rich peanut sauce. The chicken thigh meat looks overcooked, but on tasting, it proves to be perfectly cooked. The wonton soup is a lovely flavoured broth topped with coriander and spring onions. Additionally those wonton parcels are delicately simple but tasty.

Chicken Satay with peanut sauce from NNQ — NNQ’s Chicken Satay Skewers topped with Peanut Sauce

Once you start consuming your food, the NNQ staff are so efficient that they ensure that your table isn’t too long without food. This doesn’t have to be the case, but you may want to tell them to take their time bringing out each course ordered. Our mains are quickly brought to us and the lemon-grass and chilli chicken has a subtle sweet and spicy flavour with a delayed little chilli kick for your taste buds.

Plate of food — Lemon-grass and Chilli Chicken, watch the chilli kick you may need a glass of water!

The salt and pepper soft-shelled crab is superb, the crab is well coated and has a balanced salt and pepper flavour. The dish is beautifully cooked with no excess oil dripping off the crab portions. The dish is accompanied with an onion salad, topped with coriander.

soft shelled crab on plate — NNQ’s salt and pepper soft-shelled crab

NNQ does have numerous desserts you can choose from and their fried ice cream is to die for (but not on this occasion, we have a concert to attend).

Overall NNQ is that gem that when you visit Adelaide you should definitely give a try. The price of they food is excellent with main dishes ranging from AUD$12 – AUD$40, but most main dishes are around $AUD16. Exceptional value for the quality of food you are receiving. Take away is also available if you prefer.

To get there, it is a short train ride from the Adelaide Railway Station on either the Outer Harbor or Grange lines to Woodville. Once you get to Woodville, head south down Woodville Road. NNQ is the first building on the right and you should be able to see the sign. There is plenty of free parking available if you are driving.

NNQ also has a sister store in the city called Little NNQ located at 125 Gouger Street, Adelaide. So when you are in Adelaide and decide to try this hidden gem, tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview sent you!

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Decor = 9
Atmosphere = 9
Service = 9
Price = 9
Food =9

Overall = 9

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Rating: 1-10 (1=very poor, 10 = excellent)

Our world is an amazing place, so go out there and enjoy it!