Lou Miranda Estate

Went for a hike with some mates in a reserve near Tanunda in the Barossa. It was a pleasant walk without making your legs feeling like you've drunk too much. There hadn't been rain for a while so the flora was rather a bore.

By the time we finished it was half past three so places for lunch were hard to come by. We tried the restaurant at the Jacob's Creek winery but it was suprisingly fully packed. We resigned ourselves to getting something closer to home on the way back.

However I remember visiting the Miranda winery back in 2002 so I pulled in just in case. It was now Lou Miranda Estate and we were in luck, the kitchen wasn't yet closed. The proprieter, who else but Lou Miranda, welcomed us in a quaint manner that only a winemaker of Italian heritage could.

It turned out he that in the years since my last visit that Lou had branched out on his own from the Miranda Wines business which has been sold to McGuigan Simeon. Lou's branching out has given the winery a more welcoming and personal touch to what is a warm, charming place. Whilst the building was only built in 1999 it blends in with the buildings nearby that are over a century old, making it feel like an old favourite haunt.

The wines have certainly benefited from Lou's full attention with his Italian heritage evident in the Cordon Cut Shiraz made in the Amarone style wine. Branches of the grapes for this wine are cut from the vine and left to dry. This results in a richer, rounder style of wine with more apparent sweetness.

The Leone Sparkling Shiraz was all that a good Barossa sparkling red should be with a soft, rich body. Its extra touch of fruit sweetness marries it perfectly with so many dishes including asian and seafood. The Leone Chardonnay was a pleasant surprise with about twenty percent oak making it a well balanced white that treads the delicate line between richness and refreshment.

Lou, being a very hospitable proprietor, having found out I was a wine buff from my knowledge of Amarone wine got me to try his just released 2005 Old Vine Shiraz. I must confess at first taste it was a bit underwhelming but that was after having had lunch followed by dessert with glass of his Leone Botrytis Semillon with his compliments. He showed me a glass of corked wine, the smell and taste (I tasted it out of my impulse) was rather recognizable and quite reminiscent of wet cardboard.

However on a visit a few days later with a clean palate I tasted it again and his pride in it was well placed. Made from 90 year old vines it was classic Barossa shiraz with a bit more sense that only a winemaker of Italian heritage can bring. Whilst I may be biased in finding Lou, his daughters and their boutique winery very charming, I have to say this was the most enjoyable shiraz I'd tasted in a while. Other shiraz wines may be up on their pedestal but this one was so moresome for want of a better word, which again could be a result of the Italian influence that favours wines that marry well with food.

We started our late lunch with some pizza fingers, slivers of pizza dough with just the right amount of toppings. The tomato, olive and anchovies was particularly delicious and matched surprisingly well with the sparkling shiraz I got for lunch. The salt and pepper squid that all the boys got had just the right amount of batter and was cooked to perfection. Again the soft richness of the sparkling shiraz went well with the squid.

For dessert we had chocolate lasagne, a decadent dish of chocolate sheets interspersed with such riches that my brain and stomach have conspired to block from my memory. As mentioned before Lou gave us some botrytis with his compliments. The wine was as decadent and delicious as the dessert although drinking it after having a mouthful of chocolate didn't flatter the wine too much.

Our impromptu late lunch at Lou Miranda Estate was a wonderful experience. The winery is quaint and makes you feel so comfortable. Lou and the rest of Miranda were great hosts. The food was elegantly simple and executed perfectly. Throw in the great wine and you have a place that is bound to become one of my favourite country haunts.

Harvest of India

After watching new Pirates of the Carribean movie we were pretty hungry and had an impromptu farewell dinner at Harvest of India on O'Connell Street. Harvest of India is one of the smaller restaurants on O'Connell Street with cosy yet elegant modern decor. The menu seemed to be better priced than most upmarket Indian restaurants.

As it was pretty late by the time we started we decided to go straight for the mains. We ordered the prawn vindaloo, lamb saag and vegetable curry. We also ordered some raita, kuchumber (cucumber) salad, pickles and naan bread.

The prawn vindaloo was rather disappointing with not enough tang and spice to it, without the chilli kick to it the sauce was interesting rather than tantalising. Restaurants' insistence on serving prawns with the shell still intact on their tails is rather frustrating in my book and not worth whatever aesthetic value it brings. If I'm paying to dine in comfort at a restaurant, why should I have to peel the shell off the tail still and make more of a mess than whatever tidy apearance the shells on makes.

Still the prawn vindaloo was a pleasant dish and probably a good introduction to the delights of a good vindaloo. Less could be said of the lamb saag, lamb in a sauce with pureed spinach, which was inoffensive with a slight hint of spices. I would say that perhaps my preference for spicy food ruined my appreciation of the dish but a any dish with pureed spinach should have that moresome feeling and taste of spinach. The vegetable curry was also inoffensive and obviously forgettable.

Whilst the pickles were too salty and rather bland in every other respect. The raita was quite nice with a good blend of yoghurt, garlic, cucumbers and mint. Kuchumber salad is simply another way of saying garden salad with a subtly spiced vinagriette. The naans were rather nice, the garlic naan having a satisfying taste of garlic and the keema naan quite a revelation.

The spiced minced lamb throughout the bread gave it a nice subtle savoury flavour. I could have done without the excess grease on both naans but the keema's contrasting texture of dough and mince was worth the clogged arteries. Faced with the choice of two Indian beers I choose the less trodden Cobra beer. It was a refreshing lager which seemed to have a bit more crispness to it than the more famous Kingfisher beer.

Whilst it was a bit cheaper than Beyond India or Tandoori Oven I'd say the quality of the dishes is well worth the money. My dining philosophy has always been that it's better to have something you enjoy less often than to have something don't enjoy more often. After all spending $10 on something bland is $10 too much.

Overall the food at Harvest of India was, here it comes again, inoffensive with some highlights such as the keema naan. The staff and surroundings were nice although I'm not sure how they would have coped during busier times as opposed to the end of the night. However I can see how it can appeal to those less familiar with Indian cuisine with it's swish decor and well cooked but rather bland, for me anyway, food.

Boudin Bakery

After being stuck in traffic on the way for a fair while, for a small town boy being stuck on a bridge was quite novel, we finally made it into San Francisco. Our first stop was Fisherman's Wharf where we got lunch. My cousin recommended the clam chowder served in sourdough bread which seems to be a specialty of Fisherman's Wharf.

The most prominent and inviting place was Boudin Bakery. Fisherman's Wharf is their flagship location with a shop, bistro, cafe and demonstration bakery. The demonstration bakery has glass frontage so people can watch the bakers in action making their famous sourdough bread using the same mother since opening in 1849. The place had a certain charm about it despite being a tourist magnet and it had plenty of outdoor tables to enjoy the mild autumn weather.

The bread used to serve the clam chowder in was a cauldron shaped loaf with an extra hard crust to hold all that hot chowder in. Contrary to my past experiences with chowder, this clam chowder had just the right amount of body to be hearty without being too heavy. The bread was delicious with a perfect texture and a good tang to it, although the crust was really tough and in hindside was obviously not meant to be eaten. Overall a meal worthy of its reputation.

Regattas

Friday, the fifth of August being my birthday I decided to celebrate it in low key style by dining at Regattas. Regattas is a bistro located within the Adelaide Convention Centre. It has crisp decor, cozy furnishings and is rather spacious, although that night we were dining there seemed to be only a handful of people apart from ourselves.

For starters I had oysters natural and with a spicy mango salsa. The mango salsa had an interesting tang to it balanced by the heat and sweetness of the mangoes. This was accompanied by a glass of pinot gris, unfortunately I don't seem to recall much of it, writing 11 months after the event. All I can say is that it was quite a good pinot gris and went quite well with the oysters.

For mains I had fillet of venison with an O'Leary Walker Pinot Noir. Although it was ages ago the venison was that lovely pink colour that vension cooked just right. It had a rich yet delicate flavour and was delightfully tender. The pinot was full of berry flavours with a supple texture that had just the right amount of grip to go with the venison.

The lovely French lady serving us was a shining example for the hospitality industry; friendly, full of helpful advice and dedicated. Overall Regattas was a pleasant dining experience although it was a bit odd to see the place mostly empty. A good choice for relaxed dining with good food and service.

Nu Thai

After shopping in the markets we felt like some south-east Asian food and I was curious to see whether Nu's deserved its reputation of doing an exciting new twist on Thai cuisine. As this was a spur of the moment thing we hadn't booked and the restaurant was pretty packed but we were fortunate enough to snare a little table. The place was fairly minimalist, and as with all these wannabe minimalist places, was rather noisy.

The menu wasn't too extensive but had some interesting takes on some favourite Thai dishes. For starters we decided to go with the garlic chive pancakes and prawns with betel leaves. The garlic chives pancakes were similar to the batter my mum makes and fries up. It was basically chopped garlic chives in a rice flour batter and fried up resulting in what can best be described as pancakes with a pleasant, satisfying bite of flavour and texture.

The prawns were dressed with a fragrant blend of herbs and some betel leaves. The waitress told us to wrap the prawns in the leaves to eat. The herbs went well with the prawns and the betel leaves added an interesting herbaceous flavour and nice crunch.

For the mains we had a noodle dish consisting of spicy seafood and vegetables with flat rice noodles. This is apparently one of the more traditional dishes and was quite nice with the salty sourness of the seafood and vegetables marrying well with the chewy texture of the noodles. We also had a beef in a hot and sour sauce which had quite a nice tangy kick to it.

This was all served with coconut rice which has a lovely rich texture going quite nicely with the sharp flavours of the main dishes. However it is rather filling and you probably don't want to eat just that with the meals, some plain rice would have made a nice contrast and refresher to it. Whilst the menu at Nu's may be smaller than most Thai establishments, they did have quite a selection of special with most of the dishes we had coming from the specials board.

Overall Nu is indeed an interesting take on Thai and deserves the praise for its culinary innovation and quality. The restaurant had a certain liveliness to it and the staff were brisk and efficient, always ready to serve. Overall it was a pleasantly suprising dining experience and one to keep in mind when wanting something more from Thai cuisine than the usual fare.

Matsuri

For a special treat we decided to dine at Matsuri on Gouger St, a well regarded place in the media and at work. It's a cosy Japanese restaurant tucked upstairs on the quieter end of Gouger St. We were lucky to get a table as we had not booked and the manager was not the most welcoming of people.

It is a pleasant enough place, with a sliding door entrance and little bar at the front. There's a small room for regular diners and an even smaller room at the back for more traditional Japanese dining. The manager had the novel idea of putting up a draped kimono between us and another set of diners.

We started by sharing a sushi and sashimi plate. Whilst the sushi and sashimi were of an arguably better quality than most other places, it was not a significant step up above other restaurants such as Genki (also tucked away off Gouger St). However it is better than most restaurants (cough Sumo cough) with the sushi rice actually having some flavour and the fish tasting fresh like fish should.

For mains we went with the don set which basically consisted of two dishes served with rice each and dessert. I went with the salmon and steak for the don dishes. The salmon don was simply raw salmon sliced thinly served over sushi rice whilst the steak was pieces of tender steak cooked in a soy based sauce.

Whilst the salmon was nice I had probably had enough of raw fish by the end of it, besides the sushi rice didn't quite have the tang that I like. The steak was lovely and juicy with the sauce complementing it very nicely by adding that extra savoury flavour. Overall both dishes were satisfying enough but not quite amazing enough to warrant the high regard this place seems to garner.

We barely had enough room for the desert which consisted of green tea ice cream and red beans in syrup. The green tea ice cream was nice, with that lovely texture and richness green tea ice cream has, although it did seem a tad too powdery. I only had a little taste of the red beans in syrup, a very popular Asian dessert but a bit too sweet for my taste.

The service was a bit slow considering the place was not extremely busy and the bill was on the higher side for Japanese restaurants. Overall the food was nice and satisfying but certainly not worth the rave some people have given it. I think I prefer the more open ambience of Genki and I don't think the premium you pay at Matsuri is worth it compared to Genki. Then again compared to other Japanese restaurants it is one of the better ones and at least the premium is more deserved than say at Sumo. So I would sum up Matsuri as being one of the better Japanese restaurants but definitely not the very best.

War of the Worlds

Having decided to see the latest Spielberg blockbuster starring Tom Cruise, War of the Worlds, we decided to grab a bite somewhere first on the Parade in Norwood. There was a dearth of variety so we settled on an Italian joint called Gusto. It was a pretty roomy place with wooden floorboards and a nice lounge for takeaway customers.

For entrees we had the Tuscan flat bread and a salsicca (italian sausage) fry up. The Tuscan flat bread was rather nice, simply flat bread drizzled with some olive oil and herbs. The salsicca was flavoursome if a bit too greasy for an entree. For mains I had cannelloni stuffed with spinach and ricotta which was quite a nice and not too heavy main. Overall the place was ordinary but pleasant enough, although the bill was comparable to Amalfi the food was nowhere near as good.

War of the Worlds was an entertaining film, although the acting wasn't much to write home about. The characters just weren't believable enough and at times were grating. Spielberg has done well the capture the gloominess and confusion of the story. The ending could have been pithier, it seemed as though the writers had enough and just wrote that they lived happily ever after. Overall a visual feast but not too memorable.

Back into the Oven

Last night to I returned to Tandoori Oven to celebrate a mate's birthday. Of course I left it until the last minute to get him a gift but wine has always rescued me in such situations. I popped into Quaffers on Unley Rd just before heading off to the Tandoori Oven. They had a great range of wines with more obscure wines than Dan Murphy's. I managed to get him a bottle of St Hallett Blackwell Shiraz, from what I read a paragon of great Barossa shiraz and definitely one I'll consider putting in the cellar.

This time there was a big gathering but we ordered individual dishes. For entrees I went for a dish of barramundi fillets with a spicy coconut gravy wrapped in banana leaves. It was a wonderful dish, the flavours of the coconut gravy blending nicely with the lovely delicate flesh of the barramundi.

This was washed down with a bottle of Rockford Alicante Bouchet. The alicante bouchet grape is the only, or one of the few, grape variety to actually have red juice whereas most wines get their colour from the skins of the grapes. This results in a nice refreshing wine a notch above most other rose wines with a perfect balance of crispness and sweetness.

For mains I had to try the lamb rogan josh again. I'm not sure whether the mix of previous expectations, staff rosters and having a glass of shiraz conspired to be not quite as impressive as last time. It was still a nice dish but it lacked the intensity of flavour and tang it had the last time.

I should berate myself for not learning the lesson of not having beefy red wines with shiraz, the combination of the two dull the flavours of both. Having said that though the Woodstock Shiraz was a nice example of McLaren Vale shiraz and deserved a better partner. We all shared a variety of naan bread including a lovely potato naan bread. The naan bread at the Tandoori Oven is quite nice but not quite as fluffily delightful as Beyond India's. Having said that the potato naan bread was quite a pleasant suprise with a filling of spiced potatoe inside, very appetising and satisfying.

For dessert I had a pistachio kufli, which was basically a firm ice cream flavoured with pieces of pistachio and cardomom. The pistachio gave it an intriguing hint of bitterness and the cardomom provided a nice tang. This was accompanied by a thin sliver of pistachio biscuit and washed down with a glass of Hollick Nectar, a lovely botrytis wine which matched the richness of the kulfi quite nicely.

This was another nice meal at one of the better Indian dining establishments and the bigger crowd showed the Tandoori coming into its own for a big but cosy gathering. I'd still like to think Indian food is better done in a more down-to-earth style as at Beyond India. Still the Tandoori Oven is a great place to dine in style, whether just two people or a mob.

Beyond India

Feeling like some nice curry we headed to our favourite Indian restaurant, Beyond India on O'Connell St in North Adelaide. Beyond India has always been my benchmark for Indian cuisine since we discovered it in 2000. The staff are always busy but friendly, particularly the maitre'd George who is a very affable and knowledgable gentleman. I love the whole atmosphere of O'Connell St with its decent range of restaurants and its embrace of al fresco dining, it's like a mature version of Rundle St without the wannabes and hoons.

Beyond India is a cosy, charming place with an interesting collection of Indian art. It has more of a lively buzz to it than the Tandoori Oven, although I guess the Tandoori Oven is better suited to more intimate and formal gatherings. On the night we visited we didn't have a booking and the place was pretty packed but George managed to find a table near the entrace.

Feeling rather peckish we decided to go straight to mains. We opted for the Beef Vindaloo and Beef Do Piaz accompanied by the baigan patata for vegetables. Beyond India making some of the best naan bread in town, it was mandatory for us to order some plain and garlic naans.

This was all washed down with a bottle of Nederburg Rose from South Africa. It was a pleasant by-the-book wine although I did notice it had a slight sour note although that could have been the interaction with the food we had with it. For Indian cuisine, and I think most rich and spicy dishes, rose is a perfect match with it's hint of sweetness and refreshing cripness.

Beyond India makes the best vindaloo in town and is responsible for my love of this dish. The whole combination of tender beef pieces, a rich tangy sauce and all that heat just brings your tastebuds alive. No other vindaloo dish I've had can compare to this.

The Beef Do Piaz is another interesting dish, although it can't compare to the Vindaloo for intensity of flavour. The dish combines tender pieces of beef with a rich gravy of tomatoes, onion and all the spices that this place blends so well. It was pleasant enough and would probably delight those with a more tame palate.

It's easy to forget how rich and tasty Indian vegetarian cuisine with all these meat curries. The baigan patata was a lovely reminder of how good vegetarian dishes can be. It combines potatoes, eggplant and capsicum all cooked to a lovely tenderness in a combination of spices that teases your mouth.

All this was accompanied and mopped up by the naan bread. Beyond India's naan is delectably fluffy and moresome. The garlic naan with its lovely colourful bits of garlic and spices is a delight on its own and the regular naan is lovely for mopping up those last bits of gravy. For satisfying Indian cuisine Beyond India still sets the benchmark, the place is like home for Indian food.

Sosta

Having been intrigued by that fairly new Argentinean restaurant, Sosta, on Rundle St. for quite a while now we decided to finally try it out. Judging how busy the place was by the time we arrived I'd have to say bookings are essential. The restaurant's decor was cosy and rustic with lovely dark wood panelling. There were some interesting if a bit abstract paintings around the place with dark crimson tones standing out, probably something to do with it being a steak house and all.

For entrees we had some panna espanol and what was basically a paella/risotto dish with chorizos. The panna espanol was an interesting take on garlic bread, with a rich garlic tomato sauce instead of the usual garlic butter/oil, very delicious. The chorizo dish consisted of chorizo sausages cooked with various flavourings on a bed of rice. It was rich but oh so flavoursome, the delicate spicing of the chorizo combining being highlighted by its companion ingredients.

The wine we brought along from Vintage Cellars was a lovely Italian wine, the 1997 Illuminati Zanna Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Vecchio. This basically means old/aged Montepulciano wine from Illuminati's Zanna vineyard in the Abruzzo region. The Abruzzo region on the Adriatic coast of Italy has been steadily gaining acclaim in Australia and Montepulciano seems to be one of its specialities.

Judging from this fine example of Abruzzo wine it is well deserved acclaim. The wine was basically Italy in a bottle: earthy, smooth and rich. On the nose it was dark sweet things, think raisins, chocolate and dark fruits. There were also lovely overtones of earth and spice on the bouquet with a hint of that vanilla from oak.

In the mouth the wine was just bursting with all the flavours the nose promised and the tannins were delightfully smooth. The silky richness of the wine perfectly complemented the mains. Main courses at Sosta's, as with any Argentinean restaurant, can be summed up as meat and more meat. Whilst I did notice some seafood dishes that caught my fancy, the menu on the whole was focussed on a variety of meats that have been slowly grilled to perfection.

I decided to go for the beef fillet served with a mushroom sauce, a relatively straighforward dish done superbly by the folk at Sosta. The fillet, which I ordered medium rare, was cooked to perfection. It was wonderfully tender, with a melt-in-your-mouth quality, and was not oozing blood like some steaks I've had before. The mushroom sauce had a lovely rich earthy flavour, the trinity of the steak, sauce and wine just marrying perfectly.

I had a try of my dining companion's goat dish, which was what can best described as a casserole of goat meat and vegetables. The meat and vegetables were cooked to perfection, again demonstrating the wonderful ability and judgement of the kitchen. Whilst the dish was nice enough, it lacked a certain richness and depth of flavour although any dish would have been hard pressed to match the rich flavours of the steak I had.

Both dishes were of a very generous size and served with a good selection of vegetables. We were both unable to finish off our mains as delicious as they were which was disappointing as they had a very tempting desserts menu. I guess the lesson to be learnt is to avoid entrees if you want to fit in a grill and dessert. Having said that there was a very interesting entree menu and there were other mains dishes not involving grilled meat that were intriguing.

Sosta's is a lively place to dine, being located on one of Adelaide's main entertainment strips. There was an interesting selection of what I'm guessing is Argentinean inspired music playing. Although the love of Rundle St establishments for concrete floors and the number of diners in a relatively cosy place did make it a bit difficult to carry on a conversation. Overall a lovely place with the best steak I've had so far, definitely one of the top places for grilled meats.

Amalfi

As we were feeling like Italian on Friday night what better place to enjoy it than at Amalfi, one of the best Italian restaurants around and definitely the best for rustic Italian food. There's something homely and inviting about that little shop front on Frome St. just off Rundle. Whilst the dishes are a little bit pricier than all those cafes surrounding it they are so much better than anything you can get in the area.

For entrees we decided to share a small pizza, in this case Amalfi's speciality pizza. Amalfi's pizzas are the best I've ever had, with the toppings the best you can get anywhere in town and the crust oh so perfectly done. The specialty pizza is an exercise in perfection with prawns, basil, pepperoni, assorted vegetables and what I believe is pancetta and anchovies.

Again we brought along a wine from Vintage Cellar's in Central Market, this time it was the Kingston Empiric 2003 Tempranillo. Tempranillo is the main variety in many of Spain's famous Rioja and a lot of people think it has great potential here in Australia. I would wholeheartedly agree with them, it has a delightful fruitiness and depth with gentle tannins. The spicy berry flavours match the fantastic mediterranean cuisine here and should do justice to more robust asian dishes thanks to that tantalising hint of apparent sweetness.

The wine cosied up to the pizza so wonderfully and so I decided to move on to the pasta del giorno (pasta of the day). This was a blend of mussels and clams with basil in a napolitana sauce and spaghetti. The pasta was cooked perfectly, with that elusive al dente character. The ingredients melded perfectly together and were robust enough to embrace the wine even with the seafood.

This was yet another delightful meal at Amalfi, definitely the best place in town for pizza and one of the best for good rustic Italian food. It was unfortunate that we had not booked and landed an al fresco table on a cold autumn night but that's the cost of impulsiveness. The staff were busy but were pleasant, helpful and efficient when they did finally serve us. For a great Italian meal you can't go past Amalfi.

A scenic drive

Went to the Barossa with a mate from the old work and an overseas consultant doing work for that company. We thought we'd take her to see the Barossa on the first day of the Barossa Vintage Festival which occurs every odd year. The drive wasn't too long or chaotic, although somehow we, well maybe just me, missed the turn onto the Barossa Highway or whatever it's called. We had to take this side road called Gomersal Road but we still ended up in Tanunda. Tanunda along with Nuriootpa, Angaston and Lyndoch are the main towns in the Barossa.

After dropping by the tourist centre in Tanunda we headed for Richmond Grove's winery. This was one of the closest wineries from the tourist centre. I had heard that Richmond Grove was based in a pretty building called Chateau Leonay. The truth was rather disappointing, it was a dark stone building with a corrugated iron roof. Still I guess the spire did give it some sort of quaint charm and there was that wonderful smell, well to a wine geek like myself, of fermenting must (grape juice) which just yelled out vintage time.

Richmond Grove has a range of wines with fruit from what are the apparently the best regions for the particular varieties hence Barossa shiraz, Watervale riesling and Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon. I had decided that day to be on the look out for good examples of Barossa shiraz but Richmond Grove's shiraz whilst competently made just didn't grab me like a great wine should.

The same went for the riesling and cabernet, perhaps it was because it was fairly early in the day but I had expected Richmond Grove wines to have some sort of pulling power. I also found out Richmond Grove make a port, or should that be a tawny or vintage fortified. Again no faults and well made but lacking some charm or magnetism.

Next door to Richmond Grove was Peter Lehmann and that was where we headed for. The grounds of the cellar door seemed to be on lusher, more expansive grounds than Richmond Grove. The building had a nice modern Australian touch to it with interesting local art, overall the cellar door was quite impressive inside and out.

First up we tried the Peter Lehmann Fino which was a dry sherry style fortified wine made using the solera system. It was pleasantly bone dry and, as some wine author has written concerning fino, was crying out for green olives. Quite a nice wine with that lovely nutty "rancio" character thanks to the special flor yeast.

Against my better judgement I decided to try the Barossa pinot noir, considering how delicate a variety pinot is. The wine was supposed to have berry characters with a hint of dusted chocolate but it was more like berry jam, nothing memorable. Continuing my search for good Barossa shiraz I tried the Peter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz. Whilst well made it still lacked that gobsmacking intensity of blackberries I love about shiraz although maybe that's telling me I should be going for McLaren Vale and Coonwarra shiraz more.

We also tried the vintage tawny and liquer muscat, both well made but not quite flooring my tastebuds. Finally we finished off by trying the late harvest frontignac and noble semillon. The late harvest frontignac was just like what the promotional material promised, like biting into a grape. Being a sucker for botrytis white wines I just loved the honeyed lusciousness of the Peter Lehmann Noble Semillon.

We had lunch at 1918 which was a pretentious and rather mediocre eatery. I tried some Moroccan inspired beef strips. Whilst quite aromatic it was rather bland and definitely not worth the 20 odd dollars. We had some Bethany late harvest riesling to go with it which was nice but after discovering the delights of botrytis whites and delightfully crisp whites it was too half-arsed a wine for my liking.

After a long coffee and cake at the charming Zinfandel cafe our final stop was Chateau Yaldara. Whilst not exactly the show pony of wines it is located on nice grounds with a grand building actually worthy of the name chateau, well in Australia anyway. I found out that Yaldara is now under the McGuigan Simeon umbrella. The shirazes on offer there were nice, the Tempus Two and McGuigan in particular.

The standout however were the vintage ports on offer dating back to the 1970s going for $50 and less. I tried and bought the 1976 vintage although what I tried was at the bottom of the barrel. Still even the bottom of the barrel tasted amazing with such luscious complexity. I was never a fan of port, finding the alcohol dominating too much but those were the cheap and nasty ones. This bottle was like an epiphany revealing how complex and luscious vintage fortified wine can be.

We wrapped up our tour by going to the Barossa reservoir which has this whispering wall where you can stand at one and hear the person at the other end as if they were talking right next to you. Overall it was quite a nice trip even though we only visited three wineries, it would be great to spend a weekend or more over there. Definitely a place I'll want to return to on a regular basis.

Gouger Fish Cafe

It was a fairly warm Friday night and the seaside was calling me. However after another week of hard yakka and work being a fair way away from the seaside I had to settle for a seafood restaurant. The Gouger Fish Cafe was chosen because of its cool blue themed lighting and decor.

As the restaurant was obviously on Gouger Street I was able to pick up a bottle of wine from Vintage Cellars in Central Market. This place has a good range of more up market wines, not quite as special as the ones in say East End Cellars but still more varied and refined than your average liquor store. Having been persuaded to try something the wine chosen was the 2003 Arneis from the Garry Crittenden 'i' range of wines.

Arneis is a supposedly rare Italian white grape but after drinking it I can see it's rare for a good reason. However I must concede that Italian white wines are generally fairly insipid minerally wines because that's the way they they like it over there. Anyway the wine itself was textbook mineral and some faint hint of pear and stone fruit. Slightly harsh and very insipid but it was served rather warm, more chilling may have given more of an impression of crisp, inoffensive white wine.

Gouger Fish Cafe is a sensible restaurant with a vaguely nautical theme about it, a sensible place for grown ups to eat fish'n'chips. The menu is middle-of-the-road Australian seafood with a few tame quasi-asian and mediterranean dishes in addition to the usual fish'n'chips albeit done with a bit more finesse than your local fish shop. I had chilli balmain bugs for entrees, this turned out to be cooked balmain bugs in a chilli sauce that had more than a hint of sweetness.

The balmain bugs had been simply cooked I presume by quickly boiling them although I felt they could have been a tad more tender. The sauce did complement the texture of the seafood but it did overpower the gentle savoury sweetness of the balmain bugs. Overall a decent dish but with the potential to be a lot better if the sauce were less sweet and concentrated and the balmain bugs more tender.

For entrees there was no other choice in a vanilla fish cafe like this but to have the King George whiting fillets battered and served with chips. King George whiting is such a delightful eating fish that as long as it's reasonably battered and fried it will taste divine. The flesh is delightfully light and tender matching perfectly with the slight crunch of the batter. The tartare sauce and salad that went with it were standard fare, nothing spectacular, indeed the salad was the stuff anyone rustles up at home.

Overall, like the wine and menu, dining at the Gouger Fish Cafe was a mildly pleasant experience with nothing wrong but nothing spectacular. My choice of wine was a disappointment in this case, but at least it was a lesson learnt about Italian white wines. The service was rather ordinary like their paper napkins, my main gripe being the wine wasn't properly chilled. Perhaps a more zingy wine like a Clare riesling and a better balanced entrée would have made it a better experience.

Tandoori Oven

Continuing on with the Friday night dining and to commemorate my last day on the job we dined at the Tandoori Oven on Unley Rd. This time I took that extra step and booked in advance that afternoon. Although the restaurant wasn't that busy I suspect we got a better and more accommodating table.

The Tandoori Oven is probably the swishest place for Indian cuisine in town. The little lounge bar just off the front desk was a nice touch. The staff were quite friendly although probably not as warm and inviting as at Beyond India on O'Connell St. although they were probably a bit more prompt.

Being a party of four we opted for a banquet which included a Tandoori platter and 3 main dishes. It turned out to be more than enough for all four and fairly reasonable value for the forty odd fare per head. To go with the food we ordered a bottle of Fox Creek JSM which turned out to be more than enough for everyone.

The tandoori platter was quite nice, a good balance of spice and that certain flavour you get from a tandoori oven. The main dishes we chose were beef vindaloo, lamb rogan josh and prawn and basil curry. We also had basmati rice, naan bread and a complimentary vegetable curry.

The prawn and basil curry was fragrant and deliciously tangy, the prawns cooked just right in a rich sauce. Whilst the beef vindaloo was spicy, hot and tender it just didn't have the tang that Beyond India's vindaloo has. Definitely in the Tandoori Oven's favour though was the lamb rogan josh, simply the best Rogan Josh in town. The lamb was tender without having that funny odour that people claim lamb has with the spices combining wonderfully.

Having the Fox Creek JSM with the food was a reminder that big red wines do not go that well with spicy food. It was a pleasant enough wine with smokey cherry and pepper characteristics but it just overloaded the palette. A better choice would have a been a rose, which wasn't on the menu, or beer.

The accompanying basmati rice was a nice yellow colour, perhaps achieved with fried onions, turmeric or saffron. It was just a tad too moist but the naan bread was quite nice, although the naan at the Tandoori Kitchen still tops the list. The vegetable curry was a tasty blend of spices and vegetables. For desert, by which I was probably reaching a similar state to the guy in the meaning of life at the restaurant, I had the mango chiffon mousse. It was a nice tangy combination but I was probably not in the best condition to appreciate it fully.

Overall the Tandoori Oven was a charming place to dine although the lights could have been a tad brighter. Actually on the night we were there Senator Amanda Vanstone was dining there, what a small town we live in. The food was good and the staff reasonably prompt and friendly. Although the food didn't quite match the heights of Beyond India it's still a great place to enjoy good Indian cuisine in a plush surrounding.

Urban myths

Adding to my restaurant review, last Friday one of the guys from work was leaving to go to the same company I'm going to (a coincidence, I didn't know until I got offered the contract). The chief took the whole software team to lunch at the Urban Bistro on Fullarton Road, near the race track.

As the name suggests it's one of those trendy, whatever the trend is, eateries with wanky minimalist decor. Thankfully they had wooden floor boards as opposed to the standard minimalist concrete. Still for a decent sized room holding 40 or so people it was rather loud, I couldn't hear much of what the waitress (or is it waiter these days) was saying about the specials.

The menu was I guess what you'd call Modern Australian, that is French jargon and Mediterranean flavourings and perhaps the occasional Asian ingredient. It all sounded pretty pretentious and the servings looked rather small sitting on those huge dishes. I went for the roast venison on polenta with spinach and grated beetroot. Since I was feeling pretty crook I thought I'd pass on the wine.

The staff were quite pleasant although it did take a while for the dishes to arrive, due in no part to the delightful waiting staff. The venison arrived looking rather diminutive and rare. However it was deliciously tender and packed full of flavour but I knew I needed a glass of wine, probably pinot (yes I'm still stuck on pinot thanks to Sideways).

The polenta was nice and wholesome, with effective but subtle garlic seasoning capable of standing up to the venison, just the thing for a crook little manchild. The spinach and grated beetroot were a refreshing balance to the rich flavours of the polenta and venison. Finally my glass of Nepenthe Pinot Noir arrived, although my nose wasn't in peak condition I could smell a distinct leafy aroma and a bit of that luscious strawberry fruit. The wine married with the food quite nicely, the general strawberry and slightly herbaceous flavours coming through, not quite as full as I'd hoped but then again I was crook.

During our conversation, I got reminded of a segment on the ABC science show the day before (Catalyst?) about how easy it is to imprint false memories. One example was the researcher doing quite a good job of convincing the reporter that she had visited the place they were at before. She would ask leading questions and was firm in her assertions to the reporter.

The other case study involved identifying a thief, participants were shown a video of a theft taking place and then photos of one group of suspects and a video of a line up of another group. Only one suspect was in both the photos and video. Over 50% of the participants wrongly identified the suspect in both the photos and video as being the culprit. This was attributed to him looking familiar, although that was most likely due to him appearing in both groups of suspects shown to the participants.

The researchers related this study to the case of a man in the US whom many involved in the case thought was innoncent. In this case he was also the only suspect shown in both the photos and video, this would seem to cast doubt over the reliability of the witness testimonies. Interesting stuff, psychology can actually be useful if removed from all those bleeding heart, nihilistic liberals.

Back to the meal, it was quite pleasant with the flavours lingering for quite a while. Overall I was pleasantly suprised that a seemingly pretentious eatery could serve up a satisfying, well balanced meal. Oh the overall price per head was probably comparable to Mapo which was a suprise and the bread was quite nice, a good balance between crusty and soft.

Mapo

Continuing on with trying not to forget things and expanding this blog to cover cuisine, I went to Mapo on Friday night. It's a Korean restaurant on Gouger Street with a seperate Korean barbecue and a la carte sections. As I was introducing some of the guys to the delights of Korean cuisine we opted for the a la carte section.

The cool thing I love about this place is they have this gong which they hit as you go to your table. Oh it's probably prudent to book, last time I've went on a Friday night it wasn't too hard getting a nice table but I guess summer time brings out the diners more. Then again Korean is great winter heartening food.

We had bulgogi (barbecue beef stir fry), japchae (sweet potata noodles fry up), battered barramundi fillets in a nice soy based sauce and chicken teriyaki (obviously I didn't have the last one and I know it's not really Korean). I had some Cass beer (the others stuck to Pale Ale, Coopers of course) as well as a 2003 Mornington Estate Pinot Noir (yes I have watched Sideways and couldn't resist, it just reminded me how delicate pinot is and hence how well it suits east Asian cuisine). The food as is always the case at Mapo was lovely and the wine matched it quite nicely.

The wine was good value for $30 a bottle with good structure and a lovely bouquet of plums and cherry. The wine had just the right amount of oak and tannins to balance the nice fruit flavours, just the right body and grip to go with the food. I was a bit underwhelmed by the Cass beer, last time I had it in came in a nice round frosted mug and was an excellent refresher. Perhaps this time I had the full strength rather than light they served before and the glass wasn't as frosty.

Overall it was a nice restaurant experience although the servings weren't as hearty as last time and the dishes seemed to be going more for style than substance. What I love about Korean food is that it's still quite delicate, like Japanese, but also quite satisfying, like Chinese, but perhaps we should have had more signature dishes. The service also seemed to be a bit off the usual friendly efficiency I'm used to there, seems they've had a big staff turnover.

Still Mapo is capable of a great restaurant experience if perhaps the poor waitress we had didn't have quite a bad day , I counted at least 2 collisions with careless customers, and we'd booked a better table. Wow what a long post but what can I say I love my wining and dining.