Argo on the Parade

Being free at the same time on a week day is a very rare occurrence for my friend Angela and myself, so we took the opportunity to grab lunch together at Argo on the Parade!

You can see sandwiches/rolls/wraps being made through the deli style counter

It was packed to the brim, even on a Tuesday afternoon! We managed to snag a table along the back couches.

 I thought the table decor was very cute, with all the laminated table numbers letters featuring pears hand coloured by Year 1 students at Loreto.

 Sweet potato fries with sour cream (small) $5.90

Absolutely delicious! They came out piping hot with a crunchy outer layer and warm, soft centre, and were great with the sour cream. Also a very generous serving for how much it cost - we were very sure it was never ending and didn't end up finishing it. We both definitely recommend them!

 The MJ - grilled chicken, crisp pancetta, caramelised onion, fresh tomato, provolone cheese, mixed lettuce drizzled with a lemon and mustard sauce $11.50

Honestly, very disappointing. Firstly, the bun was too heavy and thick. It wasn't even toasted so texture-wise, it added nothing to the burger. The grilled chicken was very dry and bland making the burger very difficult to finish. There could have definitely been more of the source! Also the pancetta was not very crispy and looked suspiciously like bacon. I ended up leaving most of the bun and chicken.

John's Special - chicken Schnitzel, grilled bacon, fried egg, cheese, tomato, lettuce & Argo Caesar dressing $11.50

Also very average. Angela commented on the blandness of the chicken schnitzel and also how she was disappointed that the fried egg wasn't runny. She also said that the sauce tasted like something at Hungry Jack's! We both agreed that the bun was nothing special, and she also left most of the bun and chicken untouched.

Overall, we were very disappointed with the quality of the burgers, but we will be coming back just for those amazing sweet potato fries which definitely overshadowed the rest of the meal! The food came out in record time despite how busy it was that day, and all the staff were super friendly. The casual atmosphere gave Argo's a really great vibe, and we think we'll perhaps return in the future to try some of their other offerings.

Esca

For Father's day, my family and I had a lovely dinner at Esca on the Marina Pier in Glenelg.

[Apologies for the lighting in the photos - it was rather dim in the area of the restaurant in which we were seated!]

The front of the restaurant. There was also a lot more seating towards the back, facing out towards Glenelg beach. I'm sure there would have been spectacular views during the day!

 Hot bread, chilli, olives, salted butter & oil $8

 Antipasto of small goods, cheese, vegetables & seafood $22

Great selection of antipasto! Well worth ordering as the 6 of us happily nibbled on the generous portions of salami, cheese, sundered tomatoes, Italian sausage, olives and more while waiting for our mains.

 Zucchini flowers, stuffed w ricotta, w haloumi, apple & candied walnuts $18

A lovely starter. The zucchini flowers had a thin, crisp outer layer and filled smooth ricotta filling. I particularly enjoyed the candied walnuts and apple salad as they complimented each other very well. I do question why this cost $18 though.

Pork belly w crackling, apple & ginger puree, savoy cabbage & rhubarb chutney $32

I saw pork belly on the menu and couldn't refuse it! The meat was so tender and could only be described as 'melt in your mouth'. The apple and ginger puree was a rather interesting combination, but tasted great with the pork. My only complaints would be, firstly, with the crackling which was overly salted (you can see the grains of salt in the photo!) and not as crunchy as it could have been, and secondly with the cabbage which was rather bland and did not add anything to the dish. I also found the rhubarb chutney quite strange- it had the texture of raw minced meat and had a very distinct sour and tart flavour. I ended up leaving most of behind on the plate.

 Fish of the day: Garfish rolled with raisins, cauliflower puree and olive tapenade $34

 Beef fillet, char-grilled, w white polenta, shallots, asparagus & jus $34

My dad ordered this and even though I didn't taste it, I could see that the beef was cooked to absolute perfection!

 Linguini w local SA seafood: prawns, crab, mussels, cockles, calamari & chilli $30

Risotto w pancetta, tomato and broad beans $25

The risotto was soft yet still had a bit of bite to it, and the flavours worked together very nicely overall. The serving was very generous and my sister struggled to finish it!

We were all completely stuffed after dinner so we didn't order any desserts. This was unfortunate because I was eyeing the almond panna cotta! Oh well, there's always next time!

All of us really enjoyed our dinner. The restaurant was situated in such a gorgeous location and the food was definitely above average. The service was also great, with staff who were very attentive and friendly. Although this could be classified as fine dining, the restaurant was definitely child friendly and there was even a separate kids' menu.
I'm sure I'll definitely be back to try some of the other things on their menu!

Copious amounts of dessert!

Apart from a lovely 18th celebration last weekend, I was guilty of indulging in way too many sweets and carbs!

Early Saturday morning, prior to our study session, my friend and I were in Rundle Mall running a few errands when we spotted some 'cronuts' while walking past Signore's in the David Jones food court.

What's that? You're yet to discover the cronut? Let me quickly fill you in; a cronut is a croissant and donut hybrid first created by Dominique Ansel in New York. They've taken the world by storm, with 'imposters' appearing everywhere (see here). They've become so popular that people are even willing to fork out $100 per cronut in New York. Insanity!

Now, I call these 'cronuts', with quotation marks, because they don't seem to be as delicate and pristine as Dominique Ansels's (though I do appreciate that would be very difficult). 

We'd seen them the weekend before but thought we'd try Jenny's Bakery's cronuts first (the bakery in which cronuts first appeared in Adelaide, apparently). However, since we'd stopped here for coffee, we decided to try one anyway! We guiltily ordered a Raspberry cronut to share.

Raspberry cronut $6.50

It was definitely better than we thought. Not too sweet, even with all that cream and glaze, and the dough was nice and airy. However, we thought it could have been even flakier to capture more of the 'croissant' element of a cronut. Also, the presentation is not quite as delicate as ones we have seen - they seem to have been cut in half and filled with the cream. Nonetheless, a pretty solid effort and we rather enjoyed it.

- - -

That evening, while picking up my sister in Prospect, we decided to make a quick stop at Devour to pick up some takeaway desserts. Since we really enjoyed our previous visit, we expected to wowed get again!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Panna Cotta $8

5 pack of macarons $12

 Apologies for the dodgy lighting - I did what I could while sitting in my car!

From top to bottom: black sesame, salted caramel, red skin, peanut butter and jelly, grape hubba bubba

We actually found that they were too sweet, and that the texture was only improved by over night refrigeration (we didn't finish them all!). My favourite flavours were definitely red skin and grape hubba bubba! I find it amazing how they manage to capture those flavours in a macaron. Genius!

The Peanut Butter & Jelly Panna Cotta was delicious, however a little too sweet as well. I couldn't finish it in one sitting because I couldn't handle how sweet it was, mainly due to the layer of 'peanut butter' and jam on top. I definitely enjoyed the panna cotta part, though.

A little disappointing this time round, but I'm sure that won't stop me from going back and dining in properly!

- - -

As a post study session treat, my friends and I stopped at St Louis' for some ice cream!

Wild Strawberry Junior chocolate-dipped cone with extra cream and chocolate fudge $4.20

Peanut butter-cookie and caramel fudge $4.20

Two of us ordered this and it was delicious! Definitely better than what I ordered on my first visit.

Beyond India [2]

An extremely busy weekend saw me celebrating the 18th birthday of another one of my friends, as well as doing lots of driving, studying and eating!

First of all, a big happy birthday to one of my best friends, Sophie. It's hard to believe she's 18 when she is in fact the smallest (height wise) in our circle of friends! 

She celebrated with a lovely dinner at Beyond India, one of our favourite restaurants. (See my first review here.) She was kind enough to let us order whatever we liked! We ordered a lot more since there was one curry per person, however I could only snap a few photos of the curries around me.

Beef Patiala 

I ordered the Beef Patiala as it was something I had never tried before. I loved the rich flavour and the slight punch from the mild chilli, though I wish the chunks of beef had been more tender.

 Chicken Korma

 Butter Chicken

Chicken Tikka Masala

Naan basket

Absolutely delicious! I can never get enough of the cheesy naan. 

 Sophie's first legal drink, a Swirling Sari cocktail!

 Cutting her cake, a delicious Apple & Berry cake from Muratti's

We had such a great time, with the food and service being fantastic and prompt, as per usual. I'm quite sure that Beyond India is without a doubt one of the best places in Adelaide for Indian food!

Once again, happy birthday Sophie!

Burger Theory

It's quite shocking that I haven't blogged about Burger Theory before! It has probably been there from the very beginning of the burger craze in Adelaide. I just can't resist a burger and fries whenever it happens to be close by! On this particular occasion, I was in the CBD and it was parked at Hindmarsh Square.

 There was some light rain so we borrowed one of their bright umbrellas!

Our order for lunch!

No. 1 with fries and a drink $15

No. 2 $11

We couldn't fault anything apart from the overly salty onion confit with pancetta - a first in ~10 (I think) visits! Apart from that, we were very pleased with lunch. 

Burger Theory rarely disappoints, and today it definitely lived up to our expectations. Definitely worth the hype and a try if you haven't yet done so. The service and food is always fantastic, and I promise it will not disappoint. Just remember to follow their Twitter or Facebook pages to keep up with their daily locations!

Overall 9/10

Vy

xo