Barossa vineyard. Image credit: Henschke and Co.
Winery lunches, shopping splurges, fabulous dinners, wine tours and fringe shows. A weekend in Adelaide is anything but boring.
A few weeks ago, I found myself back in the old haunt, the place where I lived for 25 years: Adelaide.
I’ll say it again. It honestly baffles me why Adelaide isn’t given more travel cred. It’s a great little city to visit, packing a punch with legendary wine and food, an amazing small bar scene and a really relaxing pace of life.
On my most recent visit, in amongst meeting babies and hanging with the parents, I squeezed in some of my favourite things to do in Adelaide. I highly endorse:
1. Lunch in McLaren Vale
You absolutely cannot visit Adelaide without visiting at least one wine region – preferably five. And while you’re here in the land of gastronomical good stuff it would be a sin not to stop for lunch – a really long lunch.
There’s five wine regions within a two-hour drive of Adelaide but we all know my personal favourite is McLaren Vale. It’s gorgeous in this rural Australia way, creates some knockout wines and the people are just ludicrously friendly.
Coriole is one of my most-loved McLaren Vale wineries, with its Home Beautiful style cottage garden grounds, top drawer wines and views of the vale. It also does an amazing winery lunch in Gather at Coriole. For $70pp, you get to enjoy a seasonally changing, chef’s selection menu of things like cider vinegar glazed chicken and Ponzu cured mulloway – as I did. Yep, life is good.
Lunch at Gather at Coriole. Image credit: Coriole Vineyards.
Coriole Vineyards. Image credit: South Australian Tourism Commission/Josie Withers.
2. See an Adelaide Fringe show
If you’ve timed your visit to Adelaide correctly (and that would be mid-February–mid-March), attendance of the Adelaide Fringe is mandatory. Pick at least one show – ideally more, as there’s hundreds to choose from, covering cabaret and comedy to acrobats and dance.
This was my first Adelaide Fringe in four years and that’s a really sad situation. Luckily I had time to squeeze in a cruise through the Garden of Unearthly Delights and sit front row at Fuego Carnal. It was a solid fringe show pick, capturing everything that’s great about the Adelaide Fringe: a high energy, world class performance by international artists.
Yet somehow the bride-to-be we were celebrating, Alison, slept through the entire show. The fire, swords, knives and flaming bow and arrows, she snoozed right through. Clearly not her first fringe show in four years.
Adelaide Fringe. Image credit: South Australian Tourism Commission.
3. A wine tour of the Barossa
Barossa is another one of those wine regions ludicrously close to Adelaide. Considered one of the best wine regions in the woooorld, the Barossa needs no introduction. The big boy in town is just over an hour drive from the city and is known for its reds, mostly. My Barossa winery picks are Yelland and Papps, Charles Melton Wines, Seppeltsfield and Rockford, and I was a happy little donkey that our wine tour crew got to three out of four of these.
I was equally happy that we stopped for another long lunch at Harvest Kitchen, which is just Barossa in a box: great food, wine and views. Starring seasonal, local produce, the menu is designed to be shared. Although I had no intensions of sharing the truffled mushroom arancini – get your paws off.
Charles Melton Wines
4. Shopping in Adelaide
Nowhere beats Melbourne for shopping, but I actually think Adelaide as a shopping destination deserves some recognition. There’s some highly lucrative shopping damage to be done in this city. For me, more so than Sydney.
Rundle Mall is the city’s shopping epicentre, but cross Pulteney Street and a whole world of boutique shopping opens up on Rundle Street. Make a beeline for BNKR, Sooki and the local hero Miss Gladys Sym Choon, but there’s also Zimmermann, SABA, MIMCO and more.
While we’re on the topic of Rundle Street, this sassy strip is also home to some great small bars. Hellbound, BRKLYN, Mother Vine, Mr Goodbar, NOLA – just to name a couple.
Other streets with style include The Parade and King William Road.
Rundle Mall. Image credit: Adelaide City Council.
5. Sunday dinner at Singapore House
With super fresh produce flowing in from the rich food-growing areas around South Australia, dining out in Adelaide is a real treat – and surprisingly cheap. But what I find equal parts fascinating and frustrating is that finding an Adelaide restaurant open on a Sunday is a serious chore. Apparently the entire city is home cooking a Sunday lamb roast.
Some of my favourite Adelaide restaurants – Osteria Oggi, Gondola Gondola, Press* Food & Wine – all closed on a Sunday. But do you know who is open? Singapore House, and they’re a trusty old favourite that never disappoints.
You can’t put a fork wrong at this city fringe restaurant that’s reminiscent of colonial era Singapore, serving an exotic assortment of Chinese, Malay, Indian and other South East Asian street food. Satay chicken, yellow duck curry, cheese naan, crispy beef, salt and pepper tofu… welcome to Singapore House.
Sticky pork salad at Singapore House
That’s it. A weekend in Adelaide. Killed it.
