A Full Day of Eating in Adelaide - Let's Nomnom Guide!

When I mention about Adelaide to most of my friends, they mostly say it has nothing to offer rather than their vineyards and wine tasting activities. Out of curiosity and having heard that there is Australia's first Hello Kitty Cafe there, I manage to use my love for Hello Kitty as a main excuse to persuade Mr. Nomnom to put Adelaide as out next getaway destination!

Happily doing my reading before going on a trip, now I'm gonna share our full day of eating in Adelaide..

PRE-BREAKFAST

1. ABBOTS AND KINNEY, City Centre

 

I'd say personally this as the highlight of our food journey and definitely a must go whenever you decide to visit Adelaide. Flaky, buttery, thinly multi-layered and light, yes their croissants simply nail they way they should be. Make sure you come early in the morning to catch Johnny's Sfogliatelle - filled with ricotta cheese and candied orange rinds as they only make about 12 pieces per day, as well as Almond Croissant and his other savory treats (Jean Claude Van Hamme and/or Barry Croquer - both are so oomphazing!)

Abbots and Kinney
Address:
78 Pirie Street, City Centre
Opening Hours:
Monday - Friday 6.30am - 3.30pm
Saturday 7am - 1pm

2. RED DOOR BAKERY

Started with a passion for good bread and pastries, Red Door Bakery now has 3 stores with loyal repeated customers longing for their pies, sausage rolls, breads, and their house-made chili jam! Following the crowd, we decided to go with their Pork and Sage Sausage Roll with chili jam on the side and Creme Brulee Tart. Sausage roll was delicious, flaky, full of meaty goodness and chili jam made it extra special and tasty. As for the tart, it was encased in crisp golden pastry and on top of custard was a nicely crunchy caramelised sugar with a distinctive burnt toffee flavour. 

Red Door Bakery 
Check their website here to find your preferred store's address and opening hours

BREAKFAST

 ADELAIDE CENTRAL MARKET, City Centre

This market is considered as one of the largest undercover markets in Australia. Buzzing with locals as well as tourists, Adelaide Central Market is haven for fresh fruits and veggies, meat and seafood, as well as some cafes and patisseries. If you have extra time and budget, you can consider to join Central Market Tour where you can try range of delicious samples and enjoy this market to the fullest. 

The Yoghurt Shop is a must visit if you are a yoghurt lover! Starting from this market, they now have more than 10 shops in SA wide and still make their smooth, thick and creamy Greek yoghurt through traditional method handed down over 3 generations. Don't forget to try their best selling Lemon Cheesecake flavour as well as their Mixed Berries.

A pastry shop called Dough, located next to The Smelly Cheese Shop, attracted my attention as it's always crowded and the customers simply never stop coming! We managed to secure their newest creation, Golden Gaytime Cheesecake, an Apple Tart and a Lemon Tart. Their cheesecake was the greatest attention stealer ever with smooth, luscious and decadent combination of chocolate, caramel and honeycomb. I'm gonna close my eyes, cover my ears and pretend there are no calories in these beauty. 

Dough
Address:
Adelaide Central Market, Shop 45, 77 Gouger Street, City Centre 

LUNCH

DEVOUR CAFE PATISSERIE, Richmond

I heard they were a dessert bar before opening in a new location as a brunch cafe now. The place was pretty spacious and simply decorated with a big communal table in the centre. 

The menu was short and inviting with some delicious cakes and donuts on their display rack. Mr. Nomnom opted for their special menu, it was Fried Polenta with Chorizo, Creamy Mushroom and Poached Eggs. Polenta was yummy and soft but it wasn't really crispy on the outside. 

I decided to go with their Yoghurt Panna Cotta as I needed something light after those pre-breakfast treats. The yoghurt gave the panna cotta a light creamy flavour that is rich but also smooth. It was slightly tangy but so refreshing when eaten together with fresh shredded apple, berries and their house-made granola.

Devour Cafe Patisserie
Address:
52 Davenport Terrace, Richmond
Opening Hours:
7am - 4pm on weekdays and 8am - 2pm on weekend

AFTERNOON TREATS

ST. LOUIS House of Fine Ice Cream and Desserts

It was a beautiful hot sunny day and we decided to go to Glenelg Beach and spent our afternoon there. Unfortunately, the jetty was closed due to an event and our thoughts turned to St. Louis ice cream. Judging by the number of people coming in and out, this place is obviously a favourite one in Glenelg area. 

We went nutty with Roasted Almond and Peanuty Butter & Nutella this time. Service was so kind and warm and they even asked whether we wanted to dip our cone in Nutella for free~

St. Louis House of Ice Cream (they also have another store in Gouger St, City Centre)
Address:
Shop 3, 1 Colley Terrace, Glenelg
Opening Hours:
8am - 11pm except Friday and Saturday (till 12am)

PRE-DINNER

MANDOO, West End

Mandoo is a little Korean dumpling house that's always crowded with mostly students. We arrived there around 6pm just before the peak hour and got seated right away. I heard that Chef Pete Evan also came here to try their bibimbap and mandoo (saw his signature and photo posted on their glass door)! 

The menu was pretty straight forward, first you can choose to have steamed or fried mandoo or combination of both with $1 extra with your choice of pork, chicken, vegetable, and kimchi pork filling, as well as mandoo soup, hot pot, and bibimbap if you need more carbs to make you full. 

We chose combination of fried chicken mandoo and steamed kimchi pork mandoo. I personally love their fried mandoo with chicken filling more than the other one as kimchi was a bit too sour and overpowering. Bibim Mandoo was another favorite of ours and it was basically fried mixed mandoo and eaten together with a slaw and Korean dipping sauce. 

Mandoo
Address:
26 Bank Street, West End
Opening Hours:
Monday - Friday 11.30am - 9pm and 12pm - 9pm on Saturday

DINNER

GOLDEN BOY, East End

Heard great things about this popular dining place and we got bar seating in the kitchen area due to last minute booking. Service was attentive and the food almost came at the same time.

When I ordered this Egg Net Salad, I thought the net would look like a feather light one but it was actually a crepe-like. Studded with pork, dried prawn, shredded papaya (yam was mentioned in the menu but I didn't find yam at all) - it was fresh, crunchy, sweet, sour and a little bit of spicy at the same time. 

Taste quite similar was this Braised Pork Belly with Crispy Barramundi, Apple, Corriander and Nam Jim Dressing. Pork belly was tender and flawlessly cooked but the Barramundi pieces was quite fishy, tough and wasn't crispy at all. 

This Roasted Spatchcock was my my favorite dish! Marinated in turmeric, garlic, mekong whisky and charcoal-grilled, the flavour was bold and the flesh was moist and tender!

Golden Boy
Address:
309 North Terrace, East End
Opening Hours:
6pm - 10.30pm Tuesday - Thursday and Saturday
12pm -10.30pm Friday
Closed Sunday and Monday

DESSERT

HELLO KITTY CAFE, Chinatown

I said proudly to Mr. Nomnom that I'm now one step closer to check my Hello Kitty obsession off my bucket list! 

   
I always think Hello Kitty cafe is an extremely adorable place to please your eyes with all those kitty decorations. I heard that they changed the colour concept to brown and orange instead of the usual all pink to make it look like a cafe-style place for everyone (especially men) to enjoy. 

Look at these Hello Kitty shaped desserts! Taste wise, they were just okay but I couldn't deny that I loved all those kitty faced mousse, macaron, cookies and even creme brulee!

Hello Kitty Cafe
Address:
31 Moonta Street, Chinatown - City Centre
Opening Hours:
10am - 10pm daily

What do you think about Adelaide now? They have more to offer than what you think right? We still have couple of places we couldn't manage to go.. So, I'll definitely use this as a reason to go back and explore Adelaide more next time!