Milano Cucina - Adelaide

Atmosphere: ***/5
Food: */5
Drinks: ***/5
Service: */5


Located on the ground floor of the Channel Ten building Milano Cucina marks the start of the eatery hotspot within the well known Hutt Street precinct.  I was quite hesitant about writing about this place because I feel like it is so far away from what it should, or I otherwise hope, would, like to be and I am constantly hoping that it will be better then next time I go.

The menu boasts Northern Italian food which ranges over pasta, pizza, focaccia, steaks and fish.  I found that the menu is very similar to the Italian restaurants located along the Parade in Norwood.

My last visit here I ordered a Linguine ai Frutti di Mare (Marinara) and I was so disappointed.  This may have been exasperated by the fact that I am trying to reduce the amount of high GI I eat due to the coming summer months and ordering pasta was a special treat.

The mussel's were quite dry and the shells were cracked.  Out of all the clams I was given only one was opened, and after a good crack of pepper from the waitress I had to go back for more, by the end of my meal I had also found that without realising I had eaten nearly half  of a bowl of parmesan with my meal as there was such a lack of flavour.  

The service here is lacking.  The waiters range between being not fluent in English, as I can see that the owner has tried, in keeping with the Italian restaurant, which is a wonderful concept however, they have frequently mistaken my orders, this happens quite a lot, especially with the coffee's, I have often found myself drinking something that I did not order because it gets to the point where language becomes a barrier and it is too hard to negotiate a table full of wrongly served coffee.  The other waiters are either very awkward which often comes across to me as uninterested and/or rude and I have also found some quite aggressive.

There are a lovely little range of cakes and treats and the iced coffee is a special treat here on hot days, as they add a lovely selection of ice-cream's which is perfect for a summer.  The coffees are solid, but not something to compare to the barista/hipster made coffees a couple of blocks down on Rundle Street.

Milano's has so much potential and attract's such a vibrant interesting crowd, I will keep on coming here for iced coffees!

Hey Jupiter - Adelaide

Atmosphere: ***/5
Food: **.5/5
Drinks: ****/5
Service: */5


Ebenezer Place bringing a little bit of Melbourne into the Adelaide space! With the spring sunshine hitting the outside tables with warmth we threw our other lunch plans in the bin and decided to enjoy the lunch hour in the sun at Hey Jupiter.

This lane-way is the centre of the new breed of Adelaide hipster, with alternative clothing stores, bike shop, hairdressers and new concept café's such as this one this little street is attracting quite a crowd.

The menu at Jupiter's is HUGE which made me quite exited for all the food choices but on closer inspection on the food front it was quite hollow.  There are an abundance of drinks listed on the menu, when my lunch partner asked what the interesting named hot chocolate was the waiter brushed her off for not knowing what it was (it was listed as the brand name).   For lunchtime I could only see sandwiches on the menu, I noticed that two girls had soup at their table but I could not find it on the menu or on the specials on the wall, so if not intimidated by the wait staff I would suggest asking for specials!

If you come here for lunch I would suggest unless you are after a sandwich this cafe is not for you.   The flavours are amazing and so delicate, however, they are quite small and there is not options to order any sides.  I can imagine if I had taken some of my male friends to Jupiter's they would not have been happy to pay $12/$13 dollars for a small sandwich.

    

My lunch partner and I ordered two vegetarian sandwiches to share, one beetroot and one enchilada.  The ingredients were so well flavoured and fresh.    We couldn't decide which one is better.  I understand that my review thus far may seem partially negative.  For some reason (could you say 'hipster') café's never produce the staff with the kindest or warmest of service, and the food options were slim and the drinks options were extensive, I noticed that they had one of the largest selection of Vermouth I have seen for a cafe that focuses on breakfast/lunchtime.  However, for what Hey Jupiter does, it does it well.  The food was small, but wonderful and the iced tea we had (minus the ice-cream offered) was strong, which I think is good because it defines itself from the pre-packaged milks you can get at your local service station.

There seemed to be a lot of regulars at Jupiter's, particularly from the Royal Adelaide Hospital with the waiter/proprietor being on first name basis with quite a few of the customers, although I don't think that I will get to that point with this place,  I will not be opposed to coming back here for the wonderful sunshine and another flavoursome sandwich.

Marrakech - Adelaide

Atmosphere: ***/5
Food: ****/5
Drinks: */5
Service: **/5

With a shop face that hides the elegance within, Marrackech restaurant was definitely a Moroccan surprise!  Located on King William Road this small restaurant offers wonderfully aromatic food with enthusiastic and warm service.

The restaurant is quite small and only holds around forty people. When dining here I would suggest making a booking.   I almost learnt the hard way dining here on a Sunday night, thinking that it would be a reasonably quite night the only tables that were available were outside.

One of the highlights of the night was the hospitality of the owner and chef, Mohammed, who has so much pride for his little restaurant it makes you feel like you are coming into his home, as he comes out and talks to all the customers, he even came out and brought us a taster of a new dish before our meals came out!

We started with the Mezza Platter, the chefs selection of five entrées which seemed like the best bet for a taste of of everything from the dips and the chicken, lamb and beef entrées.  I was originally quite surprised at how expensive the entrées were individually which also helped with my decision to go for the Mezza Platter. After the first course I must say, you get what you pay for, by the time we had finished the first course and the quick tasting I was nearly full!  

We ordered the Meatball Tangine to share (between two people) for the mains and a side of bread and because my dining partner is adamant that cuscus is the devils rice we ordered jasmine rice instead of the traditional Moroccan accompaniment of cuscus!  

The main courses average around thirty dollars a dish which seemed quite expensive, however, as the meals come out in the wonderfully traditional Tangine dishes and are therefore quite large I would suggest that you would need no more than one order between two people, we also had leftovers to take home!

The service here is quite muddled, there is no specific wait staff for tables which meant that we found ourselves being forgotten and going up to the counter to remind and ask the wait staff for things.  This was quickly forgotten as the apologies flowed in and when we did have service it was warm.  On a note for the drinks the gin and tonic I was served was horrible, I am quite sure the tonic was flat and there was no garnish to go with it which was disappointing.

Due to the heaviness of the meals I could not fit dessert in, but the Moroccan coffee was so aromatic I would defiantly suggest you have a try!  There are little things that can be done here to make the dining experience the best but for now, I will still be going back!