Surrounded by rich wine regions and fertile agricultural land, Adelaide’s restaurant scene has long punched above its weight and the abundant local produce means that quality and affordability go hand in hand.
Balancing world-renowned wine with the freshest produce imaginable, South Australian chefs have long been known for making foodies’ dreams come true.
Book a seat at one of the best restaurants in Adelaide and you’ll discover kitchens working with local producers to create a distinct sense of place, resulting in memorable dining experiences that linger long after the last of the sauce has been mopped up.
The shortlist
Great for special occasions: Restaurant Botanic
Best wine list: Magill Estate
Best for long lunches: Sofia Bistro
Best for casual eats: Peel Street
1. Restaurant Botanic
With an unbeatable location in the middle of the 51-hectare Adelaide Botanic Garden, it’s no surprise that the kitchen at Restaurant Botanic makes liberal use of the many onsite plants. They find their way into everything from garnishes to garums, helping to add a hyperlocal touch to elaborate degustations that unfold over four hours and feature 20+ “flavour combinations".
The leisurely pace means that both dinner and weekend lunches see only a single sitting, allowing the kitchen and floor staff to be generous with their time.
Named the top restaurant in Australia several times over, a visit is as much about the experience as what’s on the plate, with presentation worthy of a gallerist, impeccable service and a drinks list (including a non-alcoholic “temperance" pairing) that benefits from as much care as the food.
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Price: $$$$$
Atmosphere: Modern elegance
Review: 5/5
Location: Plane Tree Dr, Adelaide
2. Osteria Oggi
There are plenty of Italian restaurants in Adelaide, but this classy joint stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Whether you visit at lunch or dinner, simply follow the long marble bar through several arches into the piazza-inspired back room and you’ll feel like you’ve been transported from bustling Pirie Street to a regional Italian square.
Then all that’s left to do is grab a seat in one of the arched booths and check out the menu that lives up to the restaurant’s name (“oggi" means today).
That means fresh pasta made every day, from classics like carbonara to tagliatelle with blue swimmer crab and campanelle with smoked eel, along with elegant piatti piccoli (small plates) and heartier offerings in the secondi section.
Cuisine: Italian
Price: $$$
Atmosphere: Warm and inviting
Review: 4.5/5
Location: 76 Pirie St, Adelaide
3. Peel Street
There’s a reason this Peel Street favourite is busy every night of the week (except Sunday, when it closes its doors). The warm, personal service epitomises hospitality and the fabulously fresh plates that meld Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian cuisines are generous enough that you can almost guarantee there’ll be leftovers.
A large blackboard menu changes regularly, but the banana blossom salad is a non-negotiable. Put it all together, and you have a people-pleasing joint that makes it easy to sit back and enjoy life, and if you fancy a post-dinner drink you can find some of Adelaide’s best laneway bars just a few metres away.
Cuisine: Modern Australia
Price: $$$
Atmosphere: Relaxed
Review: 5/5
Location: 9 Peel Street Adelaide
4. Parwana Afghan Kitchen
Since opening this labour of love in 2009, the Ayubi family have become legends in Adelaide’s hospitality scene.
A large part of that is the menu that packs in plenty of flavour without ever trying to be cutesy – the jewelled rice with slivers of candied orange and pistachios is justifiably famous, and the decadently gooey banjaan borani (eggplant braised in tomato sauce and served with tangy yoghurt) is to die for.
But there’s more to this spot in Adelaide’s inner west than what’s on the plate. Indigo and salmon walls adorned with old family photographs are a reminder that these dishes provide a very real connection to home, and the Muslim owners use corkage fees to buy and cook food for local homeless people on the weekends.
Cuisine: Afghan
Price: $$
Atmosphere: Warm
Review: 5/5
Location: 124B Henley Beach Rd, Torrensville
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5. Magill Estate
Situated on the Penfolds estate in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges, this sumptuous spot has set the bar for Adelaide’s fine dining scene for decades. Just a fifteen-minute drive from the city, it’s still high enough to afford magnificent views of the vineyards, city and the sparkling Gulf St Vincent beyond.
Expect plenty of wow factor on the plate as well – chef Scott Huggins curates an indulgent tasting menu that combines dramatic presentation, opulent flourishes like caviar and truffle and his signature snack – a crispy deboned chicken wing packed to the brim with lobster and scallop meat.
The drink pairing unsurprisingly makes liberal use of the Penfolds cellars – opt for the Icon Pairing and you’ll get to taste some seriously impressive back vintages pulled from the museum.
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Price: $$$$
Atmosphere: Refined
Review: 4.5/5
Location: 78 Penfold Road, Magill
6. Sofia Bistro
The first thing you notice when entering this newcomer, which is part of a Hutt Street renaissance, is the warm welcome. The second is how well it uses its relatively small footprint. An abundance of natural light makes this all-day bistro feel surprisingly spacious, especially during daylight hours. The kitchen is open from breakfast (or brunch on weekends) right through to dinner, but it’s still worth booking ahead if you want one of the comfortable banquettes. Or you could sit at the bar and watch puffy flatbreads, vegetable skewers and proteins emerge from the wood-fired oven. Even the most voracious eaters will be satisfied with the ridiculously generous option, which pairs selections from the oven with cold plates like Sicilian-style crudo featuring kingfish, tuna and scallops. And if you want to settle in for the afternoon, you’ll find a wine list that pairs local classics with some lesser-known lights.
Cuisine: Italian
Price: $$$$
Atmosphere: Cosy
Review: 4/5
Location: 16 Hutt St, Adelaide
7. Black Dog Gallery
There’s no shortage of Japanese restaurants in Adelaide, but this unassuming diner in the city’s leafy Eastern suburbs sits comfortably among the best.
A menu that covers plenty of Japanese classics is augmented by daily specials that skew more contemporary, leaving room for rich, creamy bowls of soy and miso ramen, karaage soft shell crab sliders and colourful poke bowls topped with sweet braised eel.
The anything-goes spirit carries over to beverage offering, which always includes an idiosyncratic selection of specialty Japanese teas and craft beers that help make every visit feel like a journey of discovery.
Cuisine: Japanese
Price: $$
Atmosphere: Casual
Review: 4/5
Location: 4/455 Greenhill Road, Tusmore
8. Topiary
There’s no mistaking the time of year when you visit this casual restaurant that occupies a 140-year-old cottage in the centre of a suburban nursery. Whether you’re ordering breakfast eggs served with roast pumpkin and miso or tucking into a lunch featuring fresh figs in a bed of honey-spiked feta and celeriac schnitzel topped with fennel oil, it’s important not to get too attached to any dishes as the menu constantly changes to make the most of the seasonal bounty. Owner Kane Pollard draws much of his produce from the site and follows a no waste, made from scratch philosophy that sees bread and cheese made in house and even the smallest by-products repurposed into tasty morsels.
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Price: $$
Atmosphere: Serene
Review: 4.5/5
Location: 1361 North East Road, Tea Tree Gully
9. arkhé
When chef Jake Kellie says he likes to cook over fire, you’d better believe it. With no gas or electrical stovetops, everything at this stylish neighbourhood fine diner is grilled, toasted, charred, roasted, caramelised and even fried over glowing chunks of river red gum. And the menu is far from a parade of proteins slapped on the grill (though the richly marbled steaks, butterflied fish and southern rock lobster are all done to perfection).
Kellie shows a surprisingly light touch on flavour-packed small bites like the signature parfait tartlet à la Burnt Ends, a slightly more than bite-sized pastry filled with plush duck liver parfait and topped with a delicate brûléed shell, while ingredients cooked over flames also make their presence felt in several smoky cocktails.
To top it off, Kellie has leveraged his international connections to host regular collaborations with some of the finest chefs from around Australia and the world, ensuring there’s always something new happening at arkhé.
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Price: $$$
Atmosphere: Contemporary chic
Review: 4.5/5
Location: 127 The Parade, Norwood
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10. Fino Vino
The city outpost of Fino Seppeltsfield may lack the Barossa restaurant’s broad courtyard and cellar filled with ageing tawny, but the creations emerging from the kitchen here are every bit as enticing.
A fit-out that goes heavy on exposed brick and natural materials mirrors a culinary philosophy that leans towards the classics and allows the flavours in the fresh local produce to shine.
Add in front-of-house guru Sharon Romeo’s note-perfect service and the legendary crema catalana for dessert, and you have all the ingredients for a perfect night out. And if you’re popping past at lunch, the three-course express menu lunch that includes a glass of wine is an absolute steal for $55.
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Price: $$$
Atmosphere: Contemporary chic
Review: 4.5/5
Location: 127 The Parade, Norwood
11. Makan
Accessed via a narrow set of stairs, this venue is billed as a wine bar but the name (which means “to eat" in Malaysian) points towards a broader ambition.
Enticing flavour combinations abound on both sides of the offering, with a 60-strong wine list featuring local natural wines alongside Chinese and Japanese drops (plus some sake and umeshu) and a pan-Asian menu that stretches from Indonesia to Japan.
Punchy snacks including prawn “doughnuts" and betel leaves with salmon and green mango match the playful tone of the neon-lit interior, while bolder Chinese flavours shine through in larger plates like jiao ma chicken and smoked chacha cauliflower.
Cuisine: Japanese
Price: $$
Atmosphere: Trendy
Review: 4/5
Location: Lv1 116 Flinders Street, Adelaide
12. Aces
This old-school Italian restaurant in Adelaide’s Chinatown has been through many iterations, but the latest one might just be the best. Plush red carpet and dim lighting give the downstairs dining room the retro air of a classic Little Italy joint, while the black and white tiled upstairs bar features DJs and a dancefloor on weekends. It’s no surprise that hearty pasta dishes do most of the heavy lifting on the menu, but you’ll also find a few surprises in an appetiser section that features tender lobster ravioli and neatly cut lasagne skewers. Look further and you’ll even find a nod to Aces’ location with Italian-Chinese crossovers including spaghetti vongole à la Golden Century and a “yum ciao" lunch menu of small plates made for sharing.
Cuisine: Italian
Price: $$$
Atmosphere: Vibrant
Review: 4/5
Location: 96 Gouger St, Adelaide
Check out our guide to the 12 best cafes in Adelaide.
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