Benjamin On Franklin Hotel
233 Franklin Street
ADELAIDE South Australia 5000
w www.benjaminonfranklin.com.au
t +61 8 8231 4380
open Monday to Saturday lunch and dinner, Sunday from 11.00 am until 7.30pm, lunch only
FOOD Two weeks ago it was a bleak Tuesday evening that we decided to go to the Benjamin on Franklin. The Benjamin had been opened slightly more than a month. Adelaide pub food on average is very lack luster and we uncertain about reviewing the Benjamin, especially since our usual policy is ’open for three months’ before reviewing. What had drawn us in was the décor that is reminiscent of some of the lovely small hotels in the French Quarter in New Orleans. The Benjamin on Franklin is a quirky refit, not anything that we haven’t seen somewhere else before, but neatly amalgamated into an attractive cool feel. Best of all it is not a clone of umpteen other Adelaide pubs or restaurants.
It was pouring outside and the roaring fire was hogged by a couple of well–oiled patrons who were enjoying great big comfortable velvet upholstered chairs either side of the fire. We were early, just before six and the single front of house person did glance at his watch before deeming dinner possible. Not in a rush we had a look around and the poignancy of two lovers sitting in a booth in their lovely courtyard just back from the pelting rain was not lost on us. White washed with wrought iron seats and booths on the end wall it will definitely be the city place for drinks and a little live music New Orleans style come the good weather.
The dining rooms, two rooms opposite each other and a single private room screened on one side with a wine display and peering through the kitchen window on the other side. One dining room is embellished with a modern quirky touch, a massive glass chandelier made from cut glass objects of all sorts, ranging from cake stands, to glasses and jugs and old ice cream sundae glasses. The room opposite has dark wood paneling and massed memorabilia in the glass fronted cases. Missing is the starched white linen that would complete the look and give a feel that would better match the price which is about standard in Adelaide mid–range restaurant/bistro dining. Menus arrive, a single tatty sheet each with another very crumpled double–sided sheet, the wine list. Yes, we know detail………but how hard it that?
The menu is the predictable Adelaide format of small plates, basically tapas that range from $9.90 for white bait with spiced yoghurt dressing to char grilled octopus tossed with chilli and parsley $13.90 or a choice of three for $30. Classics are a list of the usual pub snacks with a choice of three burgers, chicken and beef schnitzels, basically salt and pepper squid and fish and chips. All well under $20 they represent good value for money.
My dining companion opted for asparagus, parmesan custard, egg yolk, sour dough and rocket $16.90 and the green tea smoked duck breast and braised leg of duck, shaoxing braised cabbage, ginger foam $27.90 for her main. I choose the pan–fried veal sweetbreads, pomme fondant, green pea veloute, pork crackling and beurre noisette and the traditional steak frites which boasted a 300g Wagyu rump, French fries with maitre d’hôtel butter and jus $32.90. Despite the fact that asparagus is completely out of season in South Australia the dish was generous with several nice thick perfectly cooked pieces of asparagus and the parmesan custard had a good texture and the foam was delicate and mobile. The dish looked appetising and according to my friend, who knows, tasted delicious.
My sweetbreads were nicely plated offering a promise of more than they delivered. The sweetbreads had been deep–fried instead of panned and the nasty taste of the fryer oil (the same as my main course chips) overrode the delicate flavour of the sweet breads. The pommes fondant were still slightly undercooked. Had the dish coincided with the menu and the sweetbreads been panned it might have been excellent. The duck main course was also prettily plated the breast a perfectly cooked crispy skinned medium rare was pronounced excellent. There are dozens of grades of Wagyu beef and for under $70 one cannot expect to get premium grade. The steak rather firmer in texture than I would have expected for rump was more like sirloin, however it was perfectly cooked rare to medium rare, hot and rested and without running blood. Having no regard what so ever for my cholesterol levels, twice as much maitre d’hôtel butter would have been good. The chips had the same overriding strange taste of the fryer oil. It is impossible to get a small steak just about anywhere in Adelaide these days and I always hope that the chef has a dog who enjoys the leftovers.
By this point a few diners had arrived, not exactly busy but really too busy for one front of house member (Daryl Hocking) who did an excellent and good–humoured job. If he had had an assistant he might have been able to find time to sell us a second glass of wine. As an industry professional I understand just how hard staffing is in winter in Adelaide. For instance at 6pm with no bookings, teeming with rain outside the 6.00 pm ring–in would probably have been told they were not needed, but the point is for a new establishment seeking to build its reputation a second person on a short shift would be a wise move because other diners might be less understanding.
Just two house–made desserts a panna cotta and a chocolate tart we opted for the chocolate tart. It was brilliant, crispy bottomed silken textured with a great big quenelle of thick pure cream … … heavenly!
By now you might be wondering just why I have chosen to review such a new establishment! Having opened a number of restaurants there are a few services s that will live in my memory as being so terrible that it almost makes me sick with fear to think about them. New restaurants in Adelaide don’t have the financial luxury of establishments in Asia where they might have practiced on dummy customers for weeks prior to opening. There is an element of luck involved and it is often at the diner’s risk. However the criticisms are small things that are easily fixed. Hire some tablecloths, print the menus on light card and make sure the menus and wine list are clean (this could be leveled at 50% of Adelaide’s restaurants), pan the sweetbreads and maybe use a few more garnishes that don’t rely on the deep–fryer, use better frying oil and change it more often. Basically a five–minute fix!
In the last three months I have laid my money on the table at a lot of Adelaide restaurants and reviewed very few. The point is we’d go back to the Benjamin on Franklin, which is more than I could say for a couple of recent abysmal Adelaide dining experiences.
Owners and Managers — Rachel Triggs and Paul Saturno
Chef — Kahn Cohen
Front of house on the night of our visit — Darryl Hocking
Images other than food courtesy and copyright © the Benjamin on Franklin
