River Cafè
War Memorial Drive
North Adelaide South Australia 5006
w www.rivertorrenscafe.com.au
e info@redochre.com.au
t +61 8 8211 8666
f +61 8 8212 4855
open Lunch Monday to Saturday Lunch 12 noon to 2.30pm, dinner Monday to Saturday 6.00pm to 9.30pm, closed Sundays and public holidays
declaration of interest — I do the web site for River Cafè and have consulted to the group but as they know they wouldn’t be in Galaxy Guide if they weren’t good enough! AO
FOOD This is a restaurant that has had more changes of name than I’ve hot breakfasts and the ability to name all incarnations is a clue to the age of the person — yes I can name everyone!.
Head chef Sarah Whetstone (formerly Contin) has outlasted three name changes and has worked in the restaurant for more than 10 years. Sarah’s Italian heritage and love of rustic Italian and European food means that she has stayed well clear of molecular madness.
River Cafè is basically my local and just five minutes from my home. Compared to most of the nearby, so called gastro pubs Sarah’s cooking is miles ahead. Basically eating at River Cafè is not more expensive than any of the nearby pubs and restaurants with the very great difference being her food is fresh, delicious and generous whether you order a pasta, a bunch of tapas, a pizza or wood oven dish or a steak. Add to that free parking and easy disabled access.
Recently we took very picky London friends for lunch and they just loved the honesty of the food, the location (it was a gorgeous Autumn day) and the attention. In my opinion they are pretty difficult customers used to a level of service rarely found in Adelaide and dining out with them has mainly been an agony and a litany of things going wrong resulting in frequently opting to eat at home.
There are always plenty of daily specials and portions are very generous. Current favourites the old style rabbit ragu with ribbon pasta, oysters with pomegranate jelly and lime and the Port Lincoln mussels are a perfect example of simple fresh food at its best. Desserts are good and Sarah’s Pancetta was pronounced divine by my picky little Genovese mate. The wobble was one of the best we have had. None of this is to make the food more than it is. The food is fresh seasonal and rustic and best of all tastes great……we never ask for more than that! The scallops with blood sausage (bottom right) are really very good.
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left — mussels with fresh tomato, chilli and herbs, right — roast suckling pig with silverbeet and apple
right from top to bottom — looking through the restaurant towards the city, old fashioned rabbit ragu with ribbon pasta and my current favourite, seared scallops with blood sausage.
An enviable city location with ample free parking and a lovely view across the river torrens looking towards the city the River Torrens Café is a pleasant walk along the river from the city and on a warm day or evening their deck is an excellent dining option. On hot days the dining room opens up like a beautiful summer pagoda the tranquility of the dining experience embellished with the sound of rushing water.
left — head chef Sarah Whetstone and right sous chef Adam Rocco
WINE the wine list at River Cafè is showing good signs of improvement. The determination to provide low price points does mean that there a number of wines on the list that might seem generic, however they have recently added a number of much more interesting wines and have a good smattering of Italian wines with some years of vintage. They have a good attitude to mark ups at the higher end working on the sensible principle that lower mark ups at the higher end usually result in a second bottle which is a win win for everyone.
Owners — Sparr Group and Ray Mauger
Chefs — Head Chef Sarah Contin, Executive
Chef Ray Mauger
Restaurant Manager — Nick Sparr
