The Lion Hotel
161 Melbourne Street
North Adelaide, South Australia 5006
w www.thelionhotel.com
e contactus@thelionhotel.com
t +61 8 8367 0222
f +61 8 8367 0223
open Lunch Monday to Friday and Sunday 12 noon till 3.00 pm, Dinner Monday to Saturday 6.00 pm till 10.00 pm

food Recently on a stinking hot Sunday it was surprising to find the normally packed Lion Hotel dining room virtually empty. Given the street temperature of 40C plus there were a startling number of people, eating and drinking outside. From their Larder they serve cheaper basically pub food that is very popular with locals, locals who are apparently unwilling to pay that little extra for the style and superior comfort and service of their dining room.
The Sunday menu at The Lion is now a slightly pared back version of their standard menu, which also seems to have diminished in size since my last visit about 12 months earlier.
After having requested a look at the standard menu there seemed to be a couple of more interesting items from the cold larder that might have been possible without causing the kitchen too much angst but a request for the duck rillettes with sour cherries drew a definite no! Given the heat of the day and the limits of the menu which had two instances of beetroot in the three items from the rotisserie, and given that there were less than 20 people in a restaurant that must seat at least 80 it was disappointing. Rillettes are hardly difficult to plate, but perhaps the delivery was different to the message, perhaps they had run out on Saturday night.
A mini toasted croque monsieur with fontina and pancetta $4.50 was ordered from their ’small plates’ section and expecting a twist on the old French café classic it was surprising to be delivered what was basically two toasty soldiers made with supermarket bread. It was not the size, basically half a toasted sandwich or the supermarket bread that was disappointing, for $4.50 what can you expect, and it tasted good enough but the presentation was more something you would expect to find in a snack bar than in an acclaimed restaurant.
The Lion has always been noted for its steaks and has always taken the time and trouble to source quality meats with MSA (Meat Standards of Australia) gradings. The Coorong Angus MSA graded scotch fillet with creamy mash, spiced beetroot relish and beef glaze $34.90 was perfectly cooked exactly the way it had been ordered, rare to medium rare and the meat and accompaniments were all hot and on a hot plate. It was very good.
The Lion has always taken cheese seriously and gone out of its way to find the best available cheese, but there it was again “beetroot relish” as a choice of four accompaniments from which two could be selected. The accompaniments included sour dough, beetroot relish, red wine figs, fresh pear and muscatels and prices modestly range from $10 for a single cheese to $26 for three cheese, with an additional $8 to have the fourth cheese from their selection added to the plate. When I listen to people moan about the price of cheese in restaurants I feel obliged to take them to task and explain to them just how complicated serving a good cheese plate in a restaurant really is. Forget the price of good cheddars and hard cheeses, but take any soft cheese and to serve it at a perfect state of ripeness and at a temperature that will show the quality and aroma and readiness of the cheese to be eaten involves a good deal of waste that has to be factored into the cost of a cheese plate. A ripe and ready to eat soft cheese can be perfect at 10.00 am and ready for the bin by the end of the day. Whilst a well–run kitchen will slice and portion cheese so that it can be taken from the fridge left for 10 minutes at room temperature and be served there is inevitably waste involved and someone has to pay for it.
The vanilla bourbon baba with roast peach and peach granita was ordered and I could only blame myself for ordering something from a menu that was so obviously out of season. The baba was good with the soft sticky yeasty texture one expects but the granita and roast peach were very disappointing.
On close examination of the menu there were a number of items that seem to have become stuck to their menu and in fact it is usually the regular dining clientele of an establishment that set the menu and decide what items stay or go. The dreaded sales mix frequently drives chefs to distraction as it throws up statistics of their least favourite dishes as being the most popular. As a diner, still practicing chef and food critic it is possible to see things from all sides. It is appalling that many diners who claim their food and wine knowledge will list their favourite dishes as salt and pepper squid, fish and chips and have no shame about ordering a well done steak.
Owners and hands–on managers Andrew Svencis and Tim Gregg have put in longer and harder than most other owner operators in South Australia and have invested and reinvested in The Lion to keep it contemporary and refreshed. The Lion has been a favourite for a very long time and will continue to be so, but their menu is in need of a shake up and a revitalisation around the basic quality ingredients that have always been used in their cooking.

wineAt a time when many of Adelaide’s restaurants have pared their by–the–glass selection back to the point of boring The Lion continues to offer and excellent selection with some 24 wines by the glass. This excellent list offers six champagne and sparkling wines by the glass and is an indication of the commitment of their management to wine and their cellar. Price is also kept in context with a very inexpensive house red and white at just $6.90 and $6.50 respectively per glass as their entry point ranging to $12.50 for the 08 Two Hands ’Angel’s Share’ McLaren Vale Shiraz and all of the great wine brands are listed plus a couple of new and interesting options.
Their wine list is long and seductive and surprisingly modestly priced especially in their cellar reserve section where if you’re feeling in an expansive mood real joy can be found and the overall structure and selection of their list makes it one’s of Adelaide’s most comprehensive and more importantly interesting.

Owners — Andrew Svencis and Tim Gregg
Chef — Murray Smith
Restaurant Manager — Tobias Kline

new review 29 November 2009, included in Galaxy Guides since 2006