RED OCHRE GRILL - GALAXY GUIDES INDEPENDENT RESTAURANT REVIEWS

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RED OCHRE GRILL
War Memorial Drive
North Adelaide South Australia 5006
W www.redochre.com.au
E info@redochre.com.au
T 8211 8555
F 8211 4855
OPEN Lunch Monday to Friday 12 noon till 2.30 pm, dinner Monday to Saturday 6.00 pm till 10.00 pm

FOOD Red Ochre Grill has an enviable second story restaurant location on the Torrens River looking back towards the city (Immediately above its sibling restaurant Café Lago). In recent months the restaurant has been almost entirely refurbished and we are particularly delighted to hear the next stage of the renovation will be temperature controlled wine storage as a feature of their restaurant. Other diners will be equally excited to hear that their river side windows a relic of a former life are scheduled to be replaced by the end of the year.
Red Ochre has a loyal local clientele, but it is international visitors to Adelaide who particularly seek out the restaurant and send others in their footsteps to taste a range of indigenous Australian ingredients that have never become household words either in Australia or overseas. We are frequently surprised that our international guests will specifically ask to go to a restaurant where they can try indigenous ingredients and Red Ochre is the obvious choice. Kangaroo, emu, crocodile, pepper leaf, mountain pepper, lemon and aniseed myrtle, lemon aspen, quandongs, warragal greens, muntries and bush tomatoes have remained exotic ingredients. A dish of salt and pepper prawns and crocodile is a great way of showing casing a meat that needs to be cooked as quickly, and skillfully, as squid. Their Grilled fillet of kangaroo with braised tail cleverly shows the scope of kangaroo and their Emu Wellington, a very generous portion, came with a delicious muntrie sauce emboldened with a sweetness and was wonderfully sweet sour. It was a delicious foil for the gaminess of the emu and worked well given that cooked emu does not have the gelatinous succulence of slow cooked kangaroo tail. Whilst the adventurous diner will dive straight in, most of these dishes are gentle introductions. The cuisine at Red Ochre is best described as contemporary Australian, a subtle mix of eastern and western ingredients that incorporates bush tucker.
Desserts at Red Ochre have always been good and their standout show girl, their Wattle seed Pavlova has had a longer run that any other show girl dessert we can think of. Soft Pavlova is rolled with whipped cream flavoured with wattle seed and served with passionfruit ice cream and sauce and comes very prettily presented. Another popular regular is a crumble of some sort, at the moment apple and quandong. They might seem a bit old fashioned and homely, but their enviable dessert sales mean that their customers just love them and seem to like them so much they manage to sneak in an order for their yummy chocolate and quandong spring rolls to go with coffee.

WINE The depth and breadth of the Red Ochre wine list suggests that locals entertaining overseas friends and tourists are more inclined to look at premium wines. A credible list of some 120 wines there are good choices starting at around $30 and some excellent wines in the $40 - $50 bracket heading out into a small representation of iconic Australian wines at the top end. Their list, with the exception of three French Champagnes, is Australian, and they have a generous 29 wines by the glass. Tourists (and locals) love the opportunity to try a number of wines and the Red Ochre list allows a diverse by the glass selection that is modestly priced. Beers range from popular locals to nine international choices.
Each segment of the wine list has a small reserve selection of special wines in addition to the current releases. Their restaurant manager Michael Murphy has a sincere interest in the world of wine and is already planning list additions to coincide with their temperature controlled cellaring. We know this type of cellaring is a significant financial investment but as wine drinkers willing to splurge, knowing that wine has been properly cellared is a very big incentive for us.

OWNERS — Sparr Group and Ray Mauger
CHEFS — Head Chef Lee Sinclair and Executive Chef Ray Mauger
RESTAURANT MANAGER — Michael Murphy