press* food & wine, Adelaide

Ballsy. That's how Sean described it. "If they can sustain the quality and therefore the high levels of current patronage they will do well."

It's certainly a big restaurant by Adelaide standards and maybe that's why it also feels a little "Eastern States". The decor is warehouse cool and a bit masculine. Downstairs it's more relaxed and communal while upstairs there are white tablecloths and separate tables.., even booths if you choose.

Menu wise, this was the perfect choice for dinner to celebrate Sean's 40th birthday. The range of meat on offer is diverse and plentiful from a variety of steaks to offal and even a whole Berkshire pig if you give the restaurant enough notice.

We weren't sure how many of the 'Small' plates to order for entree but our efficient waitress suggested three would be a good number and she was right. Given it was Sean's birthday I let him choose and he went for Pork and Prune Terrine, Duck and Cumquat Boudin with Toast and Beetroot, Red Onion, Cabbage and Creme Fraiche (ok, I insisted on the salad).

Our selection of 'Small' Starters

The salad was excellent - really crunchy. The duck tasty and the cumquat's really strong in flavour. The terrine surprisingly light. We agreed that whilst it is excellent presentation to use bread boards, having three on our table at once (the bread was also served on the same board which is out of the shot above) was perhaps a bit much. Having said that, it was nice to have a variety of plates used throughout the meal in place of standard white round ones.

For main course I can never go past fresh barramundi which was the fish of the day listed under the 'Wood-grilled Seafood' section on the menu. It was served with dill mayo (which I didn't have) and Ngeringa Leaves which was a simple salad all supplied from the Ngeringa farm the restaurant owns in the Adelaide Hills. Nice.

Of course it's personal, but I always prefer my fish served with the flesh side up rather than ugly looking skin?

Sean had chosen his main course within two minutes of receiving the menu. Six hour braised brisket with macaroni and cheese. He couldn't stop raving about the brisket and made me taste some.

Not what you would call a beautiful looking dish..., unless you love meat and carbs ;)

Our waitress was excellent, particularly when it came to selecting appropriate glasses of wine for us to match our food. She was very fast and chatty without being over-bearing. I think it was the confidence in the food and wine she was serving that shone through. The restaurant was very busy but she never appearing flustered or under pressure. Certainly she was experienced.

We can't wait to go back to press* in a few months to see how things are going. There were lots more items on the menu we'd like to try and it's really nice to know there's a place like this in Adelaide - taking risks, making bold choices, and buzzing.

Finally, I love a restaurant that has Aesop products in the bathroom. press* even provides Aesop handcream which gets a big (moisturised) thumbs up from me.

We dined on 29 October 2011