Must-see restaurants in South Australia

  • Peel Street

    Peel Street

    Adelaide

    Peel St itself – a long-neglected service lane in Adelaide's West End – is now Adelaide's after-dark epicentre, lined with hip bars and eateries, the best…

  • Gin Long Canteen

    Gin Long Canteen

    Adelaide

    This energetic food room is a winner. Chipper staff allocate you a space at the communal tables (bookings only for six or more) and take your order pronto…

  • Argo on the Parade

    Argo on the Parade

    Adelaide

    The best cafe in affluent, eastern-suburbs Norwood is arguably the best cafe in Adelaide too. It is in Norwood, so by default it's a bit thin on soul. But…

  • d'Arenberg Cube

    Fleurieu Peninsula

    The product of d'Arenberg winemaker Chester Osborne's vision, the d'Arenberg Cube is an eccentric, surprising place – a towering, multi-tiered, black-and…

  • Pipers of Penola

    Limestone Coast

    A classy, intimate dining room inside a 1908 Methodist church, with friendly staff and seasonal fare. The menu fizzes with high-end culinary lingo: tobiko…

  • Metro Bakery & Cafe

    Limestone Coast

    Ask a local where they go for coffee: chances are they'll say, 'the Metro, you fool!' In the thick of things on the main drag, it's an energetic cafe with…

  • Africola

    Adelaide

    Adelaide's most hyped restaurant deserves the limelight: its fun, generous, irreverent attitude has challenged haughty fine-dining norms across the city…

  • Fino Seppeltsfield

    Barossa Valley

    From humble beginnings in a little stone cottage on the Fleurieu Peninsula, Fino has evolved into one of Australia's best restaurants, now ensconced in…

  • Bay Funktion

    Eyre Peninsula & the West Coast

    In a lovely old brick-and-stone shopfront on the main street, funky Bay Funktion is part cafe, part florist and part wedding planner (hence the slightly…

  • Fred Eatery

    Adelaide Hills

    Build it, and they will come… For decades Aldgate eked out a cafe lifestyle with no quality cafe offerings. Then along came Fred, a rather urbane fellow,…

  • Dudley Wines Cellar Door

    Kangaroo Island

    About 12km east of Penneshaw, KI's pioneering winery has a winning cellar door – a fancy corrugated-iron shed, with astonishing views over a deep ravine…

  • Star of Greece

    Fleurieu Peninsula

    Port Willunga hosts the justifiably busy, clifftop seafood shack the Star of Greece. Named after a shipwreck, it has funky decor, great staff and a sunny…

  • Red Door Espresso

    Barossa Valley

    A decent cafe shouldn't be hard to create, but it's rare in the Barossa for good food, coffee, staff, music and atmosphere to come together this well. The…

  • Archers' Table

    Eyre Peninsula & the West Coast

    Beneath an attractive vine-hung awning across the gulf from central PA, Archers is an urbane cafe with small-town prices, serving interesting cafe fare …

  • Motherduck

    Fleurieu Peninsula

    A buzzy highlight of the Goolwa shopping strip is this crafty little cafe, which always seems busier than anywhere else in Goolwa. Exposed stone walls,…

  • Flying Fish Cafe

    Fleurieu Peninsula

    Sit down for a cafe breakfast and you'll be here all day − the views of Horseshoe Bay are sublime. Otherwise grab some takeaway Coopers-battered flathead…

  • Central Market

    Adelaide

    This place is an exercise in sensory bombardment: a barrage of smells, colours and cacophonous stallholders selling fresh vegetables, breads, cheeses,…

  • Press

    Press

    Adelaide

    The pick of the restaurants on office-heavy Waymouth St. Press is super stylish (brick, glass, lemon-coloured chairs) and not afraid of offal (pan-fried…

  • Orana

    Orana

    Adelaide

    Racking up recent 'Australia's Best Restaurant' awards, Orana is a secretive beast, with minimal signage and access via a black staircase at the back of…

  • Jasmin Indian Restaurant

    Jasmin Indian Restaurant

    Adelaide

    Enter this basement wonderland for magical north Indian curries and consummately professional staff (they might remember your name from when you ate here…

  • Zen Kitchen

    Zen Kitchen

    Adelaide

    Superb, freshly constructed rice paper rolls, pho and super-crunchy barbecue-pork báhn mì, eat-in or take away. Wash it all down with a cold coconut milk…

  • El Estanco

    Barossa Valley

    Run by a charismatic couple – a Columbian and a Brit – El Estanco is one of the best things to happen to the Barossa in recent times. Earthy, authentic,…

  • Bridgewater Mill

    Adelaide Hills

    The huge spinning waterwheel on Bridgewater's towering 1860s flour mill counts out the days, the years, the decades… There's a timeless class about this…

  • Terroir

    Clare Valley

    'Terroir' – a word often associated with the wine trade – defines the nature of a place: its altitude, its soil, its climate. At this excellent restaurant…

  • Lost in a Forest

    Adelaide Hills

    Whether or not these guys pilfered their name from a song by The Cure is debatable. Discuss it over an indescribably delicious bánh mi pizza (cider…

  • Pizzateca

    Fleurieu Peninsula

    Crazy-busy-popular Pizzateca occupies a little back-blocks cottage, with a broad deck beneath a couple of huge old redgum trees. Generously sized pizzas…

  • Amadio Wines

    Kangaroo Island

    In a handsome corner shopfront with a lace-trimmed balcony, Amadio blasts reggae and retro Brit-pop into Kingscote's sleepy streets. It's a mainland-SA…

  • KI Tru Thai

    Kangaroo Island

    Hungry? Thursday night? If it's 'affirmative' to all of the above, wander over to this big steel farm shed (a couple of kilometers down a dirt road across…

  • Nino's

    Fleurieu Peninsula

    Nino's cafe has been here since 1974 (and the building a lot longer), but it manages to put a contemporary sheen on central VH. Hip young staff and a mod…

  • Umbria

    Clare Valley

    Umbria looks like a high-end Melbourne Italian restaurant, lifted from Lygon St and dropped onto Main North Rd. But the exposed stonework and moody…

  • Wild Ma's Bistro

    Yorke Peninsula

    In a lovely old shopfront up the hill from the pub, Ma drives Stansbury wild with her superior seafood, wood-oven pizzas, craft beers, boutique wines and…

  • Fresh Fish Place

    Eyre Peninsula & the West Coast

    Check the 'fish of the day' on the blackboard out the front of this fabulous seafood shack. Inside you can buy fresh local seafood straight off the boats …

  • Outback Bar & Grill

    Outback South Australia

    It may sound a bit odd, but this brightly lit petrol-station diner is one of the best places to eat in Coober Pedy! Roasts, pastas, burgers, lasagne,…

  • Salopian Inn

    Fleurieu Peninsula

    This old vine-covered inn has been here since 1851. Its latest incarnation features super Mod Oz offerings with an Asian twist: launch into the Berkshire…

  • Yuki in the Hills

    Adelaide Hills

    Japanese comes to Aldgate in the form of the highly rated Yuki – a minimalist room with a central kitchen, clad in blonde wood and kimonos. Sushi and…

  • Vic St Pizza Project

    Limestone Coast

    Go for something trad (Hawaiian, margherita, pepperoni) or something more daring (lamb souvlaki, squid and chorizo) – either way, the pizzas at this…

  • Union Cafe

    Limestone Coast

    Perennially busy, this curiously angled corner cafe with polished-glass fragments in the floor has expanded into the next-door shopfront. Unionise your…

  • Haus

    Adelaide Hills

    Haus brings some urban hip to the Hills. Rustic-style pizzas are laden with local smallgoods, and the wine list is gargantuan (lots of Hills drops). Also…

  • John's Pizza Bar & Restaurant

    Outback South Australia

    Hey, a fancy new sign and logo! You didn't need to go to such lengths, John – you still run the best place to eat in town. Expect table-sized pizzas,…

  • St Just Cafe

    Clare Valley

    The pick of Burra's several bakery/cafes, St Just zeroes-in on baguettes, toasted sandwiches, bacon-and-egg rolls, BLTs and fresh soups and salads. Sit in…