Mesa Lunga

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
Inhabiting a corner block on Gouger Street, it’s worth a visit just to dine within the eye-popping interiors. The design is very over-the-top for Adelaide, yet somehow it works. For instance, Mesa Lunga is full of long wooden tables, and without a centrepiece to break them up they’d stretch off into eternity. It seems that this provoked an interior design brainwave – “I know! All we need are half a dozen wooden pots sprouting cactuses and pineapples!” Slightly insane, but they seem to hit it off with the hand painted Spanish tiles and cast iron lanterns.

The inviting tapas menu is a fair match to the drinks lists, the tinta sangria just begging to accompany servings of grilled chorizo, herb crusted sardine fillets, and calamari stuffed with parsley, egg and fino sherry stuffing. If tapas isn’t your bag try the a la carte menu bursting with a selection of Mediterranean dishes including pizza con capretto (pizza topped with marinated minced goat meat, cow’s milk mozzarella, and drizzled with aioli) or risotto con gorgonzola (a rich risotto flavoured with creamy gorgonzola cheese and fresh herbs). Outside, mosaic tables two-deep sit on pavement as wide as an elephant’s back and catch the afternoon sun, adding to Mesa Lunga’s appeal.

Jennifer Miller