LOCATIONA brief stroll to the Adelaide Central Market and South Parklands.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAThe Duke of Brunswick started serving beer to thirsty locals in the 1800s. It has always held a regular clientele, from city dwellers to wine-sipping journos and creative types. In recent years the crowd has diversified, mostly due to the makeover the pub and its menu have received. Now known as The Brunswick, it is a haven for anyone looking for a relaxed meal in a sophisticated dining room. Equally happy are those meeting for bevvies, a bet and live music. Modernisation of the subtle kind is in place. The original floorboards are still underfoot, with a smart polishing, contemporary canvasses add colour to a dining room of muted taupe and mushroom and a graceful gilt-edged mirror above the fireplace reflects fabulous retro bar fridges filled with inviting tipples. Art deco aficionados will love it. On frosty nights it seems fitting to acquire a glass of plump red and sidle up to the crackling fire. This leads nicely into a Brunswick Platter filled with meats, salt and pepper squid, pork and fennel puffs, dips and pita.
The menu continues with a grilled pork cutlet and MSA-grade scotch fillet with bubble and squeak cake. Crispy-skin chicken comes as a chermoula-marinated breast with couscous and raita. A side of baby spinach, orange and fetta salad or some herb smashed spuds would not go astray here. You could do worse than to summon a simple feast of six natural Coffin Bay oysters with a baked scallop and creamed leek tart. The Brunswick beef burger with house-made relish will please regular punters and yes, there are schnitzels, churned out with parmigiana sauce or garlic prawns. Specials such as pan-roasted New Zealand salmon with citrus beurre blanc lift the bar and the apple, cinnamon and clove crumble is a perfectly respectable way to finish.
Roz Taylor