Union Restaurant at Union Hotel

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
Waymouth Street is landmarked by two institutions: Adelaide’s Tax Office and the Union Hotel. Standing opposite each other, I don’t have to tell you which side of the street is more popular. Refurbished in recent years, the hotel’s heritage is still present among contemporary tones of mocha, caramel, red and the golden hue of an illuminated marble bar. The restaurant’s banquettes and chairs are upholstered in gorgeously textured English fabric. There is a courtyard for outdoorsy types but the dining room’s decor makes for a more stylish experience.

There are 10 mains and the same number of pub plates for those munching within a lunch hour. Rice-crusted ocean trout comes with fennel salad, a great olive and black bean dressing and crushed crab potatoes. (Don’t let the sequence of words confuse you; there’s no such thing as a crab potato nor should you find any broken crab shells onboard.) Free-range chicken and prosciutto involtini is served with a fine combination of sauteed lentils, dressed rocket, goat’s chevre and sauce vierge (olive oil, lemon juice, coriander, basil and tomato). Vegetarians may be satisfied with the one pasta offering of gnocchi with butternut pumpkin, baby spinach and fresh ricotta. Kataifi-wrapped scallops with wakame seaweed salad make for a plate to share, however, pub plates are designed to be polished off by oneself. Bangers and mash is the not-at-all-boring arrangement of Italian pork sausages, truffle-infused mash, caramelised onion gravy and mustard oil. Fancy it up further with a side of rocket, pear and gorgonzola salad. Look to the blackboards for the ever-changing dessert menu or head to the bar for a cocktail of Absolut Citron, lychees, passionfruit pulp and pineapple juice.

Roz Taylor