Restaurant Review: Press* Food and Wine

Restaurant Review: Press* Food and Wine

press* upstairs from window – crop-2

Even four years after opening, Press* Food and Wine’s double storey occupancy continues to be packed to the rafters every lunch and dinner service. Nestled in the heart of Adelaide’s CBD on Waymouth Street, Press* has been cleverly converted to take advantage of its vast space and soaring ceilings. The ground floor eatery has more of a casual feel about it and is designed for walk ins, while the light flooded room upstairs is more of a formal dining experience where bookings are strictly recommended.

The upstairs dining room is a beautiful space, managing to blend both rustic and contemporary features together harmoniously to give it a modern, yet homely feel. Tables are dressed elegantly with impossibly crisp white tablecloths accompanied by contemporary yellow chairs while a woodshed/barn style feel with its wooden beams and exposed brick walls.

The menu, created by head chef Andrew Davies (ex Bistro Dom), is neatly divided into small and large plates, which are designed to share. What’s most impressive however, is the restaurant’s focus on unconventional dishes – they even have a whole section devoted to offal. With a paddock to plate philosophy in mind, the menu reflects the changing seasons, with distinct Modern Australian and Asian influences. When it comes to curing, pickling, brining and smoking, practically everything is made in-house.

When asking the waiter for recommendations, the response is “everything is good” – a confident reply but doesn’t help us with the decisions. After all, everything on the menu looks good. The sample tasting menu at $68 is great value if you’re feeling hungry and showcases the best dishes from all sections of the menu.

We started with a generous serve of wood fired baguette, served warm which allows the wholesome house churned butter to ooze into it effortlessly. From the smaller plates, the spiced rubbed quail ($26) was a standout dish, igniting the senses with its sticky golden glaze, punctuated by both sweet and sour notes. Still on the bone in segments, the quail was beautifully cooked with a succulent flesh. An elegant bed of daikon and green beans was a nice accompaniment to the quail, providing the dish with a nice textural contrast and a light peppery punch from the daikon.

quail

A duo of Chinese style pork buns ($9.50 each) were a tasty assembly of brioche, lettuce, kewpie and a generous slice of roasted belly of pork farmed in the Flinders Ranges. The picture perfect brioche bun had an airy consistency and a golden, shiny crown topped with black sesames. Despite its light consistency, the brioche held its integrity brilliantly. Kewpie (a Japanese style mayonnaise) brought together the elements of the dish perfectly, providing a touch of moisture and a herby flavour punch.

Press Sliders

A generous slab of roasted pork belly ($24), teamed with olives, anchovy and confit onion was equally decadent. The ultimate test of a good pork belly is the crackling – and in this instance Press* passed the test with flying colours. Each mouthful of the melt in your mouth style pork ended with a satisfying crunch from the impossibly crisp crackling. The addition of olives and anchovies made the dish a little too salty for my liking, but the sweetness of the slow cooked onions helped to offset the saltiness ever so slightly.

Pork belly

The truffled mushroom and taleggio pithivier ($24), was a handsome dish with a distinctive sunbeam pattern scored on top. Encased in light, fluffy layers of buttery puff pastry, the pithivier was stuffed with creamy mushrooms and pungent taleggio. A shallow pool of cauliflower puree was a perfect partner to soak up the remaining pastry of the pithivier.

Truffled Mushroom Pithivier

 

With the help of quality restaurants like Press* Food and Wine, Adelaide is finally gaining some momentum in the restaurant stakes. The menu is a nice mix of classical versus contemporary – designed to keep the diner guessing. Davies dedication to fresh produce straight from the kitchen garden will continue to draw hungry punters in years to come.

When it comes to sourcing the best of South Australian produce, from the patch to the plate, Press* Food and Wine is a force to be reckoned with.

Food – 8/10

Ambience – 7/10

Service – 7/10

Value – 8/10

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18 Comments

  1. andreaspassions5
    June 4, 2015 / 12:21 pm

    Wow the food here looks delicious! I am obsessed with pork belly and the Chinese buns look mouth-wateringly good… if only it was in London 🙂 Lots of love, Andrea xxx

    Andrea’s Passions

    • June 4, 2015 / 1:11 pm

      Thanks for stopping by Andrea! I know I love pork buns. Have you been to Bao in London yet? You will have to come visit down under soon 🙂 xx

    • July 14, 2023 / 6:25 pm

      OHH I LOVE PORK TOO

      • July 17, 2023 / 5:52 am

        FOOD IS THE WAY TO A MAN’S HEART

  2. February 13, 2023 / 7:48 am

    This looks promising. I am planning to try out their truffled mushroom and taleggio pithivier for my birthday dinner next month. Hope it will be good.

  3. February 17, 2023 / 11:39 am

    This restaurant seems to be very amazing, I’m planning to have dinner with my friends this weekend here I wish to spend a great time with great food here.

  4. February 23, 2023 / 6:54 am

    I love to eat Chinese food and my favorite meal in Chinese food is dumplings because they egg, meat and vegetable which give us so much energy and my family is also try to plan to go out for the dinner.

  5. February 24, 2023 / 8:11 am

    Wow! The ambiance looks so peaceful. Professionally I am a writer and for the sake for writing different project for college and university students I prefer to have a peaceful enviornment. Will be visiting soon hopefully.

    • March 3, 2023 / 10:38 am

      I can’t wait to date my honey here.. I don’t think that wine can help us to enjoy but yeah the environment seems romantic so I definitely gonna book the reservation here.

  6. March 3, 2023 / 10:36 am

    I don’t think vine is good for me but the environment of the restaurant seems fantastic!! I am calling to book my reservation today.. Can’t wait to take a couple of pictures with my honey.

  7. July 14, 2023 / 6:30 pm

    THIS RESTAURANT IS TOPNOTCH

  8. September 14, 2023 / 12:57 pm

    Your article gave me a lot of inspiration, I hope you can explain your point of view in more detail, because I have some doubts, thank you.

  9. Sarah James
    October 10, 2023 / 10:22 pm

    hi there

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  11. November 19, 2023 / 12:27 pm

    Wow, this website is amazing! The design is sleek and modern, and the content is well-organized and easy to navigate. I especially love the use of color and imagery throughout the site. It’s clear a lot of thought and care went into creating this wonderful online space. Great job!

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