Escobar

Escobar is a slick bar and restaurant in Adelaide’s clubbing and dining Mecca of Gouger Street. Its trans-ethnic cuisine is as attractive as its clientele.

Address

95 Gouger Street, Adelaide,

-34.930632 138.595738

Editorial Review

This swanky place has every nibble and tipple to satisfy those cashed-up with good taste. If you haven't got a lazy $600 for a bottle of Grange, perhaps order a round of rums to keep in the theme of things. Named after the billionaire drug-lord Pablo Escobar, the decor inspires an all-out decadent time. Private booths hug the walls with elegant dining tables set to stage beautiful meals.

Hot and cold small dishes are fun to order up big on and share across the table. Thinly sliced Wagyu is a classic starter. Its soy ginger vinaigrette and green onion salad will set tongues Wagyuing. Baby zucchini is grilled and seduces with its filling of goat's cheese and garlic chilli butter. You'll never want to eat zucchini any other way again. Refined vegetarian options continue into gourmet pizzas - the sauteed mushrooms, chives, taleggio and white truffle oil top off a beauty. Even sexier are the oysters, which are served naturally in their birthday suits with a squirt of lemon and lime. Mains are strangely top-heavy with spaghetti dishes, albeit all are made to perfection. The signature paellas offer two lush mixes of seafood and meat. Fresh squid, scallops, prawns and black mussels are splashed with white wine and cooked into saffron rice. Spicy chorizo, salty pancetta, poussin and lamb rack are accompanied with assorted mushrooms and rested on herb rice. Desserts keep the standards high with treats such as Belgian waffles with roasted fruit and vanilla bean ice-cream. Frangelico creme brulee with cinnamon syrup has macerated berries and a coconut wafer nestled upon it. If you fancy a wedge of cheese then comte gruyere will give a firm, nutty and spicy finish to your meal.

Roz Taylor, September 2008