the austral hotel

where do you go for drinks on friday night in adelaide?  errgghh not sure so we asked a few locals on the street who directed us to this bar.

the austral was nice and cosy with a number of open fire places so had a lovely vibe. reminded me of a unibarwith blaring music. along with a dance and a couple of glasses with gin and tonic it was ok.

i went for a quiz night with work (which we nearly dominated btw) to the perpetually busy austral hotel.  the frontbar& outside seating nearly always full at most times of the year, i did expect it to be busy, but it was incredible for a wednesday night.

luckily we had booked because there was no where free to sit, but people still did. personally, that is not my favourite thing, i like my space!  we were eating while we dominated our quiz game, and i ordered the osso bucco.

the service felt really rushed (obvs because it was so busy) but we ordered and sat down.  service was fairly quick for how busy it was & the osso bucco was as tender as it should be, but the sauce was pretty bland. i also lucked out on getting any bone or marrow.   it was nice, but just a bit bland (salt that baby up!)

the atmosphere is pretty energetic, but that's not always 100% my game.  i'm a bit of a premature granny tbh.

after late night shopping today we went to one of the rundle street pub called austral hotel for dinner. it is quite a popularbarclose to the two universities and is quite packed with university students and young professionals who gather there after work. the austral usually has a local band playing during weekends and the place can get quite rowdy inside. it was our first time eating in the pub and it sure was noisy from the band and people yelling over each other. the eating area looks very plain with bits of paint peeling. in some ways it looks a bit like an oldbarfrom the outback but i believe thebarintends to go for that kind of appeal. the usual pub scene on a friday night. after a short while we flagged a staff down and after he took our order at the bar, he showed us to our reserved table. the eating area was packed out and we were given a table at the centre of the rowdy room. everyone around us were chatting away with a beer in their hands and eating pub meals such as schnitzels and nachos. too loud to chat, just play on our phones. our meals came quite promptly and we were pleasantly surprised that they looked very appetising. we ordered the marinated kangaroo salad. the salad was quite big in portion with a generous amount of char-grilled kangaroo fillet.

celebrated a recent hen's dinner here with a group of ten in the bunker. restaurant was full and crowded with people, it was a struggle in the heat. fans were on and windows open but with a hot, still evening, it made for an uncomfortable experience. meals looked great across the board, everyone was happy with their meal. my chicken and chorizo salad was nice but would have liked to see some more salad items added to balance out all the meat. good value for size and quality of meals and we saved quite a bit using entertainment book vouchers. service was a little ordinary but it may have been due to the full restaurant and heat. would return but probably not on a warm evening. also keep in mind that as the night gets later, noise from the frontbarincreases, so an early meal is preferable if you'd like to be able to hear any dinner convo.

excellent value. my wife had her birthday party there thursday 29th october in the cornerbari think it was called. the menu was certainly unexpected for a pub however for me anyway it was a nice surprise! there were 2 in our party who's noses were initially out of joint because there was no schnitzel however they quickly shaped up after looking at the menu. the menu seems to be more 'gastro pub' than pub which suited me just fine. as we were in the cornerbarthere was no table service as there is in the bunka which again suited us as we didnt want all the fuss anyway. ill give a quick rundown of food without going into too much detail.... snapper - fresh local caught pink snapper, 2 huge chunks of thick fresh fish in a crispy light batter, mushy peas, fresh tartare sauce and handcut chips my wife had this it was the best fish & chips either of us have had. ribeye steak with cafe de paris butter - my choice, i have not had better even in some of sydney's 3 hat restaurants. quesadilla - an entree crispy spanish style with goats cheese and spinach yum! - steak & ale pie - didnt get to try but james said it was awesome and refused to share, clearly home made. hot pig - a standout dish using pork belly, 5 thick slices of pork belly, crispy crackling on top with apple sauce and perfectly cooked spring veggies i did try this one and it was fantastic at $26
there was more but i'll wrap it up. the food basically is restaurant standard at honest prices i mean local sa snapper at $27???? for a portion size bigger than you would get at a posh restaurant and pay $40!!! all in all a fantastic meal with great service, food and value.
n.b went to the austral again yesterday and had a medium rare cheeseburger - best burger i have ever eaten, the nice girl behind thebartold me they mince their own grain fed rump steaks which means you can order your burger as you would a steak. it shows, have never had better!