Anelle and I have spent the last two weekends exploring and doing research. We have tried a variety of things from crocodile with local wine and beer during happy hour to vegan burgers paired with handcrafted sodas. It has been an enjoyable two weeks of eating and drinking to say the least.
Let’s start with last weekend. We started with some happy hour specials at Jack Ruby in the Central Business District. Here we had some Wisconsin Mac N Cheese balls, Jack’s Buffalo Wings and some Popcorn Crocodile…yup, crocodile! It had to be done. It was breaded and a bit salty but not bad at all. Anelle enjoyed some local wine from the neighboring Barossa region and I enjoyed a dark Coopers from Adelaide. After a couple hours of winding down, we walked over to the ever so popular Leigh Street for dessert. We read in the local paper that a new Swiss ice-cream shop opened up so we had to check it out. Right? Movenpick does a variety of dishes with ice-cream. We went with a taster that included two scoops of our choice (we went with mint n chip and hazelnut) and it came with two mini pancakes (they treat it like a dessert here). It hit the spot and sent us home with a smile.
Sunday was relaxing. We walked around the city and popped in and out of a few shops. We visited the Japanese Gardens for the first time and then hit Coffylosophy for lunch. We had an absolutely delicious lunch aaaaaaand…you guessed it! Coffee!! Without a doubt, this place is my favorite café so far and probably the best coffee I've had. The barista was kind (and patient) enough to drop some coffee knowledge on us. Some of the coffee machines in there looked more like they belonged in a lab. I think it was a slow dripped coffee maker. Or was it a cold drip maker?? I don’t know. But he was like mad scientist in there! All he was missing were some glasses and a lab coat. Great place with even better coffee.
This past weekend has definitely felt like summer. Temps got back to around 38 so naturally, our plan was to hit the beach! Before that, we grabbed lunch at Two-Bit Villains. This place was great. It’s known for their handcrafted sodas, shakes and vegan food options. I ordered the Baron Burger, which comes with a soy patty with a side of onion rings and a raspberry soda. Anelle ordered the Nacho Man and a passion fruit soda. Neither of us left that place disappointed. Two-Bit Villains is a tiny place and on this Saturday it was busy. It definitely took some time for our food to come out but it was well worth the wait. On the way home, we stopped at a coffee chain for an iced coffee. Anytime, you order an iced coffee here in Adelaide you get a scoop of ice-cream inside. We walked home with an iced-coffee enjoying that summer weather…it really is the simple things. After a short rest at home, we jumped on the train (god I love public transport!!) and went to check out Semaphore beach…I’m not going to waste time talking about it as Anelle and I are very confident we wouldn't ever go back.
On a side note, Dylan and his wife Laura are friends that we made through Russ. Dylan is your typical tall Aussie (just some short Mexican jealousy here) and Laura is one of us….a Mexican! They also live in the downtown area so it's easy to catch up with them since we are all walking distance from each other.
Dylan and Laura swung by our place to pick us up. We took a short 15 minute drive to Grange Beach. This a little further south of Henley and just as good so Anelle and I were happy. We knew we would be because during the drive both Dylan and Laura expressed how much they also disliked Semaphore Beach. It was surprisingly windy at Grange Beach but still enjoyable. We played some catch in the water, laid out in the sun and shared stories. I won’t spill all of them on here but we definitely got some great laughs. After a few hours in the sun, we headed back into town for dinner. Dylan and Laura took us to one of their favorite Vietnamese spots near China Town. We were all pretty hungry. We ordered about four main dishes and a side of spring rolls and shared everything. Definitely our type of people. After stuffing ourselves with spring rolls, salt and chili squid, tamarind soft-shell crab, scallops, beef and vegetables we crossed the street for what Laura described as “Asian style raspados.” We were definitely interested in that. I wish I had my camera on me because these iPhone pics don’t do it any justice. It was good and it was the type of place you definitely want to stop bye on a hot SA day.