Adelaide – The best food and wine venues
Adelaide has always been a great place for food and wine. We have been enjoying the food and wine of this southern city for almost 40 years, so have seen interesting developments and exciting places in which to eat and drink during that time.
Adelaide has also been a well-spring for young chefs who have honed their skills with great mentors and then moved on to greater things. It is also the gateway to a rich and diverse wine region providing everything from huge Shiraz-based reds to complex, woody Chardonnays and, more recently, to delicious, exciting natural wines from a group of forward-thinking pioneers clustered around the hills that overlook the city.
Adelaide – Summary of restaurants and bars
There have been many changes in the restaurant and bar scene in Adelaide over the past three years.
Now the restaurant that we always gravitate towards is Thelma where Olivia Moore, the former owner of LOC Bottle Bar in Adelaide’s CBD, has teamed up with James Spreadbury and chef Tom Campbell. It is a great place to relax and enjoy a long lunch and there is always some natural wine jewels to accompany the delicious food.
A meal we had recently (May 2026) was particularly good – we are going to post a separate entry on this site about that meal.
We have recently spent an enjoyable time eating and drinking our way around the city and nearby towns, including the ever-popular Adelaide Hills and the southern town of Willunga.
We have written about Leigh Street venue Shōbōsho before, but on our most recent visit we decided to eat in the Yakitori Bar in the front at street level. We had a delightful meal, with every morsel cooked perfectly.
There is another gem of a restaurant in the eastern end of the CBD called Hey Jupiter which provides a menu of traditional French dishes that are cooked very well. We find comfort in such food and a lunch that we had there last year was very comforting. This year we visited for an evening meal and were delighted with our meal once again.
We also are very impressed with a restaurant on the edge of the CBD called Esmay. Our meal here was excellent and there are natural wines that wine man Travers can suggest for you. We will also write a full account of our meal here as soon as we get time.
Adelaide – Coffee
There is a strong coffee focus in Adelaide and our favourite place is Elementary Coffee in Young St, which is reasonably central. They have a small selection of pastries and savoury snacks for breakfast (such as granola with yoghurt and fruit) as well as a rotating selection of coffees including those which have been naturally processed.
On our most recent visit in 2026 we were also lucky enough to be there on the day that a new all day cafe opened. It is called Idle Hands and has very good bread and pastries as well as very good coffee.
It can be found in a street that is a couple down from the well-known market. It is interesting because it occupies the front of a multi-use site, with a furniture shop immediately behind the table and few chairs at the front of the area.
We managed to go here twice in three days and thoroughly enjoyed a double-espresso and a pour over coffee. We also enjoyed the quality of the savoury baked goods which we are looking forward to sampling again when we get back to Adelaide.
One of the other interesting things we witnessed here was the surprised look on the faces of the locals who were walking past and suddenly realising that there was a good coffee venue in their area!
And to finish off our trip to Adelaide, we called in here on our last night and enjoyed a glass or two of excellent natural wines!
Adelaide Hills – Thelma
This year we had the most wonderful lunch at Thelma in the Adelaide Hills cooked for us by talented chef Tom Campbell. Every dish we were served was excellent. We are gradually adding each dish to our story about our wonderful lunch there.
