With fond memories of my previous visit to Red Ochre, I almost jumped at the opportunity to eat here again. Just as we did last year, we were armed with the Festival of Food voucher. For $34.50 (Monday to Thursday), each person was entitled to an entree tasting plate, a main course (or select an item from the a la carte menu and pay the difference if over $36 in value) and house made petits fours.

The decor was identical to what it was during my last visit. Floor to ceiling windows that maximise the amount of natural light and allow full 180 degree views. An outdoor dining area facing the banks of the Torrens which is perfect for a warm Summer night.

The bread came out fairly quickly, even before we had ordered our mains. It was a Pepper Leaf Pide Bread with was to be dipped in a bush tomato balsamic vinegar. The bread was soft and delicate with wonderful notes of pepper. A perfect match to the sweet tangy balsamic vinegar.

The Entree Tasting Plate arrived 30 minutes later which we thought was a long wait. The restaurant was a full house and they were catering for a private function at the same time.

The Pressed Saltbush Lamb Shoulder came with a rivermint raita. The lamb was well marinated and easily fell apart with the touch of a utensil. The meat had a subtle sweetness which was complemented by the refreshing raita.

The Sweet Corn and Ginger Soup was topped with an anise myrtle coconut foam. The soup had a nice thick consistency and there were strong notes of ginger throughout.

The Scallop Ceviche was topped with a wakame salad, native lime and wasabi. The smooth slithery texture of the raw scallop was complemented by the subtle sweetness of the wakame and the tartness of the lime. While the menu indicated wasabi was present, I didn’t really notice it too much.

For my main, I had the Char Grilled Kangaroo Fillet which came with a ragu of du Puy lentils, spiced carrot and drunken pear, orange blossom water and cardamom sauce.

Prior to ordering, I had requested that kangaroo be cooked medium, however, most of the portions came out rare. There was one piece that was well done, so I wasn’t happy with that either. I suspect the inconsistency was due to the varying thickness of the fillet, however, there was an obvious communication problem between the staff and the kitchen as to how the meat was to be cooked. The dish was returned and the meat was re-cooked.

The lentils were fantastic with wonderful earthy smokey flavours. This was matched well with the sweetness from the carrot and pear puree, orange blossom water and cardamom sauce.

My friend had the Atlantic Salmon Fillet which came with green beans, olives, confit tomato salad, native lime, garlic and parsley oil. She said the salmon was perfectly cooked. The meat was soft and delicate, and the skin was perfectly crunchy.

The Petits Fours were a Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Fudge. The fudge was soft, sweet, rich and decadent, and the macadamia nuts added a wonderful crunchy texture.

To compensate for my poorly cooked main, we were given complimentary glasses of Tawny Port. The wine was sweet and complimented the Petits Fours perfectly.

This was the magnificent view we had from our window seats. Breathtakingly beautiful and probably only second to Windy Point.

It’s a shame when you don’t have the same wonderful experience that you had from your previous visit. Everything started off well with the cloth napkins placed on our laps and drinks being constantly refilled, but when the restaurant got crowded, the service became very slow. The group sitting next to us were very loud and rowdy and we were even mistakenly overcharged at the end of the night.

Not the same pleasant experience that I previously had, but the staff did do their best to rectify any problems that we experienced.

WHERE: War Memorial Drive, North Adelaide