As seasons change so do palettes. Warm soups suit winter and refreshing salads suit summer. This applies to a whole host of different dishes but the general consensus is; you feel like different dishes dependant on the mood of the season.

The Highway have approached this idea with sophistication and style, offering a selection of cuisines to satiate the heart in autumn and into winter. Introducing The Highway Autumn Menu. Adelaide Food Central was invited to sample a number of the delectable and creative meals that The Highway have on offer.

I stated earlier in this piece that dishes should reflect a mood and season. The Highway have taken to this to heart and produced a selection that absolutely has the soul autumn.

We started off with the Beetroot and Vodka Salmon Gravlax and the Crumbed Beef Brisket Ball as an entree. What a wonderful way to start off. Two dishes that strikingly contrast each other. The Gravlax is a unique dish that is simple in its preparation. The salmon is served raw like Sashimi and accentuates a chill and fresh flavour with candy cane beetroot and pickled shallots to complement. The Brisket Ball takes the complete opposite approach to this. Its beef in a ball, can’t get more back to basics then that. Yet the preparation and cooking time that goes into this to give it that melting creamy texture far exceeds that of the salmon.

Following on from that was Hot Smoked Kingfish Salad. Most hotel salads are the last thought on the mind of someone designing a menu. At the Highway there is just as much love in a salad as any other dish. The Kingfish salad brings rocket, beans, pear, radish, Spanish onion, potato and a creamy dill dressing to create a salad that you can care about. A combination of different flavours mean you can get a different taste with each bite with the highlight being the Kingfish smoked to perfection. By no means a second thought on this one.

To make up the mains we tried two of the traditional favourites. Roasted Pork Belly and Bacon Wrapped Chicken. Pork Belly is pork belly is wasn’t bad in any sense but there isn’t a whole lot you can do with it. The chicken however was a highlight of the night. Again this is a hotel staple present in a lot of pubs. The way the Highway present theirs though puts it above the rest. Sweet potato and confit garlic puree, with a chicken demi glaze make this a thoroughly enjoyable experience but it’s the little things I appreciate the most. The bacon is tightly wrapped over the chicken so that the two are one. Your bacon and chicken never separate so you can enjoy them together.

The Highway have put their menu game up a notch with their autumn menu. Every dish has been carefully crafted and there is love in their presentation. Check it out now.

Words and Photos by Jonathon Tonkin

WHERE: 290 Anzac Highway, Plympton