Adelaide’s Festival of Food is in full swing, offering a wonderful opportunity for locals to experience the best dining around Adelaide, for an affordable price.

One participating restaurant is the beautiful Windy Point Restaurant. Sitting on the side of Belair lookout, Windy Point offers the most spectacular views of Adelaide’s nightscape.

Just 15 minutes from the heart of the city, it is the perfect place for a romantic date, with the restaurant bringing formal dining to match the wonderful scenery.

Head Chef, Justin Miles, creates contemporary Australian cooking, using regional and seasonal produce, to ensure guests have the best experience possible.

We were treated to two mocktails while we waited for our dishes to be served; a sweet pineapple drink that went down like a treat, and a tartier strawberry mocktail that also had citrus and fresh mint. Yum!

The Bread to start was a house-made olive bruschetta with white beans and McLaren Vale olive oil. Upon arrival it smelt amazing and looked delicious. The small fennel garnish gave a lovely tang, while the house-made bread was slightly charred and had a lovely crisp crunch to the crust while also giving off lovely smoky notes. The bread itself was lovely and soft. The quite thick and dense slices were topped with white beans that held a lovely crisp texture and a smooth flavour to balance the slight saltiness from the olives cooked into the bread. Overall, the lovely mix of savoury, earthy and salty flavours popped in the mouth and made us excited for what the next dishes had to offer.

The Entrée Tasting Plate consisted of a Beetroot, cumin and lentil soup shot; a Moroccan Chicken terrine on an avocado bed; and Angus beef rib with Café de Paris hollandaise, which all looked beautiful set out on a long plate. The Beetroot, Cumin and Lentil Soup was warm and served with cream, roasted almonds and pumpkin seeds. The vibrant red colour of the soup was amazing and we couldn’t wait to dig in. A mild savoury earthy flavour came from the almonds and pumpkin seeds that also gave a lovely textural balance to the smooth and creamy soup. The beetroot added a slight sweetness, with the lentils balancing for a more savoury finish. The beetroot pure was mixed with cream that helped with the smooth finish and gave a slight tang. The soup was lovely and warm; a perfect, hearty meal that I would have on any cold day.

The Chicken Terrine was cool and a lovely change of temperature from the soup. The chicken was cooked perfectly; tender and soft, with subtle hints of fragrant spices, adding to the Moroccan feel. The avocado bed was silky smooth, almost like a cream or a mayonnaise to pair with the chicken. The lovely fresh lifting flavour of the avocado, held hints of acidic notes from citrus juice and perfectly balanced, lifting the meaty flavours of the chicken.

The Roast Beef Rib was another perfect component. The succulent and tender beef easily pulled apart and held lovely deep meaty flavours. The slightly sweet and caramelised marinade balanced well with the almost mustard flavoured hollandaise that gave a slight tang and lifted the sweeter notes to help balance the deep richness of the beef. The Beef Rib had a lovely mix of flavours that left us wanting more.

The Western Australian Barramundi Fillet was served with bisque cream, ocean trout mousse, barramundi belly, saffron potato, baby cucumber and fennel relish. There were many prominent seafood flavours across the dish, all complimenting one another. The barramundi belly was cooked perfectly; lovely, fresh and light. The fish had a slight crispiness to the skin while the meat was nice and soft. The seafood terrine held stronger flavours, while the fennel relish helped lift and lighten the richer seafood tones. A lovely crunch and texture balance came from the baby cucumber and soft potato, against the smooth and creamy bisque, that also held slight salty tones that tied in the various flavours.

The Lenswood Chicken Breast was served with parsnip, apple, Puy lentils, burnt onion, marmalade gel and mole poblano. The chicken breast was cooked perfectly; tender and juicy with a generous serving of the thick meat. The meat was balanced with the apple pure, also sourced from Lenswood, that gave lovely sweeter tones to the meat. The perfect amount of citrus tang from the marmalade gel paired well with the burnt onion that had a lovely, smoky and caramelised flavour. The mole poblano was nice and smooth, giving another slight tang, tying in the deeper savoury flavours with the sweeter components.

The 165gram Chateaubriand of Beef was a Riverine export grade grass and grain fed beef fillet, served with three sauces, creamed spinach and roasted potatoes. The half fillet was wonderfully cooked. Our choice of medium rare, left the meat soft and tender, with a lovely pink centre. The earthy flavours of the creamed spinach complimented the richer, deeper flavours of the meat. The roasted potatoes were cooked perfectly and had a lovely soft smooth centre with a crispy salty skin. The potatos lifted the richness of the beef and paired lovely with the three selected sauces: Béarnaise, Barbeque and Horseradish. The selection is a perfect way to let guests choose their favourite sauce; or to try all three. The beef fillet can also be purchased as a whole 330gram, for an additional $15.

We also tried three sides, which are purchased for an additional $7.5 each, on top of the Festival of Food menu. Chat Potatoes with bay leaf, and English pickle relish; Swiss Brown Mushrooms with garlic, olive oil and gruyere; and Beans with hazelnut pesto and house-made quark. The beans gave a lovely crunch with the light and fragrant pesto pairing with the freshness of the beans itself. The mushrooms gave a lovely earthy sweetness with a firm texture, while the potatoes were perfectly cooked, soft in the centre and had a lovely salty and crispy skin. Delicious.

We were served Petite Fours for dessert, which was a waffle with peanut cream and a smoked white chocolate with raspberry dusting. They looked beautiful and we couldn’t wait to try. The waffle was similar in texture to a sponge, lovely and light with hints of citrus flavours to lighten the strong peanut flavour from the thick but smooth cream topping. The white chocolate cone held a slight smoky flavour that was not too overpowering and complimented the existing sweetness of the white chocolate. A slight sweetness also came from the raspberry dusting, but overall the dish was perfectly balanced and not too sweet.

We were also treated to two desserts from Windy Point’s a la carte menu, which also can be purchased on top of the Festival of Food menu.

The Vanilla Chickpea Panisse was served with a Pedro Ximenez syrup, orange salad and a ricotta, fig and honey ice cream. The dish reminded us of fried custard and had a lovely contrast of hot and cold, with the beautifully smooth ice cream and the chickpea panisse. The thick chickpea log was dense but constructed perfectly with a lovely sweet cinnamon sugar coating. The log had a soft thick centre with a slight crispy, fried outer. The oranges held a strong tartness that balanced the smooth and sweet chickpea flavours, while the black Spanish cherry syrup gave a sweeter tang to balance the sugar coating and the sour tones of the fruit. The entire dish was sitting on top of a lovely smooth and creamy custard that tied the dish together, balancing the sweet and tart flavours.

The Lenswood Apple Pie was served as an apple tagine, with a spiced apple syrup and a caramelised apple anglaise. The pastry shell of the tagine was lovely and crisp and wasn’t too thick or thin, and had a nice crumble. The cinnamon and apple cubes inside were warming, perfect for the coming winter nights, while the cooler, freshly dried apple wedges held a slight chewy texture and balanced well with the slightly sweet, caramelised anglaise. The caramel flavour was not too strong, just the right amount to pair with the apple pieces. We even wanted to take this caramel anglaise home with us in a jar, it was that good. The dessert textures and flavours balanced well together and was a lovely take on a traditional apple pie.

Windy Point Restaurant gave us a lovely dining experience, with great service and delicious meals that we could not forget. And with the Festival of Food on now, it is the perfect chance for you to taste some of these meals yourself and experience the beauty of Windy Point Restaurant.

The Festival of Food deal is available for dinner at the Windy Point Restaurant, from Monday till Thursday for $49.50 per person. Additional dishes are also available each night for an extra charge. So make sure to download the Festival of Food app now, available on both iPhone and android.

Words by Cyndal King

WHERE: Belair Rd, Belair