Botanic Gardens Restaurant, Plane Tree Drive

Blanco Catering does a lovely lunch at this iconic Adelaide establishment and the setting inside the Adelaide Botanic Gardens is stunning; particularly at this time of the year (Autumn) when the leaves are changing their colour to red/golden tones and shedding their leaves.

I dined with three companions none of whom had been to this restaurant before and who were all happily satisfied with the service, food, wine and value for money.  

We all opted for the $49 a head option giving us each a choice of two courses from the entree,  mains or dessert menus.  For my entree I chose the quail carpaccio  pictured left, with a finely shredded salad of radicchio and cabbage garnished with tiny mandarin segments.  The quail was moist and tender and absolutely delicious but I found the salad over salted for my taste.

For a main I chose the lamb tortellini/fillet combination as shown right,  accompanied by a jus and garnished with cherries; it didn't disappoint in taste, but was somewhat bland in colour.  Hence I regret not ordering a side order of vegetables as a colour and texture balancing accompaniment. 

I also thought that the presentation (plating-up) was formulaic  when I compared this dish with the slow baked chocolate mousse dessert also pictured, that arrived later for one of my companions.  I tried this dessert and thought it tasted dry and more like a chocolate brownie than a mousse.

Additionally, two of my companions chose a taleggio tart and a cheese souffle for entrees followed by pork with apple and a venison pithivier for mains and both were contented with their choices.  The third companion decided to forgo an entree and chose a sirloin steak medium rare for a main.  The steak arrived unfortunately over-charred on the outside and hence delivered a disappointment, with a dry layer under the charred outside enclosing a small pinkish core.  

Overall however, it was a pleasant experience and it was refreshing to have a meal in a restaurant where the conversation was audible; there was no distracting background noise or music blasting through loud speakers and it wasn't difficult to get the bill and pay for it.