My garden had just been flattened by hail and I was cursing having to go out in the freezing cold to take a second look at the Queen’s Head Hotel so I could finish my review.
The hotel is thought to be one of South Australia’s oldest and it has been nicely renovated within the confines of a heritage-listed building. Unlike a lot of heritage buildings, it has plenty of natural light and the small, interconnected rooms give the pub an intimate and cosy feel that is perfect for such vile weather. Fake fires aren’t exactly my thing, but there is a comfortable feel about the rooms, and staff are instantly friendly and welcoming.
The pub is split into three distinct areas, with unclothed low and high tables in the bar areas, and linen tablecloths and serviettes in the vaulted-ceiling dining room. There is a small outside area, which, while comfortably warm with overhead gas heaters, was understandably empty. This is a pokie pub but the machines are not invasive – in fact, I did not realise they were there until my second visit.
My first visit in mid-June was as a guest of the Drogemuller family of Paracombe Wines at a luncheon party for Kath Drogemuller’s birthday. What most impressed me was the staff. They had great product knowledge and nothing was too much trouble. This is the result of good management, because bad habits start at the top and filter down. The manager clearly adores and respects Kath, and was determined her day would be perfect. And it was.
Even in social circumstances, it is very hard for me to switch off from the mindset of a chef/critic/restaurant consultant. I couldn’t help noticing the bread was ordinary but came with plenty of butter. And, with the exception of the arancini, the same garnish of rocket and onion with a couple of slices of sweet potato appeared on every entrée dish; the unfortunates who had ordered the vegetarian main got a second serve. Naughty!
My steak was well done, although I suspect the person sitting next to me got mine. It happens – as I unfortunately know too well from the personal experience – but at least the staff asked how we wanted our steaks cooked. Most functions take the slack approach and cook everything medium, which is a good reason to never order a steak at a function.
While I am not a convert to well done, to my astonishment my steak was still tender and delicious. I couldn’t help thinking that if it had been cooked the way I prefer scotch – medium rare/more rare – it would have been pretty damn good.
A couple of things really impressed me: the quality of the prawns (those gorgeous big ones that you rarely see on menus because they hemorrhage the food costs if they are your best-selling dish) and the meat was exceptional.
On my second visit there were different front-of-house staff, but the same instant warm welcome. Despite the vile weather, there were a few people having lunch in the bar rooms and a lone couple in the dining room. They were into their second bottle and having a fine old time.
Two entrees were ordered: the South Australian king prawns with chilli garlic butter, paprika crumbs and baby herb salad ($16.90 entrée and $29.90 main) and pappadella (their spelling, not mine) with confit ham hock, roast onion, green peas, house-dried tomatoes and citrus butter ($14.90 or $23.90). Service was a bit slow and there was some rather noisy cheffy banter coming from the kitchen.
A finger bowl arrived without request, followed by three massive prawns and the baby herb salad – which was more of the damned rocket and onion (minus the sweet potato). The prawns were fantastic with just the right amount of chilli to not kill the flavour. It was about then, while sucking out the very succulent heads, that I noticed the paper did not cover the table and in my enthusiasm I had splattered the cloth, which now needed replacing. Embarrassing, but isn’t the idea of the paper that you don’t need to change the tablecloths all the time?
Despite the fact I truly detest that weird rocket, it was at least properly seasoned and dressed. The truth is the prawns were so good they needed nothing more than the missing lemon for embellishment.
The “Pappadella”? Well, when your benchmark is hand-made and rolled to the finest notch, this just didn’t rate. Thick packet pasta and frozen peas … I looked on with envy as the other table received a perfectly cooked, scrummy little fillet steak with the right amount (yes, not mingy) of pistachio butter.
The house-dried tomatoes were, in fact, unripe cherry tomatoes that looked like they had been stuck on the grill for a couple of minutes and that was that! The pasta was very, very ordinary. The “Pappadella” was too thick and over-cooked, and the cooking water must have lacked salt.
My advice is that if you make your own pasta, don’t order it anywhere in Adelaide except Enoteca and River Cafè, because you will just be disappointed. As for those chefs who make their own and still fail to deliver – try getting a decent recipe and rolling it to the last notch, then don’t drown it in sauce or frozen peas and we might be talking!
Desserts? Sorry, no news yet. And owners, we know it’s a heritage pub, but the rust run in the ladies’ toilet handbasin needs attention.
So, the synopsis: after this review, we are sure the chefs will lift their game and find some more appropriate/interesting and individual garnishes so that if you order two dishes you don’t get two serves of the same salad. Don’t order pasta unless you are a really crappy cook yourself, and stick to meat and seafood. Bar food is inexpensive and generous, and this is a cosy little local well worth our support.
The staff are an example of very good training. They’ll make you even more welcome when you return a second and third time. Prices are really value for money. My local, just five minutes from home, is River Cafè, and the Queen’s Head is just five minutes further, so I’ve added it to my list. It’s very good value for money if you follow our specific directions.
WINE: There is a very nice, small wine list with 31 wines by the glass and excellent diversity of price. Add to that, my glass of wine was poured at the table. What is surprising is that given the quality of the choice and value for money throughout, vintages are not listed … tsk tsk! The glassware also needs attention. Reidel would not be appropriate for the price but something a little less “jam jar” would be appreciated.
Queen’s Head Hotel
117 Kermode Street, North Adelaide
w - www.queenshead.com.au
ph - 8267 1139
OPEN 7 days lunch and dinner
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