19 Best Restaurants in Adelaide, South Australia

Located in a basement off Hindmarsh Square, this elegant establishment is beautifully decorated with stylish timber furniture and local artwork. The dim lighting and relaxing background music really set the mood for some quality Indian cuisine, which is what you'll get in spades; in fact, you might want to try everything on the menu, and the Feed Me Menu allows for just that.

Lovers of Australian wine should not miss a meal at this intimate pavilion-style vineyard restaurant set in the country's most famous winery. Though only 15 minutes from the city it's high enough to afford views over the vineyards and the city skyline toward the coast, and the seasonal, Modern Australian cuisine is just as special. For a truly memorable experience, the Icon and Luxury wine pairing presents a chance to try some of Penfolds' (and Australia's) most sought-after wines.

On the short drive from the airport to the city, this colorful and welcoming family-run restaurant serves up traditional Afghan comfort food that has locals booking weeks ahead. Some items are only available on certain days but the rich, oily eggplant banjaan borani is always on the menu and a must try. Pick up a cookbook and you can try to replicate it at home. BYO only.

If you’ve ever turned your nose up at Asian fusion, you may reconsider when you come to Shobosho, with its use of organic local ingredients and Korean and Japanese influences in the cooking. Everything about the space, from the approach to service to the immensely creative dishes---often cooked over coals---to the plateware and the atmosphere itself, strikes a balance between sophisticated and relaxed that is difficult to find in Adelaide.

It takes two elevators to get to this rooftop venue, but it’s worth it for elegant Modern Australian dishes that make the most of highly seasonal produce—many local producers are name-checked on the menu. After dinner, retire to the adjacent bar overlooking the governor-general’s house (and most of North Adelaide) for a nightcap.

This is one of the city's most original places both in terms of interior design (including a vibrant Technicolor bar and dining space) and the Modern Australian menu, featuring South African--inspired and somewhat kitschy dishes with robust flavors such as the spicy, smoked peri peri chicken and crispy chicken skin "tea sandwich." The wine list is brief but well curated and leans toward natural numbers; alternatively you can bring your own for A$20.

This local favorite is rustic and noisy, with professionals and university students engaging in enthusiastic conversation. The terrazzo-tile dining room is furnished with bare wooden tables and paper place-mat menus, which list traditional pizza and pasta dishes in two sizes—appetizer and entrée.

You wouldn’t know it from first glance, but this restaurant is part of a multipurpose art space and there’s plenty of creativity on the fine dining menu designed by South African chef Brendan Wessels. Expect nods to his homeland like the large braai in the kitchen that adds a touch of smoke to many dishes.

Family run since 1985, and located in one of Adelaide's iconic Victorian houses converted to commercial space, Chianti is all things to all people. Sit inside or outside and enjoy the award-winning breakfasts or, in the evenings, the traditional northern Italian trattoria cuisine.

This restaurant, located in Adelaide's premier Asian dining strip, is a step above its neighbors with modern Chinese dishes that utilize traditional spices and fresh local produce, meat, and fish. The service is professional yet warm and friendly, with an ambience that is second to none thanks to the funky decor and trendy vibe. Lunch is served only on Friday.

If you're in need of a fine steak, look no further that COS on trendy Leigh Street. The simplicity of these steaks—select from a 250-gram grain-fed yearling eye-fillet to a 500-gram rib-eye fillet—served with frites and side salad ensure even lunchers are not too gastronomically challenged.

Owned by a French expat and his Australian wife, Hey Jupiter is in all aspects a Parisian brasserie transported to Adelaide---wicker seats, oyster happy hours, and all---but with better service and a wine list that goes far beyond average. Located on a quiet street near plenty of other shops and bars in Adelaide's bustling East End, Hey Jupiter is a great place to stop for weekend breakfast, lunch, or dinner, as well as a nice place to simply grab a drink after a long afternoon of shopping on Rundle Street.

There's a relaxed, nautical air at this mainstay—which perfectly suits the location on the south bank of the River Torrens. Sliding glass doors open onto a full-width front balcony for alfresco dining. The imaginative modern Australian menu, offered in both à la carte and tasting menu forms, changes seasonally, but continues the theme with seafood selections that might include seared Murray cod with Goolwa pipis (cockles), fermented chili and sea urchin butter. The lunch crowd is largely corporate in nature while warm evenings attract couples.

A restaurant masquerading as a natural wine bar, this former dry cleaner takes its design cues from trendy Parisian bistros. Come for predinner drinks—the walls are lined with 500 bottles of mostly natural wine and the knowledgeable staff are happy to point you in the right direction—then stay for the sophisticated share plates. Meats are cured and fresh pasta made in the small kitchen and the fresh, elegantly plated dishes really pop with the accompanying wines.

This bustling pan-Asian food hall is a beef-with-black-bean-sauce–free zone. Instead, stalls including Mum's Kimbap and Li's Mouth Magic produce such dishes as salty fish and chicken fried rice, special hot pot, and pho gà (Vietnamese chicken-noodle soup with fresh mint and coriander). Shoppers and tourists crowd the fake-marble tables next door to the Central Market, yet you never have to wait more than a few minutes for a delicious, cheap meal.

It may look like your run-of-the-mill fish-and-chips shop, but this Gouger Street veteran of more than 60 years is the place to get hooked on King George whiting, Australia's fabulous oysters—natural or with various preparations—or salt-and-pepper squid (an iconic Australian dish). It's been hailed as one of Adelaide's best—and best-priced—seafood restaurants.

For a great view of the bustle in the open kitchen, request a table upstairs on the ship's-deck-like mezzanine floor.

A sweeping view of Adelaide is the backdrop for contemporary workings of traditional bush meats such as kangaroo, emu, and wild boar, plus herbs, and fruits at this "floating" riverfront restaurant. The downstairs River Torrens Café, the restaurant's sister venue, is more informal, and offers a modern Italian menu for weekday lunches and dinners.

Adelaide is a prime spot for enjoying Australia's incredible seafood. At Sammy's on the Marina, enormous fishbowl windows frame views of million-dollar yachts at the far end of Glenelg's glitzy Holdfast Marina and are perfect for watching the setting sun, playing dolphins, or a storm rolling across Gulf St. Vincent as you tuck into a dozen freshly shucked oysters or the popular and generous seafood platter.

Sourdough pizzas topped with house-made sauces and fresh local ingredients are the first reason that locals can't stop going to Sunny's any night of the week. Then there's the negronis so perfectly executed you'd swear you were in a piazza in Milano—plus the incredibly friendly service, the fun wine list featuring small producers from the Adelaide Hills and around Australia, DJs on weekend nights, and cold craft beers on draft.