7 Best Restaurants in Adelaide, South Australia

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.