Adelaide’s Best Degustations for the Ultimate Fine Dining Experience
For those who want a taste for the finer things in life, and to savour it over many, many courses.
A degustation (French for tasting) is an experience everyone must try at least once. Multiple courses of fine food served in just the right proportion ensure you sample a little bit of everything, leave satisfied and potentially try your favourite new dish. A la carte menus no longer reign supreme. Put your trust in the chef's carefully curated theatre of flavours complimented by their expert Sommelier’s pairings to taste, because after all – they are the ones who know best.
Here’s our multi-course menagerie of South Australia and Adelaide's best degustations.
Adelaide's Best Degustations | CBD
Botanic Gardens Restaurant
Situated in a stunning heritage rotunda and nestled within the beautiful Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Botanic Gardens Restaurant is a luscious romantic haven. With some of their ingredients sourced right from the botanic gardens themselves, their degustation menu stretches across four hours and offers over 20 different flavour combinations, not including the addition of a delectable paired wine flight.
$245pp. Wine pairings offered $125 (The Temperance), $175 (The Botanic), or $330 (The Sommelier’s Reserve)
Adelaide Botanic Gardens, Plane Tree Drive, Adelaide
Five Regions Restaurant
Taking inspiration from Adelaide’s world-renowned surroundings, Five Regions Restaurant brings the produce and experience of The Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley and Coonawarra into the heart of Adelaide. Their six course degustation menu is changed with the seasons, telling the story of each wine region through regional ingredients, landscapes and seasonality.
$145pp. Wine pairing $80pp.
Adelaide Oval, King William Road, North Adelaide
Apoteca
Take a trip down Hindley Street and you may see Apoteca – a seemingly unassuming venue that will make your jaw drop upon entry. The multi-roomed space includes an enormous bar built from 143-year old pharmacy cabinets originally from London, a stunning courtyard, iconic cellar restaurant and more. Sit down and experience the Chef’s Selection four or five course menu, curated from their most popular seasonal dishes with or without ‘prescribed’ wines to match.
Four course $65pp plus $40pp wine pairing. Five courses $80pp plus $50pp wine pairing.
118 Hindley Street, Adelaide
Windy Point
Halfway between Adelaide’s CBD and the Adelaide Hills, Windy Point offers the ultimate dinner with a view. The restaurant is perched on the edge of a drop, with panoramic windows looking across the twinkling lights of Adelaide to accompany their delicious five course set tasting menu. The menu changes with the seasons as the team whips up the freshest seasonal produce, so there’s always something new to taste.
$100pp. $55 wine pairing.
Windy Point Lookout, 339 Belair Road, Belair
Adelaide's Best Degustations | Adelaide Hills
Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant
Nestled away in the dramatic Piccadilly Valley, Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant is renowned for its classic, luxury settings and surroundings. Their seasonally changing degustation menu comes as four or seven courses, with the ‘Valley to Verandah’ concept courses paired with a multi-award-winning wine selection, sake collection and creative cocktail menu.
Looking for a romantic weekend away? Continue your delectable experience and book a room to stay at Mount Lofty House and treat yourself to a treatment at their Gatekeeper’s day spa.
$159 four course, $235 seven course. Wine pairing offered $145pp (Sommelier) or $315 (Premium).
Mount Lofty House, 1 Mawson Drive, Crafers
Magill Estate Restaurant
The decadent Magill Estate Restaurant doesn’t just appease your sense of taste. The smells, sights, sounds and textures of both the food and restaurant interiors and exteriors offer the cherry on top. Their seven-course signature dish tasting menu stretches across approximately three hours, with the option for wine pairings.
$220pp. Wine pairings offered $125pp (Vintage), $200pp (Sommeliers) or $300pp (Icon and Luxury).
78 Penfold Road, Magill
The Lane Vineyard
Among the many luxury experiences on offer at The Lanes Vineyard, their seven course Chef’s Table Experience stands out as one not to be missed. The immersive, sensory menu celebrates seasonal ingredients, all grown and produced either on the estate or by local farmers, growers and suppliers and ethically produced.
$250pp. Price includes wine pairings.
5 Ravenswood Lane, Hahndorf
Adelaide's Best Degustations | Fleurieu Peninsula
The Currant Shed
Sat among the picturesque McLaren Flat, The Currant Shed offers an informed, yet informal dining experience across their six course chef’s selection menu. Originally built in the early 1900s, the structure may have modernised throughout the years, but it still holds on to its inherent charm and history.
$135pp. Wine pairing offered $50 or $85 (Coravin).
104 Ingoldby Road, McLaren Flat 5171
Serafino Restaurant
A showcase of Mediterranean cuisine at its finest, all five courses of Serafino Restaurant’s chef’s table experience feature seasonal produce either grown in the Chef’s Garden or sourced locally, presented personally to you in an intimate setting by their chef.
$95pp. $55pp wine pairing.
39 Kangarilla Road, McLaren Vale
Adelaide's Best Degustations | Barossa Valley
Appellation
Part of luxury accommodation The Louise, Appellation’s kitchen team of ‘dedicated storytellers of the Barossa Valley region’ create dishes inspired by culture, guided by the seasons and looking to the future. Local produce reigns supreme here, with 85% of the menu coming from within the Barossa Valley and South Australia – they even carbonate their own rainwater.
Note: The Louise and Appellation are closed until September for renovations
$400 per couple. Option for paired beverages.
375 Seppeltsfield Road, Marananga, Barossa Valley
Plan out more luxurious meals in Adelaide and South Australia from the best fine dining restaurants, to set menus you have to check out, and where you should book out your next gourmet getaway for a foodie holiday.