Last night I grabbed a few folks and dropped in to the Jasmin Restaurant for a spot of fine dining. Adelaide has some excellent spots to go for Indian, but the Jasmin is definitely one of my favourites.
Not necessarily the easiest thing to find of course – a single glass door on Hindmarsh Square and a staircase leading down – but soooo worth the effort.
We started with mixed entrees, of which I had a Vegetable Pakora and Alu Tikkas (potato patty). The flavour was awesome, and even managed to punch through my cold-related congestion. Accompanying this we had a bottle of Victorian 2001 Pinot Noir, the exact name of which escapes me. A fairly delicate flavour, which went well with the subtle spices of the entree.
Main course for me was the Kangaroo house special, and it was quite unlike anything I'd had before. There was plenty of star anise, and it was certainly a bitey curry! A little sweeter than expected when I first chomped down on it, but counterbalanced nicely with the flavour of the meat. I'm really going to miss kangaroo when I get to Ol' Blighty… To go with the curry, a Garlic Naan (excellent for colds !) and a much bolder wine – Fox Creek 2002 JSM. Fan-bloody-tastic.
Nick and I elected to go for dessert as well, much to the amusement of my parents. Dad seemed to think that Nick's helping of Marscapone cheese-based sweet was a little… meagre, however Nick seemed quite happy with it. I managed to plow through the mudcake, just.
All in all, an excellent meal, in an excellent atmosphere, with excellent company.
Following that, Spiro and I journeyed up to a favourite spot known as “The Hill” (somewhere near Forest Range/Lenswood), and philosophised, looked at the stars, and polished off a bottle of Stone's Mac, as we used to commonly do about 5 years ago. Doesn't time fly ?
So yeah – only a couple of days left in Adelaide. Wow. Starting to get a little nervous. With excitement, that is. Wow.