Restaurant: Sparrow

Restaurant: Sparrow Kitchen and Bar

10 O'Connell Street

North Adelaide

http://www.sparrowkitchenandbar.com.au/home.html

This would have to be my favourite restaurant at the moment. The food is absolutely incredible, and the atmosphere makes for a great night every time. It always feels like the happening place to be. Even on a Tuesday night, the place was fully booked. The music played is funky and fun, and the staff are generally laid back and friendly. It had been a few months since I had last been to Sparrow and was happy to recognise staff. The longevity of their wait staff surely reflects its comfortable familiar dining experience.

The wine list is good, with reasonable prices (approx $10 a glass). Local wines make a big showing, with New Zealand Sauv Blancs and French additions and of course Spanish wines rounding off the list. The variety by the bottle is massive, offering something in everybody's favourite grape and price range. Not surprisingly, the Sangria is a big favourite. Chosen for this evening was the Orange Sangria with aperol, gin, sparkling wine, fresh orange and pineapple juice. Very refreshing!

Keeping with the Spanish tradition, Sparrow has over a dozen sliced meats to choose from. The meat hanging in the fridge for diners to ponder and choose from is a fantastic display. Sliced to order, diners can choose from pork neck, to cured beef to the infamous jamon iberico.

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Bread for the table ($2.50 per guest) combined with some thin slices of Guanciale ($8.90). The bread was so fresh and moist. Fabulous.

Sparrow's mini wagyu burger ($5.90). Probably the most talked about tapas on the menu, this dish is not only wonderful to taste but so cute! Its certainly becoming a bit of a Sparrow signature, so I would be very surprised if it ever budged from the menu.

Duck terrine, dark grape gel, tarrogon and witlof ($11.90). Brilliant! The presentation of this dish was just lovely. The colours and textures combined with a unique combination of flavours was excellent. The sweet dark grapes were a perfect contrast to the bitter witlof. The rich terrine was nothing short of spectacular.

Blue Swimmer Crab Cocktail ($6.90). This was probably my biggest disappointment of the night. The taste of the crab was over powered by the creamy sauce it was mixed in.

Chicken liver parfait, fig and fennel crostini, pickled walnuts ($9.90). I love the fig and fennel crostini. The pickled walnuts are fantastic with the rich liver. No matter how many times I have ordered this, I always run out of the crostini before I am finished with the parfait!

Hervey bay scallop, potato foam, hazelnuts ($5.50). Lovely combination but over before you hardly get started!

One of my favourite tapas of the evening Red wine poached egg, bone marrow, speck and brioche ($9.90). This dish was absolutely perfect. I still was thinking about it the next day. Just spectacular. Runny yolk over the brioche... sensational! The flavours were rich and wonderful. The tiny amount of speck gave it just the right amount of smokiness.

Although I stuck with the tapas for the evening, another guest at the table had a main of confit onion tart, spiced crumbs, labne, roasted cherry tomatoes ($31.90). A gorgeous looking dish, and by all accounts, very tasty! I just can't get over the price. $32 for vegetables seems just too excessive. You would have to love tomatoes if you ordered this, as a large percentage of the dish was the roasted cherry tomatoes.

As the table decided on dessert, I just couldn't resist ordering another tapas dish as an alternative. The Char-grilled octopus, potato, and paprika ($10.90) was recommended to me, and I wasn't disappointed. A very filling dish, the price was very reasonable considering its size. The octopus was cooked beautifully. Lovely and chewy without being rubbery, it was a wonderful contrast to the creamy mash potato. The Spanish paprika gave the dish a lovely warmth. Very much a comfort food dish, it would be wonderful on a cold Adelaide winter evening.

Creme Catalana ($8.90). By the look of heaven on my fellow diner's face as she took her first spoonful , this dessert was fantastic.

Churros, hazelnut chocolate sauce ($8.90)

Sparrow continues to win award after award, and praise from foodies and reviewers. I have now been there three times, and each time I am surprised and delighted with a new dish.