Yelp – Food Porn Tour

Diners today I was very lucky to be included in a Yelp Event. The Yelp Adelaide FoodPorn Tour!

It was my first Yelp event and I was bursting out of my skin with excitement! All I knew is that we would be meeting at Nola’s. I didn’t know how many people were invited or where the dining destinations were. It was all to be revealed on the day!

So with a great deal of enthusiasm and perhaps a little nervousness I went down to Nola’s and met a whole bunch of lovely people.
As one of the others said, we are bunch of people from all walks of life with one thing that binds us all – We love food!

Before we started food tasting, we were given a basic cell phone photography tutorial. It was pretty good and I picked up a tip or two!

I tell you it was the hardest thing, watching the food being photographed by my fellow foodies and not being able to tuck into any of it right away! It was almost torture to be able to smell it! It looked and smelt sooooo good!
Nola’s had prepared a few tasting plates for us. I wasn’t sure what they all were but everything I had was pretty tasty and as with most of the places we visited today, I’m eager to go back and enjoy different items off the menu at my own leisure.

The baked oyster was probably the most memorable thing for me. I don’t normally eat oysters and if I do they’re “Kilpatrick” style.
This oyster was called a “New Orleans Baked Oyster straight outa Comte”. It had Pecorino, romano and other cheeses, herbs and spices and it was really delicious! It had a wonderful texture and by that I mean, I couldn’t taste or feel the slimy oyster going down my throat…. It was something I hadn’t tasted before and I really enjoyed it.
Below are a few more pictures of the food we sampled at Nolas

The bottom right was one of the desserts we sampled – Banana Foster: Sweet waffle with whiskey cream, caramelised banana, parfait and toffee. The best thing about this dish was the whiskey cream soaked waffle! I could have had a whole plate of that to myself! As we were sharing with about twenty others I had to show some restraint…
Thank you Nola’s, I look forward to coming back!

Next place on the Food Porn Tour was Culshaws Restaurant. 
This was a very different place than Nola’s! Immediately we knew we’d walked into an elegant place! The staff were ready to serve and gave us a brief explanation saying their main focus is to showcase South Australian produce and they even serve their version of the iconic South Australian Pie Floater! We were lucky to get a taste of that today!

This was really a lovely dish but you had to make sure you had the elements all together. The beef was wonderfully thick and flavourful. If it wasn’t paired with the pea puree it may have been a little dry but coupled together it was a fantastic match.
I did try the pea puree on it’s own and didn’t enjoy it as much as it had a very strong lemon taste but together with the pie it worked a treat! It wasn’t what I was expecting and was a very refined version of our pie floater!

Our third stop was SOI.38. If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time you’ll know that I don’t normally have Asian foods. Not really for any reason, it’s just not the first thing I think of when I want to have something to eat – So going to SOI.38 today was a treat!
I love the wooden floors and the black and yellow decor gave it a funky feel. I was really excited to see what we were going to eat here.

 

I was right to be excited!!! I almost couldn’t wait till my fellow tour members finished photographing the food to be able to dig in!! It looked and smelt so good.
The first three dishes we were given to sample were Pork Short Ribs with garlic, pepper, chili and spring onion – It was crispy, flavourful and hot!!
The second was Street Style Mota Sriracha Chicken Drumettes. They also had lots of flavour and were hot!!! Good dishes to clear the sinuses!
The third dish was Flat rice rolls with chicken. I heard a few people say that they thought the flat rice was too thick but I actually liked this and it was a nice breather from the hot food I had just eaten. Pictures below

We were brought out more dishes to share – Green chicken curry and Crispy curried rice ball salad.

I loved the coconut taste in the curry. Both of these were again, full of flavour and also hot!
Out of all the places we visited today, this is the one place I’m most eager to go back to.
There were a few more dishes that came out that looked sooooo good but unfortunately we were already late for our fourth stop so we didn’t really get to try them. SOI.38, I will be back!!

Fourth Stop was Hide N Seek Thai Bar.

This place has only been around for about twelve weeks. I loved the feel of this place as we walked in. It had a kind of Industrial but also warm homely feel.

We had the upstairs part so I took a photo that hopefully will give you an idea of what it feels like in there.

At Hide n Seek we were given a sample platter that had four dishes on there.
Green Papaya salad, Mince Chicken Salad, Crispy chicken wings and Sticky rice.

I Loooove anything with rice in it so I was eager to try the Sticky Rice. I put my spoon in there and noticed it was almost rock hard! My spoon was able to stand upright in the bowl! At first I thought, “Oh no, this isn’t going to be good” but I was really pleasantly surprised and this dish ended up being my favourite of the four. The other dishes were not to my personal preference but they were done well and I would not discourage anyone from coming here to try them! We all have different tastes after all.
The photo below shows the four different dishes we sampled.

The staff here were really friendly and were enthusiastic to tell us about their new business and answer any questions we may have had for them. I really hope this business does well and takes off as I think it will be a great little place in Adelaide.

Last stop on the Yelp Food Porn Tour was The Propoganda Club. This place was soooo elegant and plush!

As you turn into it from the street there is a staircase leading down and a glorious chandelier to light your way!

There are a few different areas downstairs. We were put in an area where you would probably sit and have drinks. It was all soooo rich! I felt like I was on the set of an American Soap Opera.
The lighting was dim, the music was smooth and even the people in there looked like they were older and richer. Not to say that they were, but that’s what it feels like when you’re in there. You feel very special!

The staff were VERY quick to say that although it’s got a glamorous feel, they are friendly and down to earth and they really were!

They told us that their menu is designed for sharing plates.

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They brought the food out and unfortunately I wasn’t able to sample any of it but I did take a couple of pictures and it looked sooooo good!!! The desserts especially looked really really good.

What I DID have was an espresso martini! It was the first time I’ve ever had one though I’ve seen them about before and always wondered what they tasted like.

Being an Australian with Italian background, I’m used to a strong espresso taste and have often taken an espresso without sugar before.

To me, this tasted like a cold espresso. It was soooo delicious!! I could have had a couple in quick succession but probably better I didn’t because although I couldn’t taste the alcohol, I felt it’s influence not too long after!!

I’d love to come back to The Propaganda Club and this time try some of the food. I just really loved that atmosphere and loved how the staff made you feel pampered and special.

If you have read this entry up until this point I have to thank you!! Although it was longer than I normally post I did want to write a little bit about each place we visited and share a few photos that I took along the way.

I really want to thank Yelp Adelaide for having this opportunity to experience foods and places that I normally wouldn’t.

If you end up visiting any of these places or you have in the past, I’d love to hear about your experience!

Till next we chow…