Aperitif Bar, ibis Adelaide

With the opening of ibis Adelaide late last year, Aperitif Bar opened its door at the same time. The world’s largest affordable hotel chain building is located on Greenfell Street in the heart of Adelaide’s central business district. Over the past several years, Adelaide’s bar scene has been boosted with a variety of new bars established frequently. Sitting on the first floor of ibis, the bar saw itself as a pre-dinner drink venue or dinner place.

 

The name “Aperitif” stands for drinks before dinner and exactly as the name suggested, the bar focused on pre-dinner drink and food. From the menu, it is obvious that majority of their dishes are designed for sharing. However, on the western side of the bar was an allocated dinning area which accommodates customers who want to enjoy a full meal. Full meal options include steaks and other varieties off the grill.

 

 

The chic and modern décor inside a restaurant well fits the overall theme of the hotel. Although not considering itself as a pub, the bar, as all bars do, serves alcoholic drinks. I enjoyed their martini – one of the best I’ve ever enjoyed. With the espresso and strawberry martini as a start, dinner is easy to be flushed down. I really liked the environment. If you happen to work nearby like me, you could come along with two or three friends and enjoy their martini while watching the high volume of people passing by as well as the city view from one of the two balconies. What an experience!

One interesting thing of the bar is that all their staff member wear a pair of converse, which made the team very sporty. Onto the menu, to showcases what the bar is really about in culinary concepts, all the dishes that we tried were from their share-plate menu. The new menu focused on dishes that are designed to be share and personally I think this is great for a bar and pre-dinner venue. Of course, diners have the option to order main meals according to their preference, as indicated earlier.

Started off with a Turkish bread, we quickly received all the dishes. These are the dishes that the bar has been wow’d for and did amaze me and Tina with some of them. The bar does not only open to the hotel guest – it opens to general public as well. Diners, whether they love meat or seafood can all find something for them either on a quick run or staying for a full dinner.

 

One of their most preferred seafood dish was their house cured trout which displayed a clean and decent cured flavour with a hint of sweetness and acidity.

 

 

However, if one prefer octopus, the bar does a good chargrilled octopus dish which made the octopus to taste like meat. Along with the salad, it good to go with a beautiful Chardonnay to start a Friday night.

 

 

A croquet is normally on share-plate menus and Aperitif Bar is no different. The croquet was made with salty cod and tasted brilliantly with the Turkish bread.

 

 

From the above dishes, diners can obviously see that the bar is working hard, trying to provide a catering option for all. I guess if you are a vegetarian, you may be able to ask for an alternative option as well. However, as you all know, I am a meat person so the following dishes, especially the beef cheek, blow my mind away. 🙂

 

 

To be honest, I don’t know about the price of the sliders but they are absolutely beautiful. Both Tina and I loved the buns – a perfectly grilled bun while the duck slide exhibited sweetness and a hint of spiciness. Well done!

 

Mentioning spiciness, it is important for me to mention about another dish which will please ones who love hot dishes. The Barossa Valley Chorizo was poached with Szechuan pepper and is indeed another mind-blower if you love chilli and hot food like me.

 

 

 

Now, here it comes the highlight of the dinner, slow braised beef cheek. This was the favourite for both me and Tina and this situation has been very rare as most of times, we disagree with each other. However, this dish got both of our praises for. The beef cheek was cooked to perfection and was with a lot of sweet caramelised flavours with hints of a burnt bitterness which just got neutralized with the sweetness itself. It was sticky but the meat was not dry at all and is a must-try on the list. 🙂

 

 

The Head Chef of Aperitif Bar has previously worked in Ambassador Hotel and has knowledge in many cuisines. This can be seen with different cooking techniques and ingredients added to the dishes above. If you prefer an environment which you can enjoy food and/or wine after work, Aperitif is a good place to go. If you are looking for a proper dining place to try out, Aperitif is a place to go as well. I am sure you would be able to find some good aspects to fit your requirements here. 🙂

 

*Disclaimer* Adelaidefoodies were invited as a guest of the Bar but all opinions are my own as usual.

 

Aperitif Bar

Level 1, 122 Greenfell Street

Adelaide, SA 5000

P: (08) 8159 5516