Serving luxurious comfort food in a casual contemporary setting, Orso has Adelaide swooning. Pasta, for one, oozes generosity, and embraces the same modern Mediterranean palate that informs the rest of the menu. Rich rabbit ragù is folded through fat pappardelle, sprinkled with fried sage leaves and roasted hazelnuts. Mulloway is dressed in a wonderfully savoury Italian XO sauce (cutely called Ciao XO) made with pancetta, parmesan, air-dried tuna, porcini and white balsamic. Potatoes are prominent, as a winning snack of croquettes filled with taleggio on Calabrese chilli aioli, or an essential side of crushed, roasted then fried spuds dressed with truffled pecorino – almost a meal itself, and destined to be a crowd favourite. It’s not all dark tones and richness though: lively kingfish crudo, for example, features pearls of finger lime and crisp sugar snaps. Proprietor Andre Ursini has spared no expense transforming a former bluestone manor into an airy dining space dressed in marble and timber, its vast open kitchen setting a vibrant rhythm that gets the whole room buzzing. Add the attentive waitstaff and this type of polished neighbourhood eatery is very easy to digest.
Our guide gives a yearly snapshot at the best restaurants to eat at right now. The best-rated restaurants, as judged by the reviewers’ first-hand experience, form our national Top 50.
Josh Geelen
