Not many people choose a restaurant primarily for the cocktails but they’re an enticing reason to book a table at Station Road, on the ground floor of Festival Tower in Adelaide’s CBD. The clarified Bloody Mary is capped with a tomato top, while the tropical First Press blends Australian rum, coconut and mango with a juicy mandarin twist. The food offering, led by head chef Baine Stubbs, is pristine and polished, with a little French and Asian frisson. Smart orders are the handpicked mud crab on betel leaf, the Game Farm quail ballotine and whatever pastas are on the pass, such as ruffled campanelle with miso, pecorino and chilli.

When chef Tom Tilbury puts his name to a restaurant, the queues form before the doors open. His latest venture is a companion to Restaurant Botanic, located at the heart of Adelaide Botanic Garden. Botanic Lodge is a less formal version of its older sibling, with a Monet-like lakefront location and a sun-dappled café-bistro atmosphere. Local ingredients are the building blocks of every dish and there are plenty of nostalgic touches, such as fish sandos and a lamington dessert.

To mangle the words of the 18th-century essayist Samuel Johnson, a person who is tired of burgers or a well-sauced steak is tired of life. Thankfully both are done very well at this “American-Australian” bar and grill located in Torrensville, in Adelaide’s Inner West. The drinks list also promises to invigorate, with a focus on producers making low-intervention and natural wines. If you prefer your burger on the run, pre-order a takeaway version online.

A sunny gold-and-white striped splash of Palm Springs style has arrived in Adelaide with Two Suns, a swish 250-capacity rooftop bar and dining space from the team behind Lady Burra Brewhouse, Girl Next Door and BCKYRD. The food is casual and coastal, including tacos, pizza and croquettes that are all designed to share and pair with an Aperol Spritz or a Daiquiri. There’s a dinner service five nights a week as well as live music and DJs on Friday and Saturday nights.

The distance from plant to plate is measured in metres at this elegant fine-dining spot nestled in the leafy Botanic Garden. Leaves, herbs and more unusual botanicals plucked from the lush surrounds form the basis of a spectacular dining experience that encourages you to forget the outside world. Expect to spend at least four hours navigating unforgettable dishes in a faultless distillation of place and time that delivers such singular ingredients as fallen bunya bunya branches or shiitake-flavoured fudge.

This Adelaide city outpost of the iconic Barossa restaurant Fino follows the same simple formula that has made its sister venue so beloved. Front of house maestro Sharon Romeo provides generous hospitality and executive chef David Swain has a knack for letting impeccable fresh produce shine in a menu that mirrors the rustic/refined dynamic of the venue’s exposed red brick walls and copper pipes. And yes, the dreamy silk-like crema catalana has made it onto the dessert menu.

Fire-blackened timber walls set the scene at this Leigh Street hotspot where flame is king. Save on a theatre ticket and grab a seat at the bar to watch umami-glazed proteins and share plates emerge from the smoke-wreathed yakitori pit. For a quick fix, adjacent Shōmen serves up bowls of hearty ramen with bacon bone broth from the same kitchen.

Welcome to Fugazzi: the restaurant at the intersection of rich Italian flavours, a lavish New York-style setting and a distinctly Adelaidean hospitality. The Italo-American diner seamlessly knots these three influences together, resulting in a relaxed approach to refined produce, from Fremantle octopus with hand-rolled garganelli neri to 270-day grain-fed Black Onyx beef. The decor is its own delicious offering, with soaring ceilings, cosy banquette seating and, crowning the bar, a hefty helping of cream-veined marble rich merlot tones.

A vine-clad pergola and cobblestones underfoot lend the sunlit dining room in Adelaide’s most forward-leaning Italian restaurant a relaxed, piazza-like atmosphere that belies its location on busy Pirie Street. Just as appealing is the menu that’s updated daily with refined micro-seasonal share plates and handmade pasta. Past favourites include ribbons of tagliatelle smothered in blue swimmer crab and pearls of Campari-kissed salmon roe, complemented by a wine list that foregrounds elegant Italian varietals.

Eye-catching modern art, blue velvet chairs and mirrored ceilings ensure the Sofitel’s ninth-floor brasserie has a lot more personality than your average hotel restaurant. The wine list caters to Champagne (and Burgundy) tastes with imported bottles alongside more moderately priced local equivalents. The kitchen gives a slick update to Gallic classics such as a honey-glazed duck à l'Orange that includes a sweet juicy leg with apricot and carrot puree.

Don’t second guess yourself on the way up; reaching this exclusive eighth-floor haunt requires two separate elevators. The reward is a broad terrace bar that seduces Adelaide’s A-list with commanding views over the city, private cabanas separated by greenery and an excellent selection of South Australian wines (some poured direct from the barrel). Cocktails laden with seasonal produce, a beer list that always includes a few premium aged bottles and snacks from the adjoining mod oz restaurant seal the deal.

Where You Need to Eat in the Adelaide Hills