Gilbert Street Hotel Review

Words By

• Paul Wood

The crew at the Gilbert Street Hotel are an adaptable bunch, having spent the past few months working around a building site in their backyard. While most establishments would shut up shop during renovations the Gilbert staff managed to work out of a temporary kitchen set up in shipping containers while their former beer garden and kitchen were demolished and rebuilt. The results have been worth the wait, the pub now featuring a new wooden-clad outdoor dining area with detailed metal feature panels and a wall covered in fake lawn, as well as a shiny new kitchen with all the bells and whistles.

With regular live music acts, a brilliant wine list that features a changing list of local drops and a range of boutique beers from across the country, The Gilbert Street is best known for its award winning MSA sirloin burger – voted best in Adelaide for a few years running. Naturally I had to give this one a go and while it seems like more of a glorious steak sandwich than a burger it’s no wonder it has had tongues wagging.

The kitchen clearly knows their meat with other beasty options including a dry aged Murray grey scotch fillet, a veal rib eye and the open range venison fillet. These are all featured in the main section of the menu but for those of us who prefer not to overindulge there are smaller options available from the “small plates” menu, of which the trio of sliders is a definite winner. Three mini burgers including grilled barramundi with olive tapenade and lettuce, Wagyu beef with cheese and pickles and my favourite, pork belly with apple and aioli. Their soft tacos filled with spiced shredded lamb shoulder are a tasty bite-sized treat and I can also recommend the zucchini fries coated in a parmesan crust and served with a rich tomato sugo.

The only downside to the refurbishment is that they don’t seem to have gained much additional seating space with the kitchen extended into the outdoor area but this will no doubt be worth the sacrifice as it means more elbow room for the chefs to work their culinary magic.

WHAT: Gilbert Street Hotel
WHERE: 88 Gilbert St, Adelaide
WHEN: Mon – Wed 11am – 10pm, Thu 11am – 11pm, Fri – Sat 11am – 1.30pm & Sun 11am – 10pm
INFO: 8231 9909

Photos: Andre Castellucci / andrec.net