Welcome to the family Little NNQ

Little Nghi Ngan Quan is an extension of the popular Vietnamese restaurant in Ferryden Park. When Little NNQ opened up we expected pho dinners closer to our home.  The restaurant is owned by the daughter of the original NNQ bosses and while most would expect the same restaurant in a different area, we were in for a surprise with this new addition to the family. 

Little NNQ is not as little as it sounds. The restaurant seats a decent number of guests, has a decent bar, and a wall of wine! They have their own signature cocktail list based on the names and characterisitcs of their their family pets.

Good Old Charles

Feeling a bit adventurous I gave this fish sauce, chilli, palm sugar, dry ginger, white rum and lemongrass cocktail a go. I love white rum so why not? No.

I thought Good Old Charles might be similar to the Tom Yum Siam at Gin Long but it has really missed the mark. I love each and every ingredient of this cocktail but altogether it has really missed it's mark. It's way too salty (because it wasn't even stirred) but even then it's an odd mix of salty, sweet, spicy and bitter. I dub thee, King's Game drink. 

Madison's Mischief Potion

Madison's Mischief Potions features jack fruit, vodka, lime, and Frangelico. It looks super citrus-y but it's not. It's fairly light in flavour, vanilla-y and good enough as a cocktail. It doesn't really have that kick I'm looking for in a cocktail but it's not bad for a light drinker.

To avoid starvation, unfortunately I chose not to take photos of the first few dishes. We had Pork broth, Salt and Pepper squid, Duck and Banana Blossom salad, Stewed pork with egg, Tamarind soft shell crab, plus others.

The duck and banana blossom salad was definitely one of my favorites. It had the right balance of sweet, sour, and salty in the dressing. It was a good choice because everything else was so rich and flavourful and balanced all the dishes out. A must try.

Stewed pork with egg is a popular home dish in Vietnamese cooking and Chinese cooking. I wouldn't call the flavour 'authentic' but this is something I will order at a restaurant.  Soft shell crabs are amazing on its own but I would've liked more tamarind, tamarind lovers out there would agree. I've had better.

Chicken Curry

What I enjoyed the most was how all the food was presented. It's a great mix of Asian flavours and Western presentation. The curry was demolished very quickly and an all round favourite of the night. This version isn't as spicy as the traditional Viet curry which I very much appreciated.

The roast pork was tender and flavoursome with hints of star anise and pepper which was complimented by the soy and chilli dipping sauce. The cold, pickled vegetables which accompanied the dish were perfectly crunchy and refreshing and serve to cleanse the palate. Overall, much better than your average roast pork.

Roast Pork Belly

Scotch Fillet Stir Fry

Even though a simple stir fry, the scotch fillet was so tender and soft. As a rare beef lover, this dish was cooked perfectly. If you can't handle pink beef then this isn't for you.

Here is the wall of wine!

What I love the most about Little NNQ is that it's completely different from NNQ Ferryden Park. The decor is so unique and modern. It's a bit rustic but somehow it just worked despite serving Asian cuisine.

It really seems like the creators have put every little thought and detail into building the landscape of Little NNQ. Even when you walk in, you think you're smelling lemongrass cooking in the kitchen but it's really just a bunch of Glasshouse candles burning at the unlit fireplace. It smells amazing, makes you hungry, and creates a great ambiance.

Overall, there are some things I wouldn't order again but this is definitely a place I'd like to see again. The restaurant is amazingly pretty, smells great, and there's just this great vibe. The pictures just didn't do it justice and you'll have to meet Little NNQ for yourself. 

-C

Cocktails of Gin Long

Gin Long is one of the many busy restaurants situated on the increasingly interesting O'Connell Street. Despite not being a bar, Gin Long's cocktail menu is something of an eye-catcher. It boasts oriental styled cocktails ranging from Yellow Fever Daiquiris to Tom Yum Siams.

One of Gin Long's most appealing factors is the openness of the bar and kitchen. If you sit at the bar, they'll serve the drinks right in front of you- dinner and a show.

Ho Chi Mint Mojito

The Ho Chi Mint Mojito is a perfect marriage of sugar cane 'syrup', rum, and mint. Unfortunately it's sugarcane syrup not juice, so for some this may be too sweet. Mojitos are naturally refreshing, so it's not surpsising the Ho Chi Mint is a great addition to the Mojito family. In all honesty, this has to be one of my favourites that night.

Tom Yum Siam

I predicted the Tom Yum Siam to be something of a variation of the Bloody Mary. I expected a savoury cocktail (which would've been awesome), but it was actually quite sweet. The chilli gave it a unique kick not often experienced with cocktails... Except for the Bloody Mary actually. The lime leaves and lemongrass were amazing in this cocktail. This would have been arguable the best cocktail until you are unavoidably overcome by the 'mediciny' Malibu aftertaste. Considering that the Tom Tum soup does not traditionally contain coconut, I fail to understand why Gin Long include Malibu in this cocktail. It seems to bring out a bitterness and sickening sweetness you get from cough syrup.

Betal Leaf Cigar with Yellow Fever Daquiri and Tamarind-Orange Gin Long

The Yellow Fever Daquiri looks more like a Sour with the foam, surprisingly served in a taller glass. I knew I would like this one because the mandarin citrus-ness and white rum (I assume) always work well together. The tamarind-orange gives it a sourness which I always enjoy and you really can't go wrong with gin. Served in a bubble tea cup, it makes me feel like ordering one to takeaway if I am simply out and about.

Now to the food.

Satay Chicken Skewers

For starters we had a Betel Leaf Cigar, Grilled Chicken Satay, and Ramli Slider. The Cigars were probably my favourite but they were definitely on the salty side, just like the Ramli Slider. I don't generally like satays but this one was preferable over that served in other restaurants due to the addition of XO sauce. Overall, I wouldn't order the Small Eats again.

Lychee Duck Curry

Pomegranate Chicken

Although Gin Long has nothing on Star of Siam, the Lychee Duck Curry was by far my favourite dish of the night. Sweet, not too heavy and surprisingly filling. The Pomegranate Chicken on the other hand was not my cup of tea at all. It was rich, heavy and overly sweet. The menu reads 'grilled chicken' but thenagain what's the point if you cover it with a sugary, sticky, sauce?

Food aside, Gin Long is worth visiting for the Asian spin on cocktails. I recomend asking the friendly bartenders to remove the Malibu from the Tom Yum Siam though. If I ever need a takeaway cocktail, I know where to go.

-C

Happy Birthday Clever Little Tailor

 

Last week Clever Little Tailor celebrated their first birthday. It was one of the first bars in Adelaide which served classic cocktails. Located just off of Hindley Street, it's a sweet place to kick back and relax. 

Unlike many bars, CLT is cosy and warm- no blasting air conditioners which leave you scrambling for a sweater in summer. The bar is handsomely stocked with spirits and there's even beer on tap!

The Old Fashioned

The Old Fashion is the grandfather of all cocktails. I'm not a whisky drinker but according to J, the Old Fashion has very much improved since the beginning of CLT.

$8 Pilsner and West Winds Gin served with lime

I started off on the $5 West Winds Gin special! Generally, I am not a fan of dry gin but with lime it was perfect. At The Howling Owl, the dry gins are served with cinnamon and orange which enhances the dryness and that alcohol taste most of us don't like. I'm definitely going to try lime in the future (except for Hendricks, always have cucumber with Hendricks). Oh and my OCD self is loving the perfectly square ice cubes.

The left features a '$8 Pilsner'. It was my first experience tasting a pilsner but since I'm not beer junkie I really can't say much about it. Apparently it was 'okay'.

Hops Hog Beer and Daiquiri

It was disappointing when there was no tomato juice because Bloody Marys are the best. However, I settled for the summery daiquiri and recieved this frothy thing. At first I thought the bartender had no idea what he was doing but a quick Google search tells me that it's common enough and is a result of not straining after shaking the ingredients. Doesn't speak of summer vacation as your typical daiquiri, but it was interesting enough. I could taste something along the lines of nutmeg or cinnamon giving it that winter feel.

The Hops Hog is an American style India Pale Ale produced in Australia. As far as beer goes, I like it! Thumbs up for the both of us.
 
So whether you're after a cocktail or beer, Clever Little Tailor has your back. And if you like none of those, there's a generous wine list too.

-C
 

Mclaren Vale Part 2: Alpha Box & Dice

Alpha Box & Dice is a small winery literally across the Road from Maxwell's. Not only do they produce my all time favourite red, this brand actually started my adventure into wine. AB&D is unique from pretty much every winery out there- down to earth and incredibly groovy.

Last summer, The Happy Motel came to AB&D featuring their 'Korexican' cuisine- weird ey? Unfortunately I missed out on that dinner but the door is a remnant of those dinners.

This is literally a room within the AB&D winery.

 

The perks of having only 5 wines on tasting is that you get to taste everything they have available. Wightmare is the only white on tasting at the moment. It's supposed to be a dry white but it's not dry in the way I dislike. It's still refreshing and crisp with an 'oily' mouth-feel (as described by the connoisseur).

The Imaginarium is the only Shiraz that I could say I love. As mentioned, it's just not my type of grape. Can't remember what it tastes like but it was definitely worth a purchase!

Not only does the Tarot have a really cool label, this is by far my favourite wine I have ever tried. In the past I thought all wines tasted the same. But this was 'the one' for me. It's super spicy, light but not too light. It's great for easy drinking and suitable for those who aren't a fan of wine. It's 100% Grenache in the current vintage (2011), but I think 2008 had a blend with Tempranillo which was the one that got me into wine.

The Mistress is classed as NV meaning it's an nonvintage wine- a production blend of two or more years. It's 53% Touriga Nacional, 37% Tinta Roriz, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Apart from the last grape, I haven't really had the other before. The Mistress tasted really earthy at first, but then I couldn't get this flowery flavour off my tongue. It reminds me of Jasmine but it's not. It's something pungent, small white petals grown on a wild tree/bush (I think).

Kit & Kaboodle is the only red I don't own of AB&D. It's more full-bodied than the others. 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Shiraz, 18% Grenache, and 12% Touriga Nacional.  Looking at the blend, I'm quite surprised I didn't enjoy it more but it just goes to show that what you think you like about wine doesn't always indicate what you will actually enjoy.

If you ever want to start drinking wine, I highly recommend AB&D. Even though I tried the same wines in January, no less than 3 months later I started to pick up on so many new flavours that I didn't sense before. The makers encourage you to just think for yourself because sometimes they won't even tell you what's in the wine! 

-C

Mclaren Vale Part 1: Maxwell winery

One of the best things about living in Adelaide is the wine country. This weekend we went to McLaren Vale

and visited a couple of my favourite wineries. First stop, Maxwell Wines. 

In the flurry to taste as many varieties of wine possible, I failed to take many photos, but here are some of the bottles we picked up along the way:

Four Roads Old Vine Grenache, Ellen Street Shiraz, Spiced Mead and Honey Mead

In no way or form are we experts or professionals in wine tasting. We taste what we taste and are still learning! Lets talk about each of them in tasting order.

The Grenache has always been my favourite sort of grape - it's spicy, seems to have a lot of elements to its flavouring, but still remains a light wine. In the past, my experience with pure Grenache wines is that it can be too light and could use some Tempranillo or Shiraz grape to balance it out. However, this particular bottle had the spiciness I look for in Grenache and had the medium-to-full bodiness in which I prefer.

Even though the photo shows the Ellen Street Shriaz, that is not actually the bottle I intended to buy. I'm not even sure I even tried this one. What I did try was the Maxwell's Silver Hammer (named after The Beatles song). The Silver Hammer was as enjoyable as a shiraz could go for me (not a favourite grape) - maybe something I'd buy a friend or family member. What I did intend to purchase was the Lime Cave Cabernet Sauvignon. I could be drinking wine and read tasting notes all day but all I can say is that 'this one is just super juicy'.

Honestly, the stars of the show are really the meads. Besides the excellent customer service at Maxwell's Winery, this is why I would bring all my friends. The honey mead is sweet but light best served over ice on a hot day. It reminds me of honey, apples, and apricot and tastes like summer. The spice mead is best served warm. The Cinnamon and clove spices gives it a winter warmth and reminds me of Apple Pies and sitting by a fire. If  you're not a wine drinker, you will most definitely love the mead. 

Next stop, Alpha Box & Dice.

-C

Adiós: Little Miss Mexico (in 30 days!) + Best dessert cocktail discovery

As you all should know by now, Little Miss Mexico is a  pop-up bar that has been around in Adelaide for quite some time as part of the Fringe festivities. Sad thing is, that it's closing in just a few weeks so we went along on a not so quiet Sunday night to say adiós...

Upon walking in we're greeted by splashes of color, rustic walls, wooden bars and benches under an open roof which created a laid-back and fun vibe to the place. As we made our way further inside, the scent of Paella, tacos and spices drifted from the kitchen getting us salivating for the evening ahead. Unfortunately, we couldn't wait and dug right into our Mexican feast as soon as it arrived so no food pics this time (we had the quesadilla and Hot Wings which paired perfectly with the cooling Mojito)!

For our first drink, the bartender created a personal gin cocktail with lime and Elderflower liqueur garnished with green apple slices. It was a decent drink but somehow despite the the gin, lime and liqueur combination which would be expected to make a nice sweet citrus cocktail, the drink was overly bitter and not to my liking. 

Having visited the Mexican themed bar before I was pretty familiar with their Mojitos and Margaritas. So for a nice surprise I asked the bartender Kabil to make us something desserty. It was a bit of a gamble but it was totally worth it! THIS has to be the best 'dessert' cocktail I've ever had. Peaches, strawberries, apple, raspberry came together with a base of Absolut vodka to create something deliciously sweet. The addition of the raspberries in particular made it something more than the usual cocktail. I find dessert cocktails tend to be overly sweet and sickly. But this had a fresh, soft sweetness with a bit of raspberry tartness to offset it and was a well balanced drink. In a way it reminded me of cakes served with a side of raspberry coulis.

We had great food, great drinks and a great time at Little Miss Mexico with the highlight of the night being the unnamed Peach, strawberry, apple, raspberry vodka cocktail! Hopefully Little Miss Mexico will make a comeback for next years Fringe Festival and return with its brand of laid back fun vibes. Make sure to give the drink and Little Miss Mexico a go before it disappears for good! 

-C

Cafe by day, Gin Bar by night: Howling Owl

Like its namesake, the Howling Owl is a cozy, sleepy cafe by day but at night it really comes alive as one of Adelaide's finest gin bars. Day or night though it serves over twenty different gins from around the world and perfectly pairs each one with complimenting garnishes and mixers. 

We headed over to the Howling Owl during their Happy Hour (Thursday-Saturday, 7PM-8PM) to try out a bunch of gin. Firstly we tried the Tanqueray and Hendricks gin & tonic. My absolute favourite has to be the Hendricks! It's spiced, yet, not too heavy and the cucumber garnish just seems to soften it all up. According to Hendricks, the gin itself is supposed to have notes of cucumber and rose petals. The Tanqueray is described to have notes of 'fresh grapefruit, orange, lime, coriander seed and chamomile'. Very enjoyable, definitely heavier in spice than the Hendricks and the grapefruit was for sure a good choice. Citrus just seems to work with gin and compliment the juniper and botanicals.

Tanqueray no 10. garnished with grapefruit & Hendricks with cucumber

Next up we have Brokers London dry gin served with tonic and garnishes. At the time I didn't realise Brokers was a dry gin so while I love gin - this wasn't the one for me. Definitely for the London dry lovers out there. The description reads: 'nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon peel, coriander and cassia bark'. I couldn't really taste those notes so make what you will of it!

Black Berry Gin Fizz & Brokers Gin with orange, cinnamon

The Black Berry Gin Fizz is a great play on the original Fizz cocktail with great local produce. The cocktail comprises 'Adelaide hills gin with silvan jam, kangaroo island basil and soda'. It tastes as good as it sounds! In the past, the basil has been a bit heavy and overpowered the rest of the cocktail. But this time it added a nice touch to the berriness of it all.

The Gin Gimlet is generally one of my favourites at the Howling Owl - especially with the pepper. It uses Hedricks Gin, lime juice, pepper, garnished with a slice of cucumber. This time though it wasn't as good as I remember so I'll reserve judgement until next time. A great reason to come back another time... 

Hendricks Gin Gimlet

Last but not least we ordered a Hayman's Old Tom, on the rocks, with a splash of tonic and garnished with capsicum. I've only ever had it in a Tom Collins before. This gin has notes of 'lemon and hints of other citrus, juniper and coriander'. The capsicum garnish added a real sweetness to drink and combined with the gin was unexpectedly refreshing. 

Hayman's Old Tom, London with capsicum

Now that The Howling Owl has opened my eyes to the variety of gins, garnishes and combinations I appreciate gin as a spirit a lot more. I totally regret not participating in their World Gin Tour but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out this time.

What are spice and spirits?

During the holidays we'd like to sit around and drink at snazzy bars- be it local, pop-up, or stumbled upon drunk. One night, we decided to start a blog to educate the uneducated in Adelaide... and maybe Australia.

Look out for more posts on bar reviews, long table dinners and a gazillion amazing photos. We're currently in ad hoc ;) We will have, for you, night time plans for any day of the week! 

Final word for now: drinking should be allowed during breakfast.