AURORA Restaurant at ILA — Restaurant in Adelaide

Aurora Adelaide 15th January 2025 5 course chef degustation.

Kohlrabi Green aroma delightful flowery notes. Thin crunchy kohlrabi with slightly spicy tomato ESP. Just a wonderful light whole of mouth fresh deliciousness. Tomato basil oils. The liquid at the end was so good I just drank it from the bowl. VG

Sword Fish Davidson Plum Saltbush Kombo cured swordfish very quickly warmed under the grill. Which on arrival releases nice sea aromas. At Aurora I have learned that nothing is as you might expect. Swordfish you would normally think a big steak not here mystery abounds: Ultra thin swordfish slices like prosciutto plum jam with crispy salty saltbush. Every thing is very light. Designed to be delicate. On their own you only just taste each ingredient: then - Fish just a hint of sweet sea plum oil just on their own a hint of sweetness but more bitter notes. Saltbush hints of salt. But together this dish reaches it heights to delicious balanced dish. Everything becomes alive. Fish taste plum taste salty taste all just swimming around my taste buds. Still in a very light delicate way no doubt as the chef intended. A very delicate delicious dish. That does play with the mind a bit which I love.

Blue Mussel Macadamia Native Thyme

THIS IS SUPERB sensationally delicious. It’s aromatic Wolff’s are just sensationally good. Wonderful mussels clearly fresh with their subtle sweet sea taste. Thyme oils, mussels sauce from the cooking & macadamia cream. It is so bloody good. I am definitely in heaven. I could go on and on about this but I have to eat the last morsel so I can simply bask with joy and a huge SMILE. Amazing wonderful what else can I say.

I am enjoying the food so much I’m 2 drinks behind in the pairings. Yes me slowly drinking good wine.

Bread lemon thyme butter Nice thick sourdough served just in time to mop up the mussels juice. Well actually not. Yep drank from the bowl again. I had to it’s just that good. I did mop a bit. Pork Abalone Pearl Barley. Wait for it. Pork steak. Thin abalone that’s has been cured and sous vide in dashi and others. Pearl Barley in abalone juice. I tried the thin bit of abalone first. Oh my goodness what a fantastic flavour I can’t explain it. I have no idea what it was cooked in or how but is just brilliant. Pork very good. Pickled onions abalone with pork pearl barley and abalone cooking juices Wonderful. A joy to be eaten. Delicious. I just have this wonderful mouth feel of delight. Juicy swimming around the taste buds making me smile.

The Forbidden fruit White Chocolate, Tumbo fruit has sweet and subtle sour taste and Apple jelly very bitter. Smash all eat together. Delicious white chocolate gets me every time. A sensational degustation well designed by the Chef and team. Loved it all The MUSSELS are the king a wonderful a joy and...

Will I come back again? Yes Been there for the first time. Fresh ingredients were put into dishes by a chef with outstanding creativity. Impressed by asian fusion dishes. All the flavours from different countries cross-matching each other like a Symphony

Gin cured Salmon: aromatic salmon paired with puffed fish skin. The puffed fish skin was used rather than puffed bread which is a thoughtful decision to intensify the fish flavours. Richness and Brightness were added to the dish via sour cream. Caviar adds variety for each bit

Cheese and tomato cruskit: One of my favourite dishes. perfect balance btw sourness and sweetness, richness and refreshingness. The pickled tomato was stunning in both texture and taste aspects.

Kingfish: a refreshing dish, perfect amount of wasabi, citrus, and a secret ingredient in the mayo ( not sure if it is szechuan pepper or not) give the dish with just enough kick without overriding the flavour of the fish. the Cracker comes with it has a similar texture to Prawn cracker, and a sufficient amount of seaweed powder was sprinkled on up. Heavy Asian twist ( Japanese and Chinese) was showcased

Crispy rick cake: Most lovable dish in the course menu IMO. This dish clearly shows the chef has the ability and imagination to fusion Asian dishes all together incredibly well. Rice should be paired with curry is very common in Asian culture. Rice cake pairing with Kimchi is common in Korea. The chef was able to combine common dishes and create a new uncommon dish. I like it.

Garfish: fish was fresh, using salmon roe and finger lime provide variety in every bite. The sweetness from the sauce and leek paired well with the delicate white fish. Seaweed salad with sesame oil on top gives this dish more umami, texture and the taste of the sea.

Lamb: (no photo was uploaded because I forgot to take one before my first bite) Lamb was perfectly cooked. Aromatic Indian spicy was added to the mashed potato and give the whole dish an extra warmness. For me, spicy is extremely important to provide a lift to the lamb and turn the lamb flavour into a specific sweetness. This dish did achieve that criteria. A green refreshing sauce was served with the dish. It tasted very Indian but more pungent which also go well with the lamb.

raspberry chocolate cake: overall a very rich flavour dessert. The sourness was provided by the raspberry powder on top, the jam in the middle, and the sorbet to balance the rich chocolate, but overall still a...

Updated review August 2021:

Foodies group dinner at @aurora_adl: we opted to order a la carte rather than tasting menus in order to try the dishes that we wanted. Worked out really well. Fantastic food and amazing service! . Okonomiyaki: their version of this Japanese dish. It was an interesting dish with fusion flavours. I think this was the only thing that I didn't 100% enjoy. . Gin cured salmon: excellent dish! The salmon tasted amazing, and the salmon roe was good! . Scallop pillows, with mussel velouté: OMG this was my favourite! The scallops were possibly the best I've ever had 😯😯. They were literally like eating clouds - super soft and melted in my mouth! . Kingfish: super tasty dish with a hint of wasabi that provided a bit of a kick. Well done! . Crispy rice cake in a coconut curry sauce: this was really tasty! Lots of bold flavours that worked well together. . Venison with Jerusalem artichoke: wow the venison was excellent. Quite rare, so some people might not like it, but we quite enjoyed it! And we absolutely loved the Jerusalem artichoke 😍😍. . Garfish: amazing dish. The garfish was soft and not fishy at all, and paired well with artichoke. . From the Braai: 500g hanger steak, cooked medium-rare. This steak was really nicely done! Super tender and full of flavour 😋😋🤤🤤. So good! . Coral mushrooms with cauliflower and semolina gnocchi: amazing flavours! The only thing was that the portion was a bit small 😅. . Sides: roasted baby potatoes - nice and crispy! Brussel sprouts - tasty and not bitter at all 😃. Cornbread with uni butter - WOW the butter was sooooooo good! Very tasty 😋🤤. . Milk tart: I really loved this dessert dish! Not too sweet and subtle flavours. The biscuit was amazing! . Chocolate with chilli and raspberry: wow quite rich but not overwhelming! Quite amazing! . Lime financier: wow the best dessert probably! Loved the tangy-ness and the sweetness...