Rising Sun Inn — Restaurant in Adelaide

Party of six celebrating my husband’s birthday in October. As our children are spread across metropolitan Adelaide we have been searching for a restaurant that is central to all to become “the place” to go. This was not it. Generally I do not bother to write reviews but our experience at the Rising Sun still has me fuming a month later.

We were ushered in by a bulky awfully rude gentleman (RG) who, upon evaluating our party, begrudgingly showed us to our table. I will add at this point that as a family we are willing to pay decent prices for good food. We ordered drinks taken from a friendly waitress. RG returned to take our order. My husband ordered a few starters to share. You would have thought he spat on RG’s shoes. Maybe that type of thing is not done at this type of establishment? We were asked if we wanted to see the wine list. We don’t generally drink wine during the day and received another “Harrumph!” as the wine glasses were aggressively taken from the table.

We ordered Damper and Sweet Potato Rosti for the table to start. There is no complimentary bread or anything else for that matter. The damper was dry and under seasoned and the Rosti was just awful, oily, bitter and limp. No crispiness at all.

There was a lengthy wait until the mains arrived. The restaurant prides itself of showcasing local “artists” work. I’m sure that Primrose from Toorak Gardens thinks she is talented but it just doesn’t cut it on the walls of a restaurant ladies and gentlemen.

Our mains order was 4 beef fillets, 1 Crispy Skinned Chicken, and a Black Forest Duck Leg. RM served our meals, plonking them in front of us. At this point my daughter leaned over and asked “What is wrong with that guy? He is so rude” That was the point that I realised it wasn’t just me being sensitive. All of the steaks arrived well done despite being ordered as medium rare. The Jus was baked on the edges suggesting the steaks had been sitting waiting for service. The chicken was flavourless and dry, although the duck was very good. As sometimes happens in upmarket places none of the meals come with accompanying vegetables but $64 for some green beans, mushrooms and oven roasted duck fat soggy potatoes was a bit much.

Our plan had been to stay for dessert and coffee. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Maybe if I wear my pearls and Chanel jacket next time we would receive better service from RG? Really offensive service (except for the waitress in the fabulous velvet jacket), mediocre food and a bill of $369 before drinks for what we received was tremendously disappointing.

Unless you are a part of the local clique do not even think about...

Rising Sun is one of the oldest hotels in Adelaide & like the rest of the few Adelaide heritage restaurants, they have no decor insecurities. Instead of knocking walls down, they"ve kept enough rooms to offer us varied experiences. They"re generally open from lunch to late evening, again a commited but smart strategy. A leather lounge & roaring fire room - attached to the little front bar (which is really clued up for a metro restaurant) is where you naturally want to hang out until you know what you want next, or until everyone turns up, is packed in the after work hrs. A VIP 6-12 ppl area without the obvious VIP label sits next to the lounge. After you pass through these little hospitality continents, a welcoming general dining area is easy to relax jnto & you will be very promptly served, holistically & professionally. Beyond this is a large sunroom dining area and beyond that is alfresco territory. All in Adelaide style, which is a lost art these days. The process of dining is very settled here, they have the experience & the commitment to effortlessly support intimacy, burthdays, business lunches right through to the extravagence of Penfolds Grange. They have the knowledge to help you find satisfaction. The menu is recognisable, well constructed and handles 1 to 4 courses easily. The wine list is where your temptations will be tested & suggestions were correct. I settled on, with help, a French Burgundy with a beautifully cooked duck while my dear companion scoffed a rabbit pie & the Rising Sun beer...(having a pie on menu is always a good sign that the menu is considered serious by an Aussie/Intercontinental establishment). Quick and considerate service. I love this place. I can see them hitting the centenary mark....

When the wait staff who showed us to our table, couldn’t read the specials to us and we had to read them to her, we questioned our decision fine here. Our drinks were brought promptly, as was the entree. And that’s where the service stopped. We, along with others, had to wait for more than 2 hours for our main course. During that time, other customers paid for the drinks they had and walked out, with one table commenting that their entrees were cold, they were sick of waiting and they would get takeaway. We were just about to follow, when a staff member commented ‘oh that’s right, you’re waiting for your mains’. We asked if there was a problem, he assured us there wasn’t and after we said we would pay for our drinks and leave, he came back with our food. Our meals looked like they had been hurriedly thrown together, the prawn dish was about half the size of others that were served and both meals were on the cool side. We politely mentioned this to the wait staff and was told ‘thanks for the feedback’. We didn’t get asked if we wanted dessert, coffee or any more drinks. Despite an apology, there was no offer of any discount or recompense. This was an important celebration for us with a most disappointing outcome. I realise this is not their normal standard and ‘things happen’ but there was a distinct lack of communication and effort to make...