South Australia Travel Guide - Going Out

Adelaide has a wide range of restaurants and cafes specialising in international cuisine, including Chinese, French, Greek, Italian, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Lebanese, Malaysian, Mexican, Mongolian and Vietnamese. Many of these offer alfresco dining. There are many excellent seafood restaurants.

There are many wine and food festivals throughout the region where local wines and beers can be tasted. One of these is the Barossa Vintage Festival, reminiscent in many ways of German beer festivals in Europe. South Australia contains one of the most important valley regions producing wines; from the reds of Coonawarra and the Barossa, to the Rieslings of the Eden Valley.

Regional specialities:
• German-style delicacies, including mettwurst (spicy cured sausage), Bienenstich (cream-filled yeast cake) and pickles.
• Seafood is excellent. Grab a mouthful of crabs, whiting, oysters, blue fin tuna and crayfish. 
• The Pie Floater - pie immersed in pea soup and with ketchup added. It's an acquired taste!
• A cornucopia of fruit and veg, such as citrus, grapes, stone fruits, melons, tomatoes and warrugul greens (native spinach).

Regional drinks:
• Have a cold white frothy of Cooper's Ale, a fine Aussie beer.
• South Australia is well known for its award-winning wines such as Penfold's Grange.

Adelaide has an active and diverse nightlife scene. The cultural life of the city is rich pickings with the Adelaide Theatre Guide (website: www.theatreguide.com.au) offering comprehensive pointers to the performance arts. There's always a multitude of entertainment to choose from at The Adelaide Festival Centre (website: www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au). There is also a concentration of nightclubs on or around Hindley Street in the heart of the city, opposite Rundle Mall. Large crowds flock to the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the pubs and cafes in Rundle Street. It's worth a trip up to North Adelaide, which hosts many fine restaurants, bars and pubs along its tree-lined streets. The seaside suburb of Glenelg has a great selection of classy bars and waterside dining options.

Excellent quality wines are available from the Barossa Valley, which attracts 60% of Australia's wine-tasting tourists. Adelaide is a city that concentrates on culture, and is full of antique shops, art galleries and stores that sell Australia's finest opals, handmade chocolates and stockman's hats. There are also some street markets in Adelaide, the central market being located adjacent to Victoria Square. This market, made up of nearly 600 stalls, sells all kinds of produce, including fruit, vegetables, fish, cheese, meat, spices and other exotic delights.