The Sparrow, North Adelaide

After the wedding, I went out for dinner with a couple of friends from Melbourne who had also flown in for the weekend. We walked up and down O'Connell St looking for a good place to eat. According to my friend's trusty IPhone, there were 3 places rated One Hat along the street, so we went to the one that looked most promising.

The restaurant was absolutely packed, with lots of people waiting at the bar for a table. I later found out that the place is apparently well known for its tapas, which explained the cuts of cured pork hanging in the showcase.

For starters, we shared some tapas, together with a 2007 Schwarz "Nitschke Block" Single Vineyard Shiraz from Barossa Valley, and a 2007 Babo "Rosso L'Isolano" Nero D'Avola from Sicily.

Harvey Bay Scallops, Potato Foam and Hazelnuts ($5.90)

Duck Terrine, Dark Grape Gel, Tarragon, Whitlof ($11.90)

Char-grilled Octopus, Garlic, Chilli Lemon ($10.90) which was served on a bed of mashed potatoes. This was my personal favourite.

For mains, one of my friends had the 500g Rib-Eye ($37.90)

The other 2 of us shared 2 pastas: Pappadelle with braised rabbit, sage and cream ($26.90 for a main serve). This was fabulous. The pasta was home-made and had a great texture, and the sage cream sauce had just the right touch of richness without being overbearing.

The linguine with blue swimmer crab, tomato, chilli and basil ($27.90) was something that was not quite as exciting, since it was something I thought I could find in Singapore. Decent but not as mind-blowing as the pappadelle.

Sparrow Kitchen and Bar Restaurant

10 O'Connell St, North Adelaide

Tel: 61-8-8627 4444

Open 7 days from 12pm until late

Website: http://www.sparrowkitchenandbar.com.au/