The three of us went walking down O'Connell St. in North
Adelaide, one of the upscale eating districts. I stopped at
every menu we passed and rated them based on my drool level.
The Pink Pig won out but only because of its spit-roast whole
pig, which wa only available on Friday (they make sandwiches
out of the leftovers during the week, which might be promising
when there are only fatty bits left, but then there wouldn't
be any crispy skin left), and it wasn't Friday, so I was
dragged on reluctantly by my companions. After we crossed the
road (at a crosswalk - Lilli insisted) another place that stood
out was Cucina, so we kept that in our back pocket while we
investigated other menus on this side of the street, for an
assortment of pizzerie, burger joints (Lilli didn't pressure
us, as she'd been sufficiently burned by burgers down under),
Thai, Vietnamese, and similar eateries, and Marrakech, which
looked more interesting to Glen than to Lilli. Eventually we
compromised by backtracking to Cucina, which smelled nice
and toasty and garlicky and which was fairly buzzing. We got
a window table on the side street, as we looked eminent but not
eminent enough to do the see and be seen thing on the main drag.

Good butter and olive oil with the bread.

I started with Coffin Bay oysters from just across the harbor;
these were very briny but not so sweet; I'd have liked them
better were I not a heart patient. Good aroma and good snap,
very fresh. Neither of the others had a starter, though I
forget if Glen had an oyster or two of mine.

Lilli was particularly adventurous so (against my advice)
ordered penne carbonara, which other than being a bit too
salty was as I could have made it (though I prefer doing
an inauthentic version with a touch of onion).

A slow-cooked lamb shoulder to share was the special roast
of the day, and after some cajoling I got Glen to go in on
it with me. It was as expected, done to fall-apart tender in
a sticky red wine sauce with traditional root vegetables. It
was delicious, but I'd have easily been able to duplicate it.
I gave Glen more than half of the delicious fat and skin, but
he still whined that he'd been shortchanged.

Clancy's (Shiraz and Bordeaux variteals blend) 15 was the usual
chocolatey plummy richness and went quite will with the lamb.

Lilli and I split a nice apricot meringue for afters, while Glen
had his affogato (ice cream with coffee and a small tot of booze).

On the dessert wine list was the Lou Miranda 30-year-old Muscat,
inquire for price, so I inquired for the price. $18 a glass, not
too out of line, so we sprang for that. It was heavily aromatic,
with deep apricot and pineapple notes overlaid with menthol -
very interesting, reminiscent of Auburn Cellars' medicinal Port
from the olden times.

Lilli did well to eat half her food, and we took back half a pound
of lean meat for Jason and a shoulder blade and length of arm bone
for Gigi the dog.

The three of us went walking down O'Connell St. in North
Adelaide, one of the upscale eating districts. I stopped at
every menu we passed and rated them based on my drool level.
The Pink Pig won out but only because of its spit-roast whole
pig, which wa only available on Friday (they make sandwiches
out of the leftovers during the week, which might be promising
when there are only fatty bits left, but then there wouldn't
be any crispy skin left), and it wasn't Friday, so I was
dragged on reluctantly by my companions. After we crossed the
road (at a crosswalk - Lilli insisted) another place that stood
out was Cucina, so we kept that in our back pocket while we
investigated other menus on this side of the street, for an
assortment of pizzerie, burger joints (Lilli didn't pressure
us, as she'd been sufficiently burned by burgers down under),
Thai, Vietnamese, and similar eateries, and Marrakech, which
looked more interesting to Glen than to Lilli. Eventually we
compromised by backtracking to Cucina, which smelled nice
and toasty and garlicky and which was fairly buzzing. We got
a window table on the side street, as we looked eminent but not
eminent enough to do the see and be seen thing on the main drag.

Good butter and olive oil with the bread.

I started with Coffin Bay oysters from just across the harbor;
these were very briny but not so sweet; I'd have liked them
better were I not a heart patient. Good aroma and good snap,
very fresh. Neither of the others had a starter, though I
forget if Glen had an oyster or two of mine.

Lilli was particularly adventurous so (against my advice)
ordered penne carbonara, which other than being a bit too
salty was as I could have made it (though I prefer doing
an inauthentic version with a touch of onion).

A slow-cooked lamb shoulder to share was the special roast
of the day, and after some cajoling I got Glen to go in on
it with me. It was as expected, done to fall-apart tender in
a sticky red wine sauce with traditional root vegetables. It
was delicious, but I'd have easily been able to duplicate it.
I gave Glen more than half of the delicious fat and skin, but
he still whined that he'd been shortchanged.

Clancy's (Shiraz and Bordeaux variteals blend) 15 was the usual
chocolatey plummy richness and went quite will with the lamb.

Lilli and I split a nice apricot meringue for afters, while Glen
had his affogato (ice cream with coffee and a small tot of booze).

On the dessert wine list was the Lou Miranda 30-year-old Muscat,
inquire for price, so I inquired for the price. $18 a glass, not
too out of line, so we sprang for that. It was heavily aromatic,
with deep apricot and pineapple notes overlaid with menthol -
very interesting, reminiscent of Auburn Cellars' medicinal Port
from the olden times.

Lilli did well to eat half her food, and we took back half a pound
of lean meat for Jason and a shoulder blade and length of arm bone
for Gigi the dog.
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