maggie beer's farm shop, barossa valley

the entrance to maggie beer's farm shop. yes, that's my reflection in the glass.

As some of you may know, I went to Adelaide, South Australia in January for a holiday with my family, and we all had a pretty good time. If I were to pick a major highlight of the trip, though, I'd say the visit to Maggie Beer's Farm Shop in Barossa Valley stands out as my favourite. Here, then, is the long overdue post.

why, fancy seeing you here!

One of the charming things about Maggie's farm shop is the very high likelihood that you will be greeted by the sight of wandering peacocks soon after you stroll in.

mr.peacock struts his stuff.

Then there's the delightful scenario of getting to sample almost everything that is for sale in the shop. Sauces, biscuits, pates, jams, wines, verjuice... need I go on?

we spent a significant amount of time sampling goodies.

Before long, it was time for brunch, and the picnic fare was beckoning. I believe the one we went for was called the seasonal cheese picnic basket. We also threw in two little tubs of ice cream for good measure.

a lovely picnic basket.

Now this is the kind of stuff that makes you feel connected to the simple pleasures in life.

cheese, quince paste and dried muscatels (I think) to go with bread.

This seasonal fruit tart served with Jersey fresh cream was luxuriously down-to-earth... a joy to eat.

fruit tart + cream = bliss.

I couldn't leave without purchasing some delicious food souvenirs. Holidays may not last forever, but I know when I'm back home, those verjuice and rosemary biscuits and that sweet golden tokay will take me away from the daily routine for just a little while... before they're all gone.

verjuice and rosemary biscuits and classic tokay from maggie beer's farm shop.

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snapshots: eating out in adelaide

i thought this pig on rundle mall was an appropriate introductory photograph to my eating adventures.

It's been quite a few days since I last updated this blog... but for a good reason. I've been hobnobbing around Adelaide with my family! So here's a quick post to give you a short run-through of what we've been eating and drinking...

Firstly: bubble tea. I've been to Adelaide once before, but I only really noticed their bubble tea shops this time around. I would credit this sudden awakening of my bubble-tea-super-sense to my relationship with Simon, who absolutely adores bubble tea with tapioca pearls. And not only was the bubble tea in Adelaide cheaper than in Melbourne, but they also come in Calpis/Calpico flavour, which also happens to be one of Simon's favourite drinks. Of course I had to buy it - if only so I could send him a gloating text message about how I was relishing this great discovery. Behold this treasure from Qubic Square on Grote Street!

a cold, refreshing calpis-flavoured bubble tea with jelly from qubic square, or qubic 2.

On our first day, we all went for yum cha at T-Chow in Chinatown and ordered a table-full of dim sum. The service was haphazard, and the quality of the food was varied, but we did really like their fried stuffed tofu and their bean curd rolls.

yum cha at T-chow.

This was followed several hours later with a hearty but not too heavy dinner at Mongkok on Gouger Street, which serves up a very pleasant herbal tea and pretty decent Chinese food.

chinese food at Mongkok.

The following night, I caught up with my friend Van who took me to Matsuri on Gouger Street, where we snacked on some edamame before moving on to a massive sushi boat for two. Somehow we still made room for dessert - goma ice cream for him, yokan with green tea for me.

the sushi boat for two at matsuri.

The food at Pira Thai on Unley Road, Parkside took awhile to arrive, but their larb barramundi was particularly popular with all of us - can't go wrong with crispy fish topped with spicy sauce and a handful of herbs!

larb barramundi at pira thai.

Also, I managed to grab another bubble tea from Qubic the day before we left. I had to do what I had to do, right?

iced lychee tea from Qubic's specialities menu.

We're all back in Melbourne now and I am looking forward to spending more time with my family - especially with Chinese New Year looming. Oh yes. I'm not sure if I can make time to post over the next few days, so in advance, I'm wishing you all very happy Chinese New Year celebrations. Eat, drink and be merry - I know I will be!

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