Upping the stakes (and steaks!) in fine dining
For all the talk of fusion food and how wonderfully robust the culinary scene is in Australia, sometimes it feels good to just cut into a decent and delicious steak. And there’s nothing like visiting a respectable steakhouse or grill where the dish is prepared for you by a reputable chef, using the finest of local produce.
That’s where a reputable grill house comes into play, like the Parmelia Hilton Perth’s popular Adelphi Grill. Not that quality steak is the only thing on the menu. Far from it. Beyond prime beef ribs, fillet mignon and sirloin steaks, Adelphi Grill offers an array of fine seafood and vegetarian dishes for those wishing to veer away from red meat. Heck, there’s even Duck Tacos on the menu, where finely minced duck is served with soft tortillas, black beans and a sumptuous corn and avocado salsa. So this is where my dining partner and I started our taste haven of a dining venture.
For entree, she chose the duck ($17), while I opted for the Sticky Whiskey Pork Belly ($18), swapping morsels of each for the sake of both of us enjoying a taste of both delectable dishes (who said sharing plates are for big groups only?).
While these shared dishes were more than enough to whet our appetites, other entrees that stand out on the Adelphi menu are an array of delectable-looking tapas including Mushroom Arancini, Garlic Prawns in Dill Butter, and Sauteed Chorizo. And at just $8 a dish, the tapas route look like a good idea for the next time we pop by.
For main, my seafood-loving guest relished the ‘surf’n’turf’ of a South West Angus Sirloin topped with creamy garlic prawns, scallops, squid and a side of rosemary potatoes ($49) while I was pointed in the direction of the venue’s signature dish: the South West Fiery Fillet steak ($45). Yes, you did notice the words ‘South West’ in both those dishes, and that’s because the produce is sourced from the south of WA – keeping things local and fresh.
While head chef Chad Miskiewicz suggested the fillet was “around 6 or 7” on the spice scale, I’d beg to differ since my tastebuds were exploding with a medley of hot spices here and there. He’d reveal one herb and one spice that appear on his secret ingredients list, but won’t give away the full recipe of this gloriously ‘hotter than mild’ dish (see interview, below).
To balance out the heat, I enjoyed a drop of Forrest Hill Chardonnay (also from Southern WA) to cool those tempered taste-buds down. It was a tough decision to make, what with Adelphi’s ‘Reserve’ wine cellar boasting 100 varietals, 38 of these available by the glass.
With a tempting salad bar also offered to diners – be they here for lunch or dinner – and gladly sampled by us, we didn’t leave much room for dessert, but just had to sample something from the ‘Sweet Finish’ menu (it would be rude not to!). That something arrived in the form of a Salted Caramel and Chocolate Tart with crushed roasted peanuts and ice-cream. With spoon each in hand, yes, we did indeed find room to polish the full thing off.
The Adelphi once went under the name of a ‘steakhouse and bar’ and was situated on the left hand side of the ground floor and carpark entry of Perth’s Parmelia Hilton. In 2013, the venue moved a few metres across, the right side of the hotel, enjoying a million-dollar renovation that revealed a cosy but contemporary look: all blackwood floors and concrete pillars, cherry and tan leather seating with oak tables, offset with polished stainless steel and a striking mural by cartoonist Paul Rigby, painted specifically for the Adelphi in the 1970s and carefully shifted across from the restaurant’s previous location.
But back to the main star attraction: the venue’s menu, the reason you’ll find so many culinary styles peppered throughout is because executive chef Michael Schmidt and head chef Chad Miskiewicz have under their guidance a team of creators of quality cuisine all four corners of the globe: Nepal, Egypt, Korea and Scotland.
Indeed, despite our initial assumption the Adelphi would focus on good ol’ prime South Western steak, these guys, together, have delivered a menu that’s so varied in its tastes and heritage, you might want to hashtag ‘nomnoms’ in four different languages when next checking in online! Antonino Tati
Adelphi Grill is situated on the ground floor of Parmelia Hilton, Perth.
For opening times, visit the website www.adelphigrill.com.
CREAM MAGAZINE 
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