Our dining experiences look a little different right now. While our favourite restaurants can open for up to 10 people inside (and another 10 outside), most of them adapted to the coronavirus shutdown by adding – or beefing up – their takeaway options.
But what’s lost in our at-home experiences is staff expertise – there’s no sommelier on hand to suggest the perfect wine, beer or even spirit pairing.
What’s the best beer to go with your pizza, or the best wine to go with your fried chicken? To help you eat and drink better, we’ve rounded up six excellent takeaway dishes from across the city – with drink recommendations from local Dan Murphy’s wine merchants to match.
Madre Lievito’s Concetta pizza
Pizzateca’s sibling restaurant Madre Lievito does its pizza dough a little differently – it uses Italian-imported sea water for a lighter, airier base. Our pizza pick is the Concetta: it’s heaped with spicy pork-and-fennel sausage, fried eggplant in San Marzano sauce, scamorza (a mozzarella-like cheese), fior di latte and basil. A beer with “sweet hops and citrus” is what Madre co-owner Tim Anderson usually likes to match it with. He adds: “[That’ll] cut through the fattiness of the sausage to make [for] a good balance.”
Pair it with: Mismatch Session Ale can 375ml
Ben Moroney, wine merchant from Dan Murphy’s Welland, agrees with Anderson. “Pizza and beer [is] an unbeatable combo,” he says. “This indulgent pizza calls for a bright and fresh modern classic like the Mismatch Session Ale. Bursting with tropical fruits, citrus and a delightfully dry finish, it builds anticipation for the next bite-and-sip combo.”
How to order it: place an order online for pick-up or delivery.
Parwana Afghan Kitchen’s banjaan borani
From the city’s best Afghani restaurant, Parwana, this excellent eggplant is one of seven Adelaide dishes we couldn’t live without. Hunks of the shiny, purple-skinned orb bubble away in a spiced fresh tomato sauce before being garnished with garlic yoghurt, mint and paprika (for freshness). While Parwana is BYO-only, co-owner Durkhanai Ayubi says, “Most of our diners [enjoy] the banjaan with a bottle of their favourite light-bodied red, which compliments the smooth texture and rich flavours of the dish.”
Expert pairing tip: Cortese Nostru Nerello Mascalese
Ayubi’s recommendation is spot on, says Moroney, who recommends this hand-picked, organic wine from the foothills of Mount Etna in Sicily. “The flavours and the style will be familiar to lovers of lighter reds,” he says. “Hints of spice and berry and cherry fruits compliment the earthy complexity of the dish.”
How to order it: check out the takeaway menu online, then call 08 8443 9001 to order and arrange pick up from Parwana.
Golden Boy’s Kampot pepper fried chicken
If isolation has taught us anything, it’s that Golden Boy’s menu – usually dine-in-only – travels remarkably well. This super-crisp fried chicken especially. The thighs marinate in an assortment of ground-up peppers, soy and oyster sauce, and lime juice before being twice fried (essential for retaining crispness). And the dish comes with a punchy nam prik (roasted green chilli sauce) for dipping. Golden Boy co-owner Sondra Deering suggests pairing the fried chicken with a high-acidity white wine – “a riesling or even a sauv blanc”.
Expert pairing tip: Skillogalee Riesling
Kathy Gertau, wine merchant at Dan Murphy’s Norwood, says the acidity of this Adelaide riesling works wonders with the heat of the dish: “With floral and citrus aromas and a mineral-y palate, the wine balances and enhances the pepper and spice nicely.”
How to order it: order online for pick up or delivery.
Orso’sroasted half chicken
Top-quality free-range chicken (from Victorian producer Bannockburn) is the starting point for this cracking dish from Andre Ursini’s Rose Park restaurant Orso. Your average takeaway chook this is not. It’s first pan-seared in loads of butter, garlic and thyme, then roasted and basted until it’s perfectly succulent. Accompaniments include seasonal caponata (a vegetable medley sweetened with red-wine vinegar), chicken-wing jus and a citrusy salsa verde. Head chef Will Doak thinks it’s best enjoyed with a glass of crisp, dry, super-chilled white.
Expert pairing tip: Sidewood Adelaide Hills Chardonnay
“This cool-climate chardonnay is a great accompaniment to any chicken dish,” says Gertau. “It exhibits pear, peach and apple [flavours], and has a clean fresh vibrant finish, which balances well with the buttery chicken here.”
How to order it: order online for pick up or delivery within five kilometres of the restaurant.
Wasai’s aburi salmon roll
Tucked off China Town’s main drag, Japanese mainstay Wasai has been serving an aburi (flame-licked) salmon roll worth returning for since 2007. The generously sized inside-out roll is filled with crabstick, avocado and Japanese mayonnaise – then topped with a thin slice of lightly torched salmon sashimi, a dollop of mayonnaise and oozy homemade tsume (sweet soy sauce). “I think a nice Japanese gin would pair well with this,” long-time manager Den Yang suggests. “[One with] a few Japanese botanicals like yuzu and sansho pepper.”
Expert pairing tip: Roku Japanese Gin
Roku Gin – with its six Japanese botanicals of sakura Flower, sakura leaf, yuzu peel, sencha tea (green tea), gyokuro tea (refined green tea) and sansho pepper
- is on the money here, says Gertau. “It’s very delicate and refined,” she says. “It would enhance the flavours of crab, salmon and sweet soy sauce without dominating.”
How to order it: Find the current menu here, then call 08 8221 6606 to order pick-up.
Coccobello’s pasta melanzane
It’s easy to be corralled into pizza over pasta at relaxed Italian diner Coccobello – it does some of the best pies in town. But tack this eggplant pasta onto your order and it’ll likely steal the show. Rich Napoletana sauce is souped up with bite-sized pieces of deep-fried eggplant that melt in your mouth. It arrives at the table loaded with a trio of cheeses – salted ricotta, smoked scamorza and parmesan – plus fresh basil and parsley. The simple, tasty dish is one of co-owner Kathrin Stauffer’s favourites. “We like to enjoy it with a glass of a medium-bodied red,” she says.
Expert pairing tip: Cirillo the Vincent Grenache
“This fabulous Barossa grenache from 75-year-old bush vines” is ideal, says Gertau. “It’s medium bodied, has fine tannins and is packed full of flavour, ranging initially from fresh raspberries followed up by herbaceous notes and savouriness that lingers.”
How to order it: order online for in-store pick-up or delivery.
Head to the Dan Murphy’s website to find your local store or shop online now.
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Dan Murphy’s.
