Food Drink

The Stag’s New Menu Is All About ‘The Modern Pub’

One of the most prominent hotels in Adelaide have completed their reinvention with a new menu to match not only new decor, but a new attitude towards our city.

Almost synonymous to dinner time is phones down… friends around. Right? Well sometimes this simply can’t happen, especially when you’re out to review. Flash photography is the new norm, hashtags over hashbrowns. The people have spoken and they want to see what you’re eating.

Particularly what The Stag are serving up on their brand spanking new Bistro menu. Formerly Adelaide’s “worst vegetarian restaurant”, The Stag has since grown up, folks. And not the kind of grown up that ‘Vardon’ gave us either. The kind that says hey, we’re a good ol’ pub, with food that’s pretty damn delicious and we’d like to make friends with salad (or more vego options at least).

Although restaurant manager Robbie insists they’re “never going to be like the old steakhouse”, we’re hoping that’s not entirely true because the Black Angus Scotch Fillet was cooked to perfection, served with a hearty mac & cheese, roasted garlic onion rings and truffle sauce. Commence drooling. But before we jump ahead of ourselves, we’ll lavish you in some of our recommendations.

We hit the ground running with entrées, starting on the Chargrilled Octopus accompanied by a black bean and olive paste, cucumber and chili jam. It was a ‘simple’ dish that packed an explosion of refreshing and remarkably complimentary flavours. It’s not often you can find a spectacular chargrilled octopus sans lemon. But if you’re not thrilled with the idea of tentacles tantalizing your tastebuds, you can’t go wrong with a dip platter. A straight-up crowd pleaser.

The Stag

A lighter option is the chargrilled octopus.

The StagThe Stag have heard our indecisive prayers and added a tapas selection too, so next up was our favourite of the night – Softshell Crab Sliders with pickled carrot and jalapeno coriander mayo. A dish our souls could feel. It felt like you were eating your hard week away with each bite. The perfect combination of melt-in-your mouth buns, crispy-coated crab all balanced out by the sweet and tangy flavours of pickled carrot and a smooth creamy mayo to finish it off. Thankfully, the coriander was almost unnoticeable because we’re a part of the “I Hate Coriander” Facebook group and we weren’t prepared to leave a bite leftover.

The Stag

The soft shell crab burgers look sensational.

Similarly to the gastro-pub craze we’re seeing things like your superfood salads, Handmade Gnocchi, Duck Pie Floater and Dukkah-crusted Salmon making their way onto the menu amongst pub classics. Feeling hungry, check out their menu here.

The Stag

We all missed the classic pie floater.

The Stag

Steak is certainly still on the menu.

The Stag

Handmade Gnocchi is sure to satisfy in Winter.

The fine-dining experience was not all lost with this revamp though, you’re waiters boast Michelin star and 2-hat awarded know how, so you can quiz them on the menu or their wine knowledge and they’ll blow your minds. If not, you’ll certainly be sold on whatever Francisco offers you when you hear his Ecuadorian accent.

You have to commend the The Stag for delivering a new menu and space which is more in line with the dining language of Adelaide. Be sure to book ahead if you’re making dinner plans; Friday and Saturday nights in the restaurant are getting harder to come by.

The Stag is located at 299 Rundle St, Adelaide. For more information, visit their website or follow them on Facebook.

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