Featuring: Sol, Fishbank, 2KW…

THE sun is certainly shining on Sol, the restaurant and bar recently opened on the top of SkyCity Adelaide’s $330 million expansion that includes the Eos hotel and eventually four new restaurants and two new bars. It’s more than just a major boost to the city’s hospitality industry: Sol, at nine stories high, has gone to the top not just geographically but also gastronomically in the hands of its relatively young chef Kane Pollard.
Pollard was raised in a local market gardening family, where he learned much about produce and sustainability, then worked in several Adelaide restaurants before heading to South East Asia and Europe for more experience. On return to Adelaide, he and his family opened Topiary, transforming a former teahouse into a unique restaurant attached to a plant nursery.
SkyCity resisted the temptation to hire a big-name international chef for its new flagship restaurant and went for the local boy instead. And, boy, what a good choice that was.
With massive floor to ceiling windows and expansive views to the north and east of the city, Sol is an impressive location, while Pollard’s cooking is not just interesting and original but practical and well thought out. His dishes are not just beautiful: his understanding of flavours and textures and how to put them together really puts him in a rare class. He also takes the locavore concept seriously, sourcing most if not all of his produce locally.
Options are for a four or seven course dinner menu, with matched wine a further option, with shorter versions at lunch. The four-course menu is likely to start with several amuse-bouche type dishes – perhaps Kinkawooka mussels in an edible “mussel” shell or a frozen plum filled with chicken liver parfait.
Of the larger courses, dishes such as slivers of chargrilled squid, with a subtle hint of chilli oil, with pickled kohlrabi on top and avocado puree below are sensationally good. So, too, the trio of oyster mushrooms – in tempura batter with pink peppercorns, marinated in mushroom stock and grilled, and also raw; and the lamb shoulder, shredded and pressed into a tiny brick that’s then chargrilled and served with labne and carrot puree. All quite brilliant.
Eventually, Sol will have access to a nearly completed 7500 bottle master cellar, heavily focussed on South Australian wines, so even the most successful punter from downstairs will be happy. But for the diners upstairs, it’s a win-win deal. Sol, Level 9, SkyCity Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide. Open for lunch and dinner daily. Phone (08) 7077 3960.

Fishbank is, without doubt, the grandest restaurant dining room in Adelaide, and now it has a food and wine offering that lives up to its surroundings.
It began life as the main banking chamber of the Bank of NSW, the current building having been built during World War II. It remained occupied by the bank, now Westpac, until 2007 and it sat empty and unloved until in 2013 heritage architects were engaged to restore the six-storey building with offices, two restaurants and a rooftop bar.
Jamie’s Italian took the ground floor space in the grand banking chamber, while 2KW and its adjoining bar went upstairs to the roof. When Jamie’s globally hit problems, taking the local Jamie’s Italian with it, the space was reclaimed by the building’s owners – who also operate 2KW – and underwent a further transformation before being relaunched as Fishbank late in 2020.
It has long been a wonder that Adelaide hasn’t had more serious-minded seafood restaurants, given the abundance of great seafood to which it has access. Fishbank has taken up the challenge and it has the right executive chef to do the job in Tony Carroll, who for many years built a great reputation at Jolley’s Boathouse.
Despite the imposing Art Deco influenced surroundings, with five massive chandeliers overhead, a vast marble-fronted oyster bar and expansive parquetry floors, Fishbank is neither intimidating nor necessarily expensive, though of course it can be – especially if you head to the caviar section of the menu.
Carroll is determined that all tastes and pockets should be catered for, so his menu includes dishes such as a Fishbank burger and fish and chips, even a few non-seafood dishes, although that rather misses the point of being here. Far more interesting are starter dishes such as a selection of raw fish served either sashimi style with fresh wasabi and pickled ginger, or crudo-style with baby fennel, ruby grapefruit and mandarin oil.
While Carroll enjoys serving up lesser-known fish such as snook and boar fish, he says everyone wants to try the Murray cod, served pan-seared with Sichuan eggplant and black vinegar. Just as irresistible are the wok-fried Goolwa pippis in a stunning nduja and tomato sauce. Fishbank, 2 King William Street, Adelaide. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Phone (08) 8310 0120.