Featuring: ShoSho, Nido, Salopian Inn…

IT takes a great deal of confidence to open a new restaurant in the middle of a pandemic and all the business constraints that involves, but Adelaide restaurant czar Simon Kardachi is nothing but confident that restaurant life will return to normal, sometime.
With a dozen or so establishments now dotted around the city, including high flyers Osteria Oggi and Shõbõsho, it’s hardly surprising that after a rare misstep opening a rather fancy chicken shop Joybird which didn’t take flight, he’s very quickly replaced it with ShoSho, a sort of little sister to Shõbõsho.
Like Shõbõsho, which is heavily influenced by Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese, as well as Japanese techniques and flavours, ShoSho has acclaimed chef Adam Liston overseeing things, with head chef Yumi Nagaya who has worked with Liston since Shõbõsho opened three years ago.
While the restaurant does not serve ‘traditional’ Japanese, there is one key Japanese influence, however, that’s also a major point of difference for ShoSho – a focus on tempura. Diners will have it served to order, just as in Japan, it would be served directly over the counter by the chef and eaten immediately.
The secret to great tempura, Liston says, is to sift and then freeze the flour as well as the cooking oil, a blend of sesame, vegetable and grapeseed oils: “We’ve mastered techniques, nailed working with fire, perfected base sauces,” he adds. “The team have been working together for over three years, we’ve had time to hone our craft.”
The menu covers a lot of culinary geography, which is Liston’s special strength. Start with shallot pancakes or crisp wontons with whipped edamame, move on to tuna tataki with ponzu sauce, ginger oil and wasabi, perhaps some scampi and ginger dumplings or blue swimmer crab udon noodles.
The lengthy list of tempura dishes include shiitake mushrooms with wagyu mince and karashi mustard or potato with WA truffle and parmesan, while the barbecue selection ranges from a wagyu cheeseburger with tea pickle and smoked tomato to a wood roast market fish with ginger soy, leeks and onions.
ShoSho certainly looks the part, with a very stylish Japanese-inspired fitout by local design firm and Kardachi favourite studio-gram and custom-made crockery. Open for lunch and dinner Monday, Wednesday to Sunday. ShoSho, 164 King William Road, Hyde Park; phone (08) 8349 0891.
After operating on King William Rd for more than 20 years, Kardachi has come to learn what is likely to fly, what appeals to the local market, and what will attract people from outside of the area and you just have to walk a few metres down King William Road to find another example in Nido, which Kardachi owns in partnership with star chefs Max and Laura Sharrad.

While Max was named Australia’s best young chef a couple of years ago, it’s Laura who has made headlines more recently as the runner-up in MasterChef 2020. Not surprisingly her star power has been a great attraction, with the restaurant filled to its COVID-reduced capacity, though you’re more likely to see her on the floor rather than Nido’s tiny open kitchen, which is mostly Max’s domain.
And while there’s no doubt Laura’s skills are evident in Nido’s handmade pasta dishes – such as maccheroni with braised lamb, peppers and chilli, or gnocchi with pork ragu, Max has drawn on his family’s northern Friuli Venezia Giulia background to create a small but very diner-friendly menu.
There’s no better way to start a meal here than a plate of whipped Kangaroo Island ricotta with local honey mopped up with puffy, deep-fried gnocco fritto. More substantial dishes might include Adelaide Hills lamb with marsala jus and sage butter, or tommy ruffs with capers, butter and lemon.
With a reduced seating capacity of just 18, Nido currently has staggered dining times – lunch sessions at 12pm and 1.30pm, and three dinner sessions at 5.45pm, 7.15pm and 8.45pm. Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Sunday. Nido, 160 King William Road, Hyde Park; phone (08) 8373 2044.
The massive disruption in our restaurant industry has led to a rapid shift in the way some chefs see the future, and Paul Baker, who made the Adelaide Botanic Gardens restaurant one of the state’s finest, has jumped ship to establish Chefs on Wheels, which offers a selection of ready-made dishes from some of Adelaide’s best chefs and restaurants for home delivery.
Baker took over a former pasta factory with its large preparation kitchens and cool storage, where some of the dishes and bulk pasta is made, with the rest being prepared in chef’s own kitchens.
These include restaurants such as the Salopian Inn (Karena Armstrong) and Soi 38 (Terry Intarakhamhaeng), while Emma McCaskill (former head chef at Sparkke) contributes dishes such as free-range butter chicken alongside Terry’s massaman beef curry and roti bread or Karena’s steamed pork buns with hot chilli sauce. All the dishes are freshly made with 10 days refrigerated life or can be frozen. Orders taken Monday to Thursday for next day delivery or collection. Chefs on Wheels, 89 Lewis Road, Glynde; phone (08) 8120 1866.