15 Adelaide Hills restaurants you need to book when you're in town

Any wine-tasting itinerary deserves to be balanced with beautiful meals to complement your enjoyment. Here’s our pick of the best Adelaide Hills restaurants.

Just 25 minutes from the city centre, the Adelaide Hills is one of the most accessible wine-growing regions in the country. Not only is there a proliferation of world-class vineyards to tour, but this gorgeously rolling countryside that rises to lofty vantages and descends into sweeping valleys is also home to plenty of noteworthy eateries.

To complement a day (or several) sipping your way from cellar door to cellar door, be sure to book yourself a culinary interlude at one of these top restaurants in the Adelaide Hills.

1. Pike and Joyce

Presiding over undulating vines in Lenswood, the restaurant at Adelaide Hill’s winery Pike and Joyce unlocks your long lunch goals. Head chef Mat Kinghorn sets about assembling the region’s finest ingredients for his seasonal menus that pair with the vineyard’s cool climate drops.

You may encounter small plates such as charred Tommy ruff with celeriac remoulade and pickled apple or larger servings of pan-seared duck breast with quince and sunchoke.

What you’ll most certainly encounter, though, is warm hospitality and vistas that unravel in a spectrum of soft greens.

Address: 730 Mawson Road, Lenswood

2. LOT. 100

Once a cattle property, LOT.100 is now an eco-conscious collective of local craft and sustainable produce.

Swing by the rustic shed where you can sample cider from Hills Cider Co., beer from Mismatch Brewing Co. and spirits from 78°, you can also settle in and soak up some of that alcohol with a shared long or casual lunch at the onsite Lot 100 Restaurant.

Be seated in the cellar door or courtyard and graze your way through South Australian produce in dishes such as Boston Bay mussels with potato and buttermilk or a roo tail bao bun.

Address: 68 Chambers Road, Hay Valley

3. Sidewood Restaurant

Brown leather banquettes and natural wood interiors bring warmth to the vast dining room of Sidewood Restaurant at the eponymous winery. Interior walls are adorned with artworks by Australian masters, while the dusty greens of eucalypts sway beyond the large-format windows.

At the table, attention is swiftly grabbed by plates of cider-brined pork with fig and macadamias or blue swimmer crab and ricotta ravioli. Opt-in for either two or three courses or the share-style chef’s selection menu.

Whatever you choose, be sure to sup alongside sips of the Sidewood Signature Range of small-batch pinot noirs.

Address: 6 River Road, Hahndorf

4. Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant

Mt Lofty House has long been the pinnacle of elegance in the Adelaide Hills. And, of course, the luxury hotel’s three-hatted Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant follows suit nicely. You needn’t be a guest to dine or take high tea in this ambient 19th century dining room that spoils guests with sweeping Hills vistas and all the charm of a gentler era. On the plate, flavours are finessed to near-perfection and may include an assiette of Maremma duck, South Australian seafood fancied up with celeriac cream and foraged herbs, and a chocolate and tonka bean torte. At this point, a nightcap at the moodily-lit Hardy’s Bar makes for an appropriate finale.

Address: 1 Mawson Drive, Crafers

5. Stanley Bridge Tavern

Most drinking establishments you encounter in the Adelaide Hills are not slinging your usual, run-of-the-mill counter meals. So it is with the Stanley Bridge Tavern, which places a big emphasis on local and seasonal produce to elevate casual dining classics with plenty of refinement.

Pick a spot in the sunshine-filled courtyard or by the crackling fire and tuck into half-baked shell scallops, a pork cutlet with apple sauce and roasted parsnip or a very well-rounded cassoulet with all the requisite meats of duck leg, pork sausage and pork belly.

The people shuffling the pans in the kitchen are also responsible for the excellent fare across the road at Fourth Hill Providore.

 Address: 41 Onkaparinga Valley Road, Verdun

6. Patch Kitchen & Garden

Once a post office and general store, this light-filled 1880-era building is now set with tables to which arrive beautifully put-together dishes from chef-and-owner Andrew Davies (Osteria Oggi). Patch Kitchen & Garden is a come one, come all kind of deal, where you can settle in over vino and a few courses or pick your way through the afternoon in a snacking type of mood. The fresh pasta is supple perfection, the pot pies are crisp-topped and warming and the gelato is house-made and highly memorable.

Address: 143 Mount Barker Road, Stirling

7. The Scenic Hotel

Most pub menus don’t read as follows: stracciatella with French radish and vadouvan; pork terrine with Danish rye; and lamb rogan josh pie with fava bean puree. But also, most pubs don’t have the lofty vantage of The Scenic Hotel, which brushes the clouds at its Norton Summit location.

The city twinkles in the distance and the days slip into the evening accompanied by beautiful wines, craft beers, good food and live music.

Comfort food lovers aren’t left behind, though, you can still get your chicken schnitzel and beer-battered barra, just with a slight gastronomic polish.

Address: Old Norton Summit Road, Norton Summit

8. Dirty Doris

We’re not sure why Doris is dirty, but we’re down with her American diner-style menu. Perhaps the name is a nod to this all-day restaurant’s wholehearted embrace of anything that’s the antithesis of clean eating.

Put aside the rules for a moment and relish dishes such as hush puppies, pork scratchings, pancakes with all the trimmings and fried chicken benny. There are lighter (less dirty) options such as the egg salad sandwich on fresh rye, anchovies with pickles, and salads. But we do think Dirty Doris’ the Everything Bagel with cream cheeses, pickled onion, dill and potato rosti has to be the go-to.

Address: 2 Strathalbyn Road, Aldgate

9. Sequoia Dining

Although you do have to be a guest of the ultra-luxe Sequoia to dine here, we can’t dispense a list of the ultimate restaurants in the Adelaide Hills and ignore this elegant fine diner. But let’s say you do have a romantic minibreak on the horizon. Well, in that case, you might consider a stay here and with that an evening at the onsite restaurant where the dusty golden sunset falls over the Hills beyond like a shimmering veil.

Dinner may be house-made gnocchi with local Section 28 cream cheese or Glacier 51 toothfish with Goolwa pippies preceded by Cape Jervis tuna tartare or a 20g tin of caviar. A deconstructed pavlova leads you to a natural conclusion and that gorgeous suite awaiting you.

Address: 1 Mawson Drive, Crafers

10. Crafers Pizza Bar

Plywood booths, black-and-white checked floors and pops of red are signposts for a good-time pizzeria that brings family-style dining to the Adelaide Hills. With chef-and-owner Myles Cook flipping the dough at Crafers, you can be assured of top-shelf toppings. Tuck into classic styles, such as pork and fennel, potato and taleggio, and Margherita, or lean into the not-so-classic Hawaiian chicken, cheeseburger and greens and feta. Whether you’re all in for the traditional flavours or keen for the loosey-goosey toppings, you’ll find they’re all very good indeed.

Address: 5 Main Street, Crafers

11. Glasshouse Restaurant at Uraidla Hotel

The Uraidla Hotel has long been an anchor in the community and this charming country pub has shored up its position by creating a gorgeous menu at its Glasshouse Restaurant that’s inspired by the local market gardeners.

Dishes are given the wood-fire treatment either in a smoker or a josper, which is a Spanish-style grill, but there’s also a collection of classics if punters prefer. You can expect local ingredients to make up dishes such as the baked Onkaparinga triple brie, Reuben doorstop made with smoked pastrami, and the smoked lamb rump.

Interiors are upcycled and eclectic with touches of whimsy that err on the side of nannacore, making the whole experience inviting and wholesome.

Address: 1196 Greenhill Road

12. Comida

Eschewing Hahndorf’s usual Germanic mode, Comida is slinging Spanish tapas in its sleek dining room and sprawling garden. Come for breakfast, lunch or later and see how you go trying to restrain yourself while ordering. You won’t. Instead, you might select a procession of plates including croquetas, pulpo a la gallega, paella and fabada asturina – a luscious chickpea stew with pork belly, morcilla and chorizo. Wines roam the state with a few Spanish drops thrown in. The cocktail list is small but noteworthy and perfect for sipping as you overlook the fruit tree-festooned backyard.

Address: 100C Mount Barker Road, Hahndorf

13. Mount Lofty Ranges Vineyard Restaurant

Jostle for the best position on the deck of the Mounty Lofty Ranges Vineyard restaurant, where eye-drawing valley views make sun-soaked lunches the best sitting – although Friday night sunset dinners have their own convivial appeal.

If the weather is on the fresher side, the fireplace keeps diners cosy indoors, but seating arrangements are quickly forgotten once the food arrives.

Focussed on provenance with an easy elegance, you might kick things off with saltbush focaccia before progressing to a smoked beef tartare and pork belly with black garlic. Slip into the cellar door before or after to sip your way through the vineyard’s collection of wine.

 Address: 166 Harris Road, Lenswood

14. Yuki in the Hills

After enough wine tasting, a light landing on the palate is often required. If you’ve indulged in too many rich, wine-paired meals, head to Yuki in the Hills for a Tokyo touch.

Elegant, fresh and beautifully presented, this Japanese restaurant is open for both lunch and dinner and rolls through the go-to favourites with deft mastery that has won it notable accolades, such as making the delicious. 100.

There’s everything from wagyu tataki to green tea noodle salad, sushi and sashimi as well as gyoza, karaage, ramen and okonomiyaki.

Address: 2 Strathalbyn Road, Aldgate

15. Tilbrook Estate

The cellar door at Tilbrook Estate has been lucky enough to snare pizza guru Enrico Sgarbossa to keep wine-sippers and day-trippers at the wood-panelled, barn-like venue well-fed. His stone-baked pizza menu unfurls with all the classics, from spicy diavola to Margherita, and there’s also a pasta of the day and a scattering of antipasti, sides and desserts.

Open for lunch and Friday night dinner, it’s a great way to extend your wine tasting experience at this pretty vineyard.

Address: 1856 Lobethal Road, Lenswood

Looking for somewhere to stay the night? Check out our guide to the best Mount Gambier accommodation.