Three counters, one kitchen, and a courtyard that runs on shade
Everything is inside the bond store or in the yard behind it, so you won't need a car. A jacket is only ever an option, and only in the dining room after seven.
Ground floor, off the lobby
Weighbridge
The scales were set into the slab here, and the brass plate is still in the floor by table nine. The kitchen works over coals and will tell you about it at length if you ask. Produce comes from the Adelaide Hills, the Fleurieu and the Riverland, so the menu changes every few weeks and the blackboard is the one to trust over any printed card.
Six tables take walk-ins and the rest are held for bookings. House guests can put dinner on the room. Dietary notes reach the kitchen faster by phone than by email.
Breakfast6.30 to 10.30, daily
LunchThursday to Sunday, 12 to 2.30
DinnerTuesday to Saturday, 6 to 9.30
ClosedSunday and Monday evenings
Ground floor, behind the iron stair
Cellarman's
With its low ceiling, thick stone and hardly a window to speak of, this is the coolest room in the building on a 42 degree day. The list starts with South Australia: Clare riesling, Barossa shiraz with a few years on it, Adelaide Hills chardonnay and whatever the Fleurieu growers have dropped off that month.
There are forty seats, half of them at the counter, and a short menu of food that goes with wine. If you're heading upstairs afterwards, the staircase is the one with the iron balustrade on your right.
OpenTuesday to Saturday, 4 to late
Sunday4 to 9
ClosedMonday
BookingsCounter is walk-in only
Courtyard, by the lap pool
Pool Hut
A timber counter against the east wall, with a roller door and four stools. It sells coffee from six thirty and toasted things until eleven, then cold drinks, ice blocks and sunscreen for the rest of the day. It shuts when the sun comes over the west wall, about five in January and three in June.
Towels live in the cupboard beside it, and used ones go in the basket. Glass can't go past the pool gate, so everything out there comes in tin or paper.
OpenDaily, 6.30 until the shade arrives
FoodCounter only, no table service
GlassNot past the pool gate
Summer timing. From December to February the courtyard is too hot to use from about eleven until four, and the whole hotel moves indoors. Weighbridge turns the fans up, Cellarman's stays around 22 degrees without trying, and the Pool Hut keeps its roller door half down. Book dinner early in that stretch, because the city eats late when it's hot and the kitchen fills from eight.
Room service, such as it is
A short list from the Weighbridge kitchen goes to rooms between 6 pm and 9 pm, carried up by whoever is free. Breakfast in bed comes from the same kitchen as a tray; order it the night before on the card at the desk. Rooms have no minibar, and that's deliberate.
The only things we save in your browser are your age answer and this choice. Until you accept, analytics and advertising remain off. See the Cookie Policy for details.
