Scenic Hotel, Adelaide Hills

"The wine and festival capital of Australia, Adelaide is one of the most vibrant, stylish and innovative cities you'll ever visit. It's a place to experience the buzz, culture and convenience of a big city without the frustrations." So speaketh the South Australian Tourist Commission. Hmmm... The lady bloweth her own trumpet a bit hard, methinks. At least they didn't say "food capital of Australia". Such restraint.



One thing I will say about Adelaide is that the Hills are very nice indeed. And this morning I enjoyed a most satisfying plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, etc, at the Scenic Hotel, Old Norton Summit Road, Norton Summit, Tel +61 8 8390 1705. Not the most vibrant, stylish or innovative breakfast I've ever had, but the view was fantastic.

The benedict was also pretty good, mostly thanks to the excellent dijon mustard hollandaise. The eggs, however, were under-poached, and falling apart.

Service would best be described as patchy. Friendly and helpful when you arrive, but nowhere to be seen after the plates hit the table. Bad luck if you feel like an extra coffee. Then again, the coffee was pretty average, so who wants an extra cup?

The real selling point of the Scenic is the balcony seating, where you can stare into space and be thankful that you're up here in Rivendell, not down there on the plains of Mordor. Unfortunately, it was a bit blowy this particular Saturday morning, so we had to dine inside.

13/20 "mustard hollandaise"