Arkhe Adelaide

There's something elemental about Arkhe. Set inside a heritage-listed sandstone building in Adelaide suburb Norwood, the restaurant puts fire where it belongs: at the centre of the dining experience.

Chef Jake Kellie, formerly of Singapore's Michelin-starred Burnt Ends, has built a menu that goes well beyond the predictable steakhouse playbook. The pleasures are often in the unexpected: flame-kissed vegetables, seafood, fermented elements and inventive snacks that show how much can be coaxed from a live fire.

Three dishes deserve special attention. The scallop toast with caviar turns a humble toast into an indulgent bite, combining grilled scallop mousse, raw scallop, white soy, lemon and caviar. The Mayura Station intercostal skewer, served with lime crema, is rich, smoky and cleverly balanced by acidity. And then there is the signature Mayura Station tomahawk, dry-aged and served with punchy accompaniments, including pickled walnut paste.


But Arkhe is not really about fire for fire's sake. It's about what happens when a chef gives an ancient cooking method modern ambition. The result is warm, theatrical and occasionally surprising. A restaurant that understands that the best kind of smoke is the one that follows you home in memory.