Tacos at Grand Electric

Despite the dark, dank picture (it was a rainy day in Pizzaville), Grand Electric is a lighthearted, laid-back, easy-going kind of place. No uniforms, no (purposefully) dimmed lighting, no fancy table stuff, just friendly service and good food. Because we were a party of three, we even got to share our table with another couple. And I say "got to" because I love this kind of dining--unpretentious, no-nonsense, straight to the point. We've got eating to do, people.

My friends and I were around the corner for some shopping, so we stopped here for some lunch afterwards.

With our small, simple order, food came lightning fast (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating. It came within 10 minutes, which is good for a place as busy as this was).

We split the guac and chips (deep fried chips omgomgomgomgomg). The salsa that came with it was also AMAZING; perfect amount of tomato-y-ness and spicy!

My friends split the fish tacos, which they said were very good (we'll all have to take their word on it).

I had the cauliflower tacos. Now, when I ordered these, we made sure to ask if they were fully vegetarian, and they are not. The sauce has some sort of seafood in it, and they don't have anything vegetarian to replace it with. But I wasn't about to go sauceless with my tacos. No sir, not I.

So I said, "Eh, I'm hungry, whatever." And ordered them.

I'm not exactly a fan of tacos (never really had good ones). But I am a fan of eating with my hands, licking saucy cauliflower bits off my palms, and jalapeno slices. These were very good. The saurkraut-y stuff they top it with is wonderfully sour, which cuts into the heavy deep-fry of the cauliflower. Jalapenos, a warm taco shell, onions and lime...really good flavour combos.

However, would I come here again? Probably not.

The tacos were good, but they were still just tacos. Something about the texture of corn-y taco shells bug me. Sorry Grand Electric (and taco shells in general).

I want to be Maggie Beer

Being Canadian, Steven and I had never heard of Maggie Beer until we landed in Perth a few weeks ago. Our host there was raving about this local Martha-Stewart-like figure (but without the prison sentence thing) who was to visit his work in the coming days. If he was nervous to meet her, imagine us!

We didn't even realize we were going to her famous farmstead until we actually got there and put two and two together. Maggie Beer's Farm Shop is a stop on nearly every wine, food, or tourism tour coming out of Adelaide and into the Barossa Valley. There are some good reviews of her shop, and some not so good, so Steven and I figured we'd just check it out.

The Farm Shop is at the end of Pheasant Farm Road, pheasants being the food that made Maggie Beer famous. She has since moved on to peacocks, which is why her front door is guarded by one. Just kidding. The lands still operate as a pheasant farm. This peacock just liked the attention he got at the front door of the famous Maggie Beer's Farm Shop.

The Farm Shop is part cafe part shop. Shelves of jam, preserves and pates cut the room in half, while tables and chairs line the windows that overlook the quiet lake.

There is another room (through the door of the above picture) which leads to the tasting and food demonstration area.

Nearly each jam, preserve or vinegar is accompanied with a sample, so you know exactly what you're getting yourself into.

Steven and I decided to have a coffee and picnic basket and enjoy the afternoon in this cool location. Maggie Beer's doesn't really serve food, per se. Their food is centered around the gourmet pates, so each meal is literally a picnic basket: cheese, pate, bread, and pre-made salad. This means they can churn out these meals quickly with little to no prep. Business GENIUS!

We had the Porcini mushroom pate (meh, I'm not a fan of pate), with a multrigrain roll, a soft cheese, and a delicious grainy salad.

In all, the Maggie Beer experience was AMAZING. The woman herself was even there giving the wine tasting behind us. She was friendly and absolutely lovely.

Like I say in the title of this post, I walked out of the Farm Shop wanting to be this amazingly successful woman. I want a farm! I want to cook and preserve things and eat things and drink wines! I want to make picnic baskets! Ok, I'd probably be pretty bad at all of these things, but a girl can dream.

Maggie Beer's Farm Shop is highly rated on Urbanspoon (which I've recently really gotten into HELLO TECHNOLOGY!), and I have to agree! If you're ever in Adelaide, make the trip out to just sit and have a coffee in the shop. It is a beautiful, positive atmosphere, so go soak it all in and get some inspiration into ya!