The Uraidla Hotel

Once known as a “men’s pub”, the Uraidla is now a busy, market garden-inspired Adelaide Hills haunt with a great kitchen and quirky décor.

Talking points include rusty windmill light features, barbed wire wall hangings, and table bases and bathroom taps made from garden pipes. Vintage lamps attached to a table (suspended upside down from the ceiling) are a head-spinner, too. All were designed by Julie Peter, who owns the pub with husband, Ed.

When it comes to resurrecting old pubs, the Peters have form: the couple were also behind the transformation of The Stirling and The Crafers hotels.

On the plate it’s all about hearty pub food made with produce from surrounding areas. Starters (“early crop”) may include a ploughman’s plate, smoky barbeque ale beef ribs, and beetroot and quinoa fritters. On the “main crop” section of the menu, you may find buffalo burger, SA market fish and chips, classic or parmi schnitties, roasted baby butternut, Berkshire rolled pork belly, and grass fed 300g sirloin. The wine list is long and the majority of drops are local. There’s an impressive dessert and kid’s menu, too.

Phase two of the renovation includes a function room at the rear of the pub, upstairs lounge areas, and a big glasshouse looking out over the town’s oval.

Pending council approval, the couple also has big plans for the space adjacent to the hotel. “We’ll have a brewery, a distillery, a bakery, and a cafe.”