From Escargot to Pie Floaters, Here’s Where To Get a Full Feed Past 10pm in Adelaide

Adelaide isn’t known for its late-night dining. The city’s old pie carts, which served the iconic pie floater (for the uninitiated, a meat pie floating in pea soup, with a squirt of tomato sauce) till the early hours, are long gone. Ying Chow, once a go-to for shallot pancakes and BBC till 2am, now closes its doors at 10.30pm. But there are still some brave heroes cooking well into the night – so you can satisfy any late-night cravings before ordering your rideshare home.

If Nola is open, the kitchen is too, says owner Oliver Brown. That means you can settle into a booth with a basket of its famous fried chicken plus plates of po’ boys, corn bread and jambalaya as late as 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. In keeping with its lively namesake – a city known for round-the-clock revelry – the bar has also introduced a neat nightcap deal (from 10.30pm every day the bar’s open) which gets you a tulip of beer and a serve of fried chicken, tots or fried pickles for $20. Order three cocktails or backbar whiskies and you’ll get free beignets (square doughnuts dusted with powdered sugar) served with a sticky bourbon butterscotch sauce. So do as the glowing red sign says, and “Laissez les bons temps rouler!” (“let the good times roll”).

A little more upmarket than most late-night diners (and with bonus live jazz), Brown’s French brasserie in a King William Street basement stays up till 11.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, so you can sit down to a late-night feast of Gallic dishes like escargot, soufflé and steak frites. Or start with petite potato doughnuts (topped with sea urchin, salmon roe and optional caviar) before tucking into the signature gruyere cheeseburger – with French fries, naturally. Then finish on a French digestif while you wait for your DiDi ride.

Ying Chow might be hitting the hay earlier these days but fellow Chinatown resident Ding Hao is open till 1am every night of the week except Tuesday. It recently relocated from Gouger Street to Wright Street (due to the Central Market redevelopment), but it’s still serving fan favourites like tea-smoked duck, shallot pancakes, noodles, rice, dumplings and soups, as well as sizzling kangaroo and BBC – a peculiarly Adelaide Chinese specialty of “broad beans” (actually edamame), bean curd, and “Chinese chutney” (pickled cabbage). Crowd around the lazy Susan and cap off the night in satisfied style.

In South Korea, pocha – short for pojangmacha – is a street stall where you can eat, drink and hang out late into the night. So Grenfell Street’s Plus 82 Pocha is a sure bet for nocturnal nibbling. Crack into Korean fried chicken in “spicy devil” sauce, kimchi pancakes and japchae (stir-fried sweet potato noodles) till 1am on Fridays and Saturdays (the last seating is 11.30pm). Or split a hotpot – choose between budae-jjigae (a popular stew of kimchi, ham, spam and sausage), dak-galbi (dry hotpot with spicy chicken and tteokbokki, or rice cakes) and bulgogi jeongol (traditional beef and noodle hotpot) – then pair it with some soju or makgeolli (rice wine).

The food at this no-frills spot in Blair Athol has long been considered some of the best north Indian in Adelaide. And best of all, it’s open till 2am every night of the week. Roll in late for all the classics plus samosa chaat (smashed samosa topped with chickpea curry, tamarind, mint and tangy yoghurt), goat curry (bone-in), Malay-style spicy prawn sambal, malai kofta (cottage cheese dumplings) and sweet or salted lassi. The former takeaway joint moved to a much larger site across the road a few years ago, so you can now dine in no matter the hour – with robot waiters to serve you.

For late-night (or early hours) baked goods, the classics are classics for a reason. Both Cafe de Vili’s (now in three locations) and the Bakery on O’Connell are open 24/7 and carrying on the late-night pie floater tradition, as well as serving a huge selection of pies, pasties, sausage rolls, cakes and pastries. For another iconic local late-night experience, split an AB at the Blue
and White Cafe in North Adelaide. The eastern states call it a halal snack pack but the make-up is the same: layers of hot chips piled with kebab meat, then topped with garlic, chilli and barbeque sauce. Perfect for a refuel before your DiDi ride home.

The hint’s in the name, but you don’t have long to enjoy this late-night pasta joint on Grenfell Street. It’s closing in July – along with the Cranker below it, which will relocate – for two years while student housing goes up next door. Get there before then on a Wednesday for “family night”, when you can order $15 bowls of pasta (including the namesake spaghetti, ricotta gnocchi, and lamb ragu) till 11pm, then enjoy drink specials till midnight.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with DiDi. Spend less on your ride with DiDi and more on what matters – whether it’s an amazing meal, another round of drinks, or tickets to the hottest event in town. Download DiDi to ride for less.