Plant 13 - American food on the outskirts of Adelaide

So I ask the chef, "how long have you guys been open?" and in an American accent I get the answer, "8 weeks".  American chef, American food....please be good! 

Located in Bowden on the outskirts of the city, this suburb is fast becoming known for being a food hub with places such as P13, The Loose Caboose, Taverna Greek Psistaria and Hawker Street Cafe within a stones throw distance of each other.  I enter this establishment and can immediately see that the decor is slightly industrial in its aesthetic representing the suburbs past history and its movement towards being a trendy urban development.

Reading the menu it can be seen that there is an emphasis on the use of organic produce (where possible), even to the point that some of the beverages stocked in the fridge are also organic in nature.  P13 offers brunch and lunch options which are all day menu items.

Ok, so now that I have painted a picture, on to the food itself!

As we are seated, the waiter immediately asks if we want to start with any coffees, so I order a latte.  The coffee is good (something that I found very difficult to find in America!).  After drinking these, we order our meals and some smoothies.

We order the Apple Pie Smoothie ($7) and Citrus Blitz Smoothie ($7).  The apple smoothie was a little sweet for my liking but I did like the use of the granny smith to add tartness to the drink.  Some slight refinement to the overall sweetness and this would be much better (however I do like the experimentation of the Chef).  The orange smoothie was more to my liking, not as sweet and felt very fresh, I would definitely get this again.

Apple Pie and Citrus Blitz smoothies

Our meals arrive, I ordered the pulled BBQ pork bun ($14).  The juicy pork fell apart and felt like it had been cooking for hours.  It was flavoursome and was covered in a rich bbq sauce, slightly sweet, it sort of reminded me of flavours that I would taste on sticky pork ribs.  The sweetness of the sandwich was well balanced by the side of slightly seasoned slaw - authentic, tried and tested flavour combinations...you can't go wrong.

Pulled BBQ pork bun and coleslaw - $14

My friend orders the P13 sampler ($16) which consisted of a philly cheese steak, pork and beans and the pulled pork sandwich.  I try the philly cheese steak and there are always concerns that with something that has such thin slices of steak, that it will be dry and overcooked.  I shouldn't have been concerned, again, well cooked steak and a great combination of flavours made for a tasty dish.  I believe that the sampler is a good idea as it gives the customer an introduction to a number of different items on the menu.

P13 sampler - $16

As a side, we order the macaroni and cheese.  This for me (for some reason) is a quintessential American dish.  There is not much to say, the dish was tasty, creamy and cheesy - all the things a mac and cheese should be!  A great side dish to accompany our mains.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we then got a dessert to share.  We get a portion of the brownie with chocolate sauce and peanut butter icecream.  Bite through to crunchy crust and you then reach a nice chewy centre - very chocolatey!  Peanut butter icecream was great as it did not have an overpowering flavour.  A little rich, but I think that shared between two people, it would be a great finish to a meal.

The service was great.  From the time we were seated we were well attended to and the chef came out to apologise for the delay in delivering our smoothie.  To be honest, my friend and I didn't notice and we didn't think that there was an actual delay! The chef also came out to ask how our meals were.  I saw that he did this to a number of patrons - showing a genuine interest in the dining experience.

Overall, the food was tasty and there are not many places in Adelaide that serve 'American' style cuisine (apart from Pearl's diner - correct me if there are more).  What I really liked about P13 was that it doesn't try to be more than it is...it's not pretentious - quite the opposite, very casual and laid back...I definitely see myself coming back and would recommend it to others.

Ambience: 4/5
Service: 4.5/5
Food: 8.5/10

Mirko gives Plant 13 a total of 17/20 chops on the chopping board.