Peel Street bars and restaurants: Is this the best laneway in Adelaide?

Peel Street bars such as Therapy Cocktail Bar, Clever Little Tailor and Malt and Juniper help make Peel Street the best laneway in Adelaide. While there, dine at Bread and Bone or the Peel Street Restaurant.

When it comes to cool laneway scenes in Australia, thoughts immediately turn to Melbourne. The Victorian state capital has become world famous for its tiny back alleys crammed with small bars, cool restaurants and street art.

But Melbourne is not the only city that does the laneway thing. Adelaide may be better known for its heritage buildings, idiosyncratic cricket ground and absorbing museums, but there are little pockets of cool.

Peel Street bars in Adelaide

The classic case in point is Peel Street, which has become arguably the best laneway in Adelaide.

Peel Street is a pedestrianised side street off the mostly dreadful Hindley Street. But while Hindley Street offers seedy, lairy bars, Peel Street provides cool and buzzy.

Examples include the Therapy Cocktail Bar, a basement joint that boasts of having more than 100 cocktails on the menu.

A little more laid back is Clever Little Tailor, where exposed brick walls meet little alcoves and wooden dividers stacked with Pol Roger champagne bottles. It’s the sort of place where people sit at the bar chatting, perhaps sharing a cheese plate and a lager from the Mismatch Brewing Company.

Opposite, Malt and Juniper specialises in whisky and gin, and has the bottles climbing up the walls to prove it.

Peel Street restaurants in Adelaide

For food, Bread and Bone sums up the Peel Street vibe nicely. It has split levels and some tables inside a converted tunnel. The menu leads towards comfort food and craft beers, with a particular emphasis on the burgers. The exciting stuff, however, is on the wood grill section. Try harissa-rubbed lamb chops or the marvellously messy black pepper quail.

The Peel Street Restaurant is another good option, with a “fresh and simple” motto. Dishes on the Peel Street Restaurant’s globally-inspired menu include chicken and banana blossom salad, ricotta dumplings, Vietnamese grilled beef or falafel.

Adelaide laneway restaurants

Other laneways in Adelaide that are a good bet for bars and restaurants include neighbouring Leigh Street, plus Ebeneezer Place.

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Bread in Common restaurant in Fremantle, Western Australia.

Wayward Brewery in Camperdown, Sydney.