Hotel Alba, Skootz Cafe, The Butterfly Table Cafe, Adelaide CBD, South Australia

Hotel Alba Signage, front and side of building.

As part of our trip into Adelaide to spend a gifted voucher to The Meat & Wine Co Steakhouse Restaurant my partner, Enigma, thought it would be nice to make a relaxing weekend of it by booking a stay in a city hotel for a couple of nights.

As the Adelaide Fringe Festival was in full swing all places we've previously stayed at were booked out. Fortunately the Hotel Alba, 226 South Tce, Adelaide, who are relatively new, had rooms available at a great price.

With four levels you get a choice of city or park views. We chose park. While I'm sure the city views were great as well, I feel like maybe, even on level four you'd be seeing quite a few air-conditioning units of the surrounding buildings in the foreground.

At the time of our stay the hotel's restaurant and pool area was still under construction - or maybe refurbishment as the pool was there, filled with water.

The friendly and very helpful reception staff suggested we could go to the nearby Terrace Hotel for breakfast and dinner if we didn't want to travel too far. However we found three other options, all just as close if not closer including Fasta Pasta (South Terrace), The Butterfly Table, and Scootz Cafe.

In the interim, staff were more than happy to make you a tea or coffee from (what I presume is a temporary) tea and coffee bar set up in the foyer.

Our room, as mentioned was park side with a king bed, separate ensuite, and a balcony you could go outside onto for a clearer look at the view. The room itself was a good size and did not at all feel cramped, neither did the ensuite.

Our room from the balcony door. TV is on the wall above the desk.

Beyond that it had everything you'd expect from hotel accommodation. Free Wi-fi, Smart TV, in room tea, coffee, mini bar, etc. If you want something a bit more home style they do have larger open plan rooms with room for a dedicated lounge area in front of the TV.

There's not much more to say. It was comfortable, air conditioned, and we spent an afternoon watching a movie on the TV (using our own streaming service accounts).

All Day Breakfasts and Lunch

Scootz Cafe

On our first morning at the Alba we decided to skip breakfast, planning to have an early lunch, since we left the hotel mid morning. However Scootz Cafe, which is just around the corner at 441 Pulteney Street, Adelaide, has an all day breakfast menu.

We got there after spending the morning wandering through the Japanese Garden on South Terrace, and then a wander around Adelaide Central Markets. It was just about midday, so we decided to order lunch.

All the staff here at Scootz were very welcoming and conversational, while making sure we knew the specials or their recommendations.

Enigma and I have been on a bit of a semi unofficial mission to try out different restaurant's home style burgers so I went with their Hamburger with the lot upgraded to their special that includes a side serving of chips and 375ml drink.

Enigma opted for a Steak Sandwich with the lot, also upgraded to the special.

Both meals got our tick of approval. My burger was particularly cooked well and cooked all the way through - which sometimes doesn't happen with the thicker style beef burgers.

We enjoyed our meal so much we decided to go there the next day to try breakfast. Unfortunately, we discovered Scootz is closed Sundays so...

The Butterfly Table

The Butterfly Table - A selection of menu items.

A few doors up at 449A Pulteney street is The Butterfly Table, a new all day breakfast and lunch cafe that we learned had only recently opened in October of 2022.

We weren't really looking for anything too fancy for breakfast so, while the menu did look particularly inviting, I settled on a Ham and Cheese Croissant with a white tea and Enigma was a bit more adventurous with Fried Eggs Benedict and Bacon topped with fried Shallots and a Banana Smoothie.

Opening times.

The food was nice but unfortunately the owner was having a particularly busy Sunday morning with Menu Log and Uber Eats orders. So while the cafe itself wasn't particularly busy we still had quite a wait for our food.

I would have preferred to have my tea with my croissant but the tea was brought out first and there's no way it would've still been hot if I had waited for my meal.

That aside the owner, Annie, was well aware of the wait times, and was apologetic. She even gave Enigma an extra piece of toast because she felt the two slices she'd served were on the small side.

Formerly Cafe Luna, The Butterfly Table
features this long wooden counter.

Possibly the only thing I'd like to see is a few more regular table and chair options indoors. The long, wooden topped breakfast bar that runs the length of the dining area, with stools at each side looks really cool and all but I think I prefer regular chairs and normal height tables.

To be fair they had regular tables and chairs out front but it was quite a cool morning so we opted to sit inside.

However, you can't really argue with a good menu and I'd certainly go back to try out their lunch options.

Fasta Pasta

I mentioned Fasta Pasta earlier, which is literally right next door to the Alba at the corner of South Terrace & Pulteney Street.

We went here for dinner on our second night at the Alba and I've decided to feature them in a post on their own because they've managed to appeal to more than just my Travel and Places readers, crossing over into Internet and Technology. I'll link their upcoming article when it's published.

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