Ai Fiori Restaurant

Slow cooked lamb shanks were to die for. Falls off the bone and melts in your mouth. Service was excellent and very attentive without bring pushy. The atmosphere was beautiful and warming amongst the floor to ceiling marble. Definitely going back again. Thank you!

I’m just going to say, go here. The food and prices are TD4. It was literally the best salad (yes a salad!) I’ve ever had. All 4 people said that their meal was the best of that type that they’ve had. Ie the best the risotto they’ve had and the best lamb shanks. Forgive the service, the poor waitress had to serve the whole floor and some places are just worth the wait! Don’t be in a rush, enjoy the drinks and wait patiently for your very yummy, well priced meal! Just go here, it’s worth it.

I had been here many times in the old Saldechin format and hadn’t ever managed when it was known as Bobo H (the name annoyed me), but another change of name to AI Fiore got me inside to see what was new.
The heritage-​listed ex-​bank space is marvellous and worth a look for the marble, columns and soaring ceilings. I’ve always loved being inside here. Unfortunately, combined with the heavy, bulky, overly decorative furniture (and lots of it), makes for a very dated 80s look — to me it felt like a foreign investor’s interpretation of what a fine dining restaurant should be.
Going for Italian in this particular location is risky — what with Jamie’s Italian, Parlamento and Rigoni’s all very VERY close by but could work if it were a more modern take on the cuisine in a relaxed environment that promoted sharing plates, group dining, appropriate furniture, couches. .. the kind of thing we’re seeing pop up in every laneway around Adelaide. As it was, when we went in on lunchtime to try it out, we were the only diners there the whole time. Others had reported similar experiences. It’s such a huge space that it seemed particularly cavernous and empty. The food was fine, (although no pasta on the lunch menu seemed an oversight) and the staff friendly. Prices bordering on expensive but when you’re paying for bar staff, restaurant staff and kitchen staff to serve one table, I guess it’s to be expected.
Undeterred, a week or so later, we noticed a sign promoting the launch of the cocktail list and 2 for 1 happy hour on Friday night and decided to give it a go. Although the restaurant was not even a quarter full, we waited at the bar for at least 15 minutes before any eye contact or acknowledgement was made of our presence and even then, there was no move to actually serve us as order tickets were piling up on the glasses-​covered bar, staff were grabbing new glasses out of boxes and were completely floundering, I heard one guy ask for his beer that he ordered half an hour ago. It was clear that they were completely overwhelmed with a very small number of customers relatively speaking and we would not be getting a cocktail any time soon.
We walked out and the door person commented on our «quick visit» — when we explained we couldn’t be waiting over half an hour for service, the response was defensive. With so many new bars and venues all over Adelaide, Ai Fiore will need to work. .. and I mean, WORK. Like get Gordon Ramsay or John Tappert from Bar Rescue in pronto because something needs to be done before the heavy gates close once again on such a magnificent venue.