They say an elephant never forgets. As far as memories go, there’s one place that has continued to be a favourite of mine over many years: the Elephant Walk, an Adelaide dessert institution.

The Elephant Walk has been operating for 27 years, on Melbourne Street North Adelaide, and I’ve certainly made a number of visits over that time. The interior has changed little and the menu has gone through a slight (modern) evolution.

Tonight we decided to share our love of the Elephant Walk with our eight-year-old son and we weren’t disappointed.

Arriving just after opening time of 7:30pm, we were greeted and seated away from the other guests. The staff were very friendly and chatted easily, without being intrusive.

The interior looked similar to how I remember it, with funky booths separated by bamboo screens, small tables with dimly lit lamps and tea-light candles, low couches covered in animal print, velvet recliners, posters and pictures on the wall and retro light fittings from the ’70s and ’80s. Daggy and cramped, but oh so cool!

The menu was reasonably extensive. Drinks ranged from Jarritos to sparkling water, a great variety of shakes, ice crushes, a good variety of coffee and a long list of teas.

Desserts consisted of waffles, fondues, chocolate fudge and sticky date puddings, pecan pie, sundaes and scones. The special of the night was a vegan freckle.

There were many gluten free and vegan options – more than I’ve seen on other menus.

It was also pointed out to us that they have started doing jaffles – both savoury and sweet.

Our son ordered the Turkish delight shake and couldn’t go past the banana split sundae. I am not a big fan of Turkish delight and tasting the shake I found it to be overwhelmingly strong, but our son seemed to like it, at least at first. The sundae was huge with a whole banana cut length ways, split with ice cream, sprinkled with chocolate sauce, chopped nuts, sliced strawberries and fresh apple. He loved it and struggled to finish it!

My husband ordered the Oreo shake and waffles with banana, strawberries and maple syrup. The waffles can come with a variety of sauces, including a home made raspberry sauce, and fruits to choose from, plus ice cream. The shake was quite thick from the crushed up Oreo biscuits but has a pleasant taste and not too sweet. The waffle was warm and crispy and had a good covering of fresh strawberries, banana and maple syrup.

And I ordered the creamy coffee shake and chocolate fudge pudding. The shake was icy cold and lived up to its name – the milk was really smooth and creamy. The pudding was served in a jar; it was nice and moist, oozing chocolate sauce at the touch of the spoon. The fresh strawberries offset the richness of the pudding, which also had a thick dollop of cream and ice cream on the side.

The desserts have changed a bit – from the canned whipped cream piled high with fruit of the old days, to a more modern menu, still with fresh fruit on the side. But essence of those past days remains.

I really like the Elephant Walk. Sure it’s not ultra modern, but it’s comfortable enough, and warm and friendly. And for the late night visits, it’s romantic!

If you’re living in Adelaide you have to visit this place at least once – you won’t forget it!

 

** Interior photos taken in very low light