A shot of cauliflower soup is just the thing to warm you up on a cold Adelaide night, as the welcoming hubbub of a restaurant with perhaps the best views in the city draws you into its fold.

Settle in with a glass of your favourite drop and play the always-entertaining game of trying to guess why patrons are here.

Flowers and snappy clothes speak to anniversaries and perhaps the odd marriage proposal, backlit with the twinkling lights of the city. Families fulfilling a years-long dining tradition. Business people out celebrating a win. Windy Point has them all on a given night.

The menu is planned accordingly, with plenty of crowd-pleasing appeal.

Crusty olive bread with butter is rather addictive but very filling, so go easy early. Grass-fed beef fillet tartare, with olive crisps and fried potato on top of the usual capers and shallots, shows textbook preparation.

Desiree potato gnocchi with parsnip and Onkaparinga blue cheese is rich and begs for its sauce to be mopped up with more bread, while the swiss brown mushrooms on the side have a topping of gruyere, garlic and olive oil to ensure we’re covered as far as rich cheeses go.

It’s hearty, heady food, let down a little by a cauliflower steak with toasted almonds and pepitas which is a bit ho-hum.

A grumpy waiter and a flimsy paper dessert menu sporting an oil stain don’t exactly add to the ambience.