Spring in the Adelaide Hills brings blossom to the orchards around Oakbank, green back to the paddocks after the winter rains, and days long enough for a lunch that runs into the afternoon.
At the Oakbank Hotel, known to locals as the Oaky, spring is our favourite season in the beer garden. We sit at 207 Onkaparinga Valley Road, minutes from Hahndorf, Woodside and Mount Barker, and the kitchen holds the Australian Good Food Guide award for Best Steak in the Adelaide Hills 2025, so there is serious cooking behind the easy welcome.
What spring in the Adelaide Hills looks like
The Hills sit a few degrees cooler than the city, so spring in the Adelaide Hills runs a little behind the lowland season. Blossom appears across the apple and pear orchards, the roadsides green up, and weekends fill with people driving out from Adelaide for a wander and a feed.
Oakbank sits in the Onkaparinga Valley, with Woodside, Balhannah, Lobethal and Verdun all a short drive away. You can make a loop of it, call in at a cellar door or a lookout, and plan your lunch around the middle of the day. The pub anchors a good day in the Adelaide Hills, with the beer garden open to the lawns and the front bar if the afternoon turns cool.
Long lunches in the beer garden
A long lunch in the Adelaide Hills is the few hours you give yourself to sit, talk and let the plates keep coming. The beer garden in the Adelaide Hills is built for it, with room across the lawns, alfresco tables and shade for the warmer afternoons.
In spring the garden gets the most use. Start with a cold drink and something to share, move on to the award-winning steak supplied by Austral Meat, and finish without anyone rushing you off the table. Sunday sessions run easy, and midweek the lunch is quieter if you want the table to yourself.
Seasonal produce from the Hills
The Adelaide Hills produce that shapes the menu is at its best in spring. The cooler climate suits apples, pears, berries, leafy greens and fresh herbs, and local growers supply much of what the kitchen builds the seasonal menu around.
As the weather warms, the kitchen cooks lighter, brighter dishes alongside the hearty pub favourites. Have a look at the current menu before you visit, since the seasonal dishes change through the months.
A family-friendly pub for days out in the Hills
Family-friendly pubs in the Adelaide Hills matter most in spring, when everyone wants to be outside. The Oaky welcomes kids and grown-ups alike, with the beer garden giving little ones room to move while the adults settle in over lunch. The lawns and the relaxed country-pub feel make it an easy choice for a family day out.
Spring weekends suit a morning exploring the Hills, a drive through the valley, and a long lunch where the kids have room and the food is worth the trip. The space handles a big table as comfortably as a quiet one for two.
Why the Oaky is your spring local
Craig and Hayley run the Oakbank Hotel, locals who keep it tied to the community through sponsorships and local causes. The front bar has a winter fireplace, the beer garden suits families, and the function room handles birthdays, engagements and work events. If you want to read more about the steak, we covered what makes it award-winning on the blog.
Plan your spring visit to the Oakbank Hotel
Spring is a good time to get out to the Hills, and the Oaky is open seven days a week from 11am till late. You will find us at 207 Onkaparinga Valley Road, Oakbank, a short drive from Hahndorf, Woodside and Mount Barker.
To book a table for a long lunch, a family day out or a spring celebration, use the Book Now button on our site, call us on (08) 8388 4267, or get in touch through the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to visit the Adelaide Hills in spring?
Spring runs from September to November, and any of those months is a good time to come. The orchards blossom early, the paddocks are green, and the weather sits between the winter chill and the summer heat. Weekends are busiest, so a midweek long lunch is worth considering if you prefer things quieter.
Does the Oakbank Hotel have a beer garden?
Yes. The Oakbank Hotel has a spacious, family-friendly beer garden that opens onto the lawns, with alfresco dining and shade for warmer afternoons. It suits a relaxed meal outdoors once the weather warms up in spring.
Is the Oakbank Hotel family-friendly?
Yes. The Oaky welcomes families, with plenty of room in the beer garden for kids to move about while the adults enjoy a long lunch. The relaxed country-pub setting makes it a straightforward choice for a day out with children.
Where can I have a long lunch in the Adelaide Hills?
The Oakbank Hotel at 207 Onkaparinga Valley Road is a favourite for a long lunch in the Adelaide Hills. The beer garden and alfresco tables suit a few unhurried hours over award-winning steak and seasonal dishes, minutes from Hahndorf, Woodside and Mount Barker.
How do I book a table at the Oakbank Hotel?
You can book online using the Book Now button on theoakbankhotel.com.au, call the pub on (08) 8388 4267, or get in touch through the contact page. The Oaky is open seven days a week from 11am till late.
Ask anyone in the Hills where to go for a proper steak and the same name tends to come up, and in 2025 that local reputation was confirmed in more formal terms when The Oakbank Hotel took home the Australian Good Food Guide award for Best Steak in the Adelaide Hills, an honour decided by the diners who eat here week after week. This article walks through what separates a genuinely great pub steak from a forgettable one, moving from the choice of cut all the way to the cook, and using our own kitchen as the working example throughout.
A good steak can look deceptively simple once it reaches the table, yet every stage of its journey from the paddock to the plate shapes the way it eventually eats, and understanding those stages is the easiest way to know what you are paying for and why the very best ones are always worth seeking out.
An award decided by the people who eat here
The Australian Good Food Guide Best Steak award is driven entirely by diner votes, which makes it a fair reflection of who consistently gets it right across months of busy service and the everyday experience of paying customers. Winning it for the Adelaide Hills in 2025 told us that the regulars filling our tables had been paying very close attention, and you can read more about how the kitchen reached this point over on our story page.
It starts with the cut
Every steak begins with a choice of cut, and that single decision shapes both the flavour and the texture long before anything ever touches the grill. A lean eye fillet is prized for its tenderness, a ribeye carries the fine threads of fat marbling that deliver real depth of flavour, and a classic rump rewards a hungry diner with a bigger and beefier bite. You will find all three of these on our steak menu, and the right one for you depends largely on whether you are chasing buttery softness or a more robust and satisfying mouthful. Marbling is the detail worth watching most closely, because those fine threads of intramuscular fat slowly melt as the steak cooks and baste the meat from within, keeping it moist and full of flavour right through to the last bite.
A steak is only as good as its supplier
One thing many people overlook is that even the most skilled chef will struggle to rescue a poor piece of meat, which is precisely why careful sourcing matters so much to the final result. Our award-winning steaks come from Austral Meat, an Adelaide-based supplier operating out of Gepps Cross since the 1980s and known across the state for its premium grass-fed and grain-fed beef. Working with a local supplier of this calibre keeps the supply chain short, the quality consistent and the individual cuts selected with genuine care, and when we thank Austral Meat for our share in the award we truly mean it, because the steak you enjoy begins with the work they put in long before it ever reaches our kitchen.
Ageing, seasoning and the cook
Good beef rewards patience, because a proper period of ageing concentrates the flavour and relaxes the muscle so that the finished steak eats far more tenderly than a freshly butchered cut ever could on its own. From that point onwards the approach in our kitchen is one of considered restraint, since a quality piece of meat asks for little more than a generous seasoning of salt, a properly hot grill and a cook who understands the precise moment to lift it from the heat. Resting the steak before it travels out to your table matters just as much as the cooking itself, allowing the juices to settle back evenly through the meat so the steak stays moist and full of flavour the moment it is cut, and while you are always welcome to order it cooked exactly to your own liking, it is well worth trusting the kitchen on that final rest.
Sides, sauces and a glass of something local
A great steak always deserves the right company on the plate, from crisp golden chips and a fresh garden salad through to a sauce chosen to lift the meat, whether you reach for a smooth peppered cream, a rich mushroom or a classic red wine jus. To round out the whole experience, our Adelaide Hills restaurant matches every steak with a hand-picked South Australian wine list, and settling on a Hills shiraz to sit alongside a well-marbled ribeye is one of the more enjoyable decisions you are likely to make all week.
Come in for a winter steak night
There is no finer season for a serious steak than the depths of a Hills winter, when the fire crackles away in the front bar and a properly cooked piece of beef is exactly where you want to be on a cold and quiet evening. Every Wednesday is steak night here at the Oakbank, with ten dollars off all steaks right through the day, which gives you an easy excuse to come and taste the award-winning version for yourself. If you happen to be planning something a little larger, our function room comfortably handles celebrations of every size, so book your table or get in touch and discover for yourself why the locals keep calling this the best steak in the Hills.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has the best steak in the Adelaide Hills?
The Oakbank Hotel won the Australian Good Food Guide award for Best Steak in the Adelaide Hills in 2025, an honour decided by diner votes, and you will find us on Onkaparinga Valley Road at Oakbank, just a short and scenic drive from Hahndorf, Mount Barker and Woodside.
Where does Oakbank Hotel source its steak?
Our steaks come from Austral Meat, an established Adelaide-based supplier known throughout the region for its premium grass-fed and grain-fed beef, and choosing a local supplier of this standard keeps the supply chain short and the quality reliably high from one visit to the next.
When is steak night at the Oakbank Hotel?
Steak night runs every Wednesday with ten dollars off all steaks right through the day, and you are welcome to browse the full range of cuts on our menu before you arrive, with the usual conditions applying.
Which steak cut should I order?
The right cut comes down entirely to your own taste, with the eye fillet offering the greatest tenderness, the ribeye delivering the richest and most marbled flavour and the rump providing a bigger and beefier bite, and our kitchen team is always glad to guide you towards the best choice on the day.
Do I need to book a table?
Booking ahead is always recommended, particularly on steak night and right through the winter months when our tables tend to fill very quickly, so we would encourage you to book online or call us on 08 8388 4267 to secure your spot.