Namaste Restaurant

We had spent most of our time in Adelaide passing a cold between ourselves, and were consequently feeling pretty rough. Hostels aren't the best places to be when you are feeling unwell, there is little peace and even less privacy, we were however about to get pretty lucky. It was Friday and we had to move out of our hostel and we had nowhere to go, but in the space of one hour the endless phone calls that were made without success were about to become a distant memory. Not only did Quest Mansions offer us a serviced apartment for the weekend, we also received a phone call from Angela at Namaste restaurant to offer us a complimentary meal for the Saturday night.
Cities are often like this for us. We can go for days without any success and the gulf between our situation and those around us seems to be at its widest. With no money to spend and most people busy, cities are often the hardest places to get by. For us to have somewhere quiet and private to relax is a big deal - and to be offered a slap up meal in a nice restaurant, allows us to slip back into a relatively normal life, if just for a little while. For the opportunity to do this huge thanks must go to Brian and Angela Stebbing at Namaste.

We followed up their initial phone call to make sure it would be okay to turn up in our rags as we didn't want to offend their patrons, and after promising to dress as smartly as we could we spent the next 24 hours salivating in anticipation.On our arrival Brian and Angela greeted us and as they were very busy Angela led us to our table. After handing us our menus and recommending a few dishes she then said we should feel free to eat and drink what we liked. We were to be treated like normal customers. Normal customers! Overjoyed we thanked her and eased into our chairs for the duration.

The food was exceptional. This fine food was eaten with bottles of beer and glasses of wine, as we relaxed more with each passing minute and eased even further into our chairs. When coffee and desert were offered we had to pinch our selves.

As people drifted gradually from their seats and departed into the night we continued to enjoy our food, and for us, this rare taste of the lives we used to live. Just as we thought the night couldn't get any better we were invited to stay a while longer. It was the chef’s birthday and the staff were staying around for a few drinks and some food. We were so full that we couldn't conceivably force any more food into our rotund bellies. We did have room however for a few more drinks as we savored the company of our hosts and the restaurant staff.


We are exceptionally grateful to Brian and Angela for their act of generosity. We left Namaste with bellies full of divine food, but also having enjoyed some much needed and seldom enjoyed time away from the consuming nature of 'the trip'.

The word "Namaste" translates as "I respect that divinity within you that is also within me."