Dinner with friends at a local hotel in Canberra
Monster kitchen and bar is located on the ground floor of Hotel Hotel, a relatively new hotel in Canberra. The restaurant sources local and seasonal produce and like many restaurants in Canberra now, the meals are prepared for sharing which gives you the opportunity to taste lots on the menu.
It was a little bit strange as the restaurant is actually located in the foyer area of the hotel, with the kitchen overlooking the diners (it is the fact it’s in the foyer that is the unusual part). The public spaces in the hotel include a library stocked with current and vintage books and two fabulous large fireplaces.
As its website says, the hotel is a place of collaborative craftsmanship conceived of and made by artists, makers, designers and fantasists. The sixty-eight rooms are dressed with salvaged and restored 20th century Australian furniture, original artworks, collected objects, and artisan made furnishings.
So, onto our food, I ordered three vegetarian dishes to share; eggplant, smoked goats curd and sesame oil (the eggplant was delicious and my friends ate the goats curd), the hand cut chips and house made ketchup (chips were a bit cold and limp unfortunately) and the zucchini, freekeh (which I found out was roasted wheat), nasturtium and sunflower – this was also quite tasty.
My meat eating friends ordered the liquorice cured duck breast, witlof with cherry and sorrel, the wagu rump with salsa verde, onion and mustard and the steamed Daintree barramundi with miso, pickles and candied nori. My three friends said each dish was delicious.
I enjoyed the evening with my friends and the food was very nice, so filling that none of us ordered any dessert.
Gary Lum said:
I’ve been there for dinner andreally enjoyed it. My breakfast experience wasn’t so good. Mainly because the service was a little slow.
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vinneve said:
The hotel’s architecture and name is unique 🙂 food looks new to me!
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panhirsch said:
The dishes look pretty creative. I would definitely give it a go!
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sileas said:
Oh that’s an interesting looking hotel! I’d love to take a peek into the rooms 😉
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Little Miss Traveller said:
Looks nice, especially the liquorice cured duck breast, I’m glad you enjoyed your evening out with friends!
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Amy said:
Your order looks so delicious, I also like duck. 🙂
Great photo of these beautiful food presentations, Sue. 🙂
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Service was bit slow for the dinner too Gary. I didn’t mention this but they actually forgot one of the dishes and my friends had to ask for it.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Yes it was interesting but probably a place I would not go back too. Thanks Vinne for your comments. You are very kind to follow me.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
It was an interesting place. Better for non-vegetarians I think.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Me too. I think they would be unique abs very modern.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you very much. It’s nice spending time with friends over a meal and glass of wine isn’t it.
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thanks so much Amy. My friends really enjoyed the duck too.
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Gary Lum said:
The breakfast service I experienced was basically lack of interest in good service.
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Sophie - cookingtrips said:
Liquorice cured duck sounds like something i would never be able to find in France, SO it appeals to my curiosity, top level! How unusual and creative! That sounded like a nice evening, Sue, as very often when you go out with friends!
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vinneve said:
You’re welcome 🙂 I like U.
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Vicky T. said:
The food looks pretty good and the hotel seems like it’ll be interesting place to stay
Vicky
http://vickysscrapbook.com/
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Mabel Kwong said:
This looks like a scrumptious meal with many choices for different palates. Pity about the limp chips – those are always disappointing – but the liquorice duck sounds like very special dish. Also great to hear there are many sharing dishes. Those are my favourite kinds of meals – you get to try more kinds of food and you don’t just get to look at your own dish 😀
Great food photography. Can be hard to take photos of food when you’re eating with company 😀
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SueT唐 梦 琇 said:
Thank you so much Mabel. I have to ask my friends to stop trying to eat before I take a photo. It’s hard. Ha ha. Yes limp chips were a complete let down.
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