Courgette Restaurant – Canberra – Australian Capital Territory – Australia – May 2017

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ACT, Australia, canberra, Courgette Restaurant, Fine Dining, French wine

Fine dining on a Saturday in Canberra

Courgette Restaurant is located just on the outskirts of the CBD in Canberra; not a particularly good spot as it’s a bit in the commercial area but definitely worth locating to try the food.  It’s owned by one of Canberra’s great chefs James Mussillon.

It’s luxurious inside but also cosy so you feel comfortable in the main restaurant.  There are options for group dining in private dining rooms and I have done this a couple of times before for work but I really prefer the main area.

One of the special things about the restaurant is the separate private dining room called the Cellar Room which is located [unsurprisingly] in the cellar surrounded by over four-hundred different bottles of wine and seats up to ten people.

 The restaurant has a great lunch time special with three courses for just $66; I think this is surprising for Canberra in a fine dining restaurant as it’s inexpensive…we commenced with sparkling mineral water and my friend Jane ordered a really nice bottle of French wine (most enjoyable).

I started off with a corn fritter dish which was really not your typical corn fritter but came beautifully displayed on a wooden platter with baby corn and a mustard dressing.

Jane ordered the Morton Bay bug tail, seared scallop and chorizo with sweet peas, baby kale and fermented black garlic. Jane is a real ‘foodie’ and said both her entree and main course were fabulous.

Then for main course I had the roasted heirloom carrots, with crunchy seeds – so delicious…and so beautifully presented.

Jane ordered the beef dish which was also so well presented and even I said that being a strict vegetarian.  It came with truffled mash, sweet and sour red cabbage with a port and thyme jus.

Our desserts were amazing; Jane had the fresh raspberries short bread mille feuille with fresh cream.

I ordered the baked hazelnut tart which came with coffee marscapone mousse, and praline dust. Didn’t like the mousse I must say as it was coffee flavoured and I don’t drink or like coffee but loved the rest of the dish.

Loved the experience and will definitely return.

Abell’s Kopi Tiam restaurant – Manuka – Australian Capital Territory – Australia – April 2017

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Abell Kopi Tiam restaurant, ACT, Australia, canberra, Chinese, Malaysian, Manuka, noodles, Vegan

Dinner on a week night!

A friend at work told me about a restaurant that she goes to regularly with her husband on the way home from work and said the food was fabulous.  So I knew I had to go there and soon after arranged for three of my friends to come along one weeknight.

Abell’s Kopi Tiam restaurant is a combination of Malay and Chinese food with its website saying that Kopi means ‘coffee’ in Malay and Tiam meaning ‘shop’ in Chinese (Hokkein) so it’s said to be named after coffee shops in Malaysia who serve traditional and home-style meals which is exactly what this lovely restaurant did.

It’s a rather sweet and colourful little restaurant with chairs and tables outside along with heaters and blankets on the back of chairs as Canberra gets quite cold even in the lead up to winter and I guess some people still like to sit outdoors (not me).  We sat inside!

My friends ordered the special spring rolls for entree but I didn’t want any as I wasn’t that hungry.

My friend Ray was trying to be a bit funny as he knows no-body can eat until I have taken a photo for my blog; so he pretended he wasn’t happy with the presentation of the dish so moved one of the rolls – I really don’t think he will be a food presenter (ha ha).

They also shared the red curry fish cakes, the spring onion roti and pork and prawn dumplings – which were absolutely loved by Ray and Nat (but in particular Ray).

The restaurant was opened in 1998 by Abell Ong, of Chinese/Malay heritage and his wife who are both from Sarawak, one of the Malaysian states on the island of Borneo.  When he arrived in Canberra he said he could not find any authentic Malaysian restaurants so decided to open his own….and I am so glad he did!

For our main dishes my friends ordered beef rendang and mixed vegetables with tofu and mushrooms.

I ordered the vegan noodles with vegetables.  There are many vegetarian dishes on the menu and it’s great to see that vegetarians and vegans are equally catered for with plenty of stir-fries and coconut curries.  I found out a funny story that Abell tried introducing fermented tofu (stinky tofu) to the menu, which is another Chinese classic, but I think only loved by the Chinese, and its distinctive pungency wasn’t well received – so off the menu it went! (I say thank goodness).

This dish was so good, so tasty…I loved the noodles. I tried the tofu and mushroom dish as well and that was good too but certainly not as good as the vegan noodles.

An excellent night and I will return soon!!

 

 

 

 

Hyatt Hotel – Canberra – ACT – Australia – April 2017

Tags

canberra, French Champagne, High Tea, Hyatt Hotel

High Tea on a Sunday Afternoon

I think most people like a High Tea…well those of with a sweet tooth anyway.  I hadn’t indulged for many years so thought it was time to try the Hyatt in Canberra which has High Tea every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  So a couple of weeks ago my friends Ray and Natalie and I went to enjoy the delicious treats.

Parking is pretty scarce at the front of the Hyatt so we drove around the rear, parked  and entered through the back doors.  It’s a pretty fabulous old world hotel and we entered to an opulent lobby.  It’s really lovely and I think it really is a little bit nicer than the front foyer.

We were shown to our table [a reservation is a must] where we listened to some soft music and our efficient waitress offered us a glass of Australian, Lerida Estate Zenzi, sparkling wine.

Unfortunately the sparkling wine was very sweet so neither Nat nor I drank it but we did order a bottle of French champagne to share between the three of us.  And that was great!!

As we had arrived right on time of opening, we decided to go up to the buffet.  For those of you who have been to a High Tea, it’s usually brought out on a three tier tray with a selection of hot and cold foods. However, High Tea at the Hyatt is a buffet and what a fabulous selection of food there is, and so beautifully displayed.

It even has a range of sweets on the top shelf of the table; all available to eat.

As soon as I arrived I realised I had left my phone at home and knew I wanted to create a post on the visit, so lucky for me, Natalie follows my blog so kindly offered to take all photos. Thanks Nat!!

After a sip of champagne, we decided to make a start and chose the hot snacks; vegetarian samosa and mini meat pies.  The three of us said that the samosa were just delicious and we went back for a second plate later.

I had pre-ordered a vegetarian plate as knew the buffet cucumber sandwiches would contain cheese.  My plate arrived and contained a cucumber sandwich, avocado sushi, a pumpkin and rocket wrap and two small spoons of mixed vegetables.

My friends then chose an array of hot and cold savoury snacks.

We knew if we raced back to the buffet we would be too full to taste a little of everything so we decided on a twenty-minute break between courses.  At this time I ordered a pot of peppermint tea which was very refreshing.  This really is my favourite flavour of tea.

Our next course was the scones with fresh cream and strawberry jam, [a choice of plain or fruit), followed by a couple of other plates of different cakes, pavolva, mousse and pastries.  Again managing to wait twenty-minutes between each ‘course’.  As I mentioned the food was so beautifully displayed on the table and it was great to see nobody piling too much food onto their small plates.  You can go back as many times as you like, so there is no need!

I loved all the food but definite favourites were the vegetarian samosa and the strawberry mousse…absolutely delicious.  After a couple of hours, we decided we should leave, but the great thing was none of us were so overly full as I really think the twenty-minute gap between plates makes a huge difference.

A definite place for visitors to Canberra [and a must for those of us who live here].

Enzo’s Cucina Restaurant – Campbelltown – New South Wales – Australia – April 2017

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Australia, Campbelltown, dinner with family and friends, Enzo's Cucina Restaurant, Italian food, New South Wales

Dinner with family over Easter

Over the Easter period I went up to Sydney to visit my family and chose a local restaurant for dinner and invited my best friend from school who I hadn’t seen for some time.  We have been friends for over forty-three years and really enjoy catching up whenever possible – she is an amazing girl (or woman now I guess).  This was the same restaurant I had booked for a surprise birthday party for my dad four years ago but now it’s been fully refurbished and is really lovely inside.  We had a very early dinner so were lucky there was only about three or four full tables when we arrived..completely full when we left.

The walls have been re-plastered with some of the bricks visible and there are framed prints around the walls with movie stars such as Sophia Loren eating pasta.

The menu is extensive with lots of vegetarian choices. I chose the Gnocchi al Pomodoro; potato dumplings pan tossed with basil, oregano and tomatoes –  such a tasty dish and really filling; so unfortunately I could only eat half.

My dad ordered a Barramundi fillet which was served with fried olives, tomato and basil oil on potato mash.  A huge dish but he managed to eat it all and loved it.

My brother ordered the Vitello all a Griglia; grilled veal with fresh herbs and a lemon dressing with roasted garlic potato mash while my nephew Braydon had the Calamari Fritti; lightly crumbed squid rings served with mayonnaise and lemon.  Great meals I was told and everything eaten.

My school friend Deb ordered a grilled chicken salad. I didn’t bother taking a photograph of this dish as it was just a huge bowl with salad and the chicken was at the bottom.  I did however take some photos of our desserts.  Wow!!  I had the tiny doughnuts with ice-cream and Braydon ordered the Nutella covered crepes.  Again too many doughnuts for me to finish but I definitely tried my best to eat them all.  I just love doughnuts and these were great.

My brother finished off with a hot chocolate in a fancy jar with a little sponge biscuit.

We had such a good night and it was great to see the restaurant refurbished and of course that extensive menu is just excellent.

A little getaway – Gold Coast – Queensland – Australia – February 2017

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Australia, Beijing Palace Restaurant, Brunch, Casino, Chinese restaruant, Coco Cabano restaurant, Cuban Street Food, Gold Coast, Queensland

Visiting friends with my brother and nephew

My lovely Taiwanese/Aussie friend and her son, my godson, now live at the Gold Coast.  My brother and nephew had met them whilst I lived in Beijing so I thought since it was about four years since they had seen each other we should visit.

I used my frequent flyer points to book us all flights and one Wednesday in February we departed.  We arrived late in the afternoon and my Godson took an instant like to my nephew and for the next three days didn’t let him out of his sight.

On our first night my friend Evonne took us out to a local Chinese restaurant where I was able to practice my Chinese and also enjoy some good food and meet another of Evonne’s friends who also lived on the Gold Coast.

We ordered a range of dishes including the obligatory eggplant for me and my brother ordered a couple of typical Aussie/Chinese dishes which he and his son enjoyed.

Over the next couple of days we enjoyed some shopping and one afternoon went to a friend’s of Evonne’s who lived in a beautiful home overlooking the river.  I enjoyed some great tasting Chinese tea and afternoon tea snacks whilst my brother and nephew enjoyed time in the lap pool.

That evening we had another great meal at the Garden Restaurant within the Casino.

This restaurant has an indoor and outdoor area with a grass area for the kids, an outdoor bar and decking to sit on a Sunday listening to a local band but this evening we sat inside.

I ordered the risotto and Evonne, my brother and the kids had meat dishes.

Us adults ordered a share dessert called the Garden Chocolate Patch which came out on a huge plate with chocolate soil, chocolate mushrooms, iced milk chocolate truffles, flour less chocolate cake with salted caramel white chocolate ganache.  Unbelievably good!!  And the kids had a selection of house made ice-cream.

Such a lot of food so the next morning I took myself out for a long walk.  Whilst the weather was not great; a little overcast, it was still a lovely time out in the fresh air.

Then as if we hadn’t had enough to eat the previous evening, we went for brunch at this lovely little cafe within a rather large shopping centre.  The meals matched the size of the shopping centre; huge!!

And as for the juices, well they were truly amazing. My brother and I ordered the Passionfruit Granita which was a mixture of passionfruit and lime blended with ice with mixed berries and mint leaves – it looked amazing and was absolutely delicious and so refreshing!!  My nephew who had a caramel milkshake – told me it was also great.

Then after a relax back at Evonne’s, we departed for the airport to take our plane home.  Great few days!!

 

Pomegranate Restaurant – Kingston – Australian Capital Territory – Australia – February 2017

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ACT, Australia, canberra, Pomegranate Restaurant

Dinner in Canberra

A colleague I know from Queensland was recently successful with a senior job in my organisation, so I thought we should go out to dinner to a really nice restaurant to show her a little bit of the Canberra restaurant scene.  One Wednesday night in February my friend Natalie arranged the dinner and off we went to a restaurant called Pomegranate which serves modern Australian Food with a Mediterranean twist!

It’s a really lovely restaurant and has a fabulous menu; so much to choose from.

For entree I chose the trio of dips (chilli, hommus and eggplant) with olives and pickled cabbage along with some lovely fresh bread.

For main course I ordered the baked eggplant boat filled with slow braised potato, zucchini, carrot, green beans and tomato.  This was absolutely delicious and so healthy.

 My friends ordered a range of dishes for their entrees, [several ordering the same] the first being the Atlantic salmon marinated in apple sider vinegar with onion, chilli and garlic and I think the other dish was either prawns or balmain bugs with a lemon yoghurt dressing.  I should have made a note of the dishes!!

The mains my friends chose [again several ordering the same dishes] were the duck ravioli which was served with a pomegranate sauce with carrot puree and zucchini and also the Hiroshima kingfish with braised leeks and carrot and Dijon mustard dressing.

My friends also ordered a couple of side dishes; broccolini with goats curd with caramelised onions and walnuts and the mixed leaf salad with goats fetta cheese, walnuts and tomatoes and dressed with a balsamic vinegar.

After a little break, our waitress asked if we wanted dessert, well I was a bit full but my friends ordered a couple of dishes that looked fantastic and I was told were delicious.

The mixed nut ice-cream with cinnamon crunch and caramel sauce looked fabulous!

And then there was the beautifully displayed passionfruit cheesecake tart served with pomegranate and saffron icecream, honey caviar and fresh berries and topped with a macaroon and flower bud.  My friends said this was amazing!

We enjoyed some lovely wines to go with our meals and I must say it’s a restaurant I need to come back to.

Two days in Adelaide – South Australia – Australia – March 2017

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Adelaide, Australia, Glenelg Beach, Pathway of Honour, trattoria

So much to do in one of Australia’s capital cities!

Last month I travelled to Adelaide for work.  Adelaide is just over two hours by plane from Canberra and is the capital city of the state of South Australia, and the fifth-most populous city of Australia.  It’s a beautiful city and regarded as the ‘city of churches’ due to the large amount of churches within the city confines.  It’s really well known for its fabulous wineries….which are out of the city but definitely worth a visit.  On this occasion I didn’t have the time but did find time to check out a lovely bar near my hotel and indulge in a glass of wine in the sun!

Then as I had a couple of hours to spare before my colleagues arrived, I walked around the city [bought some chocolates; read below] then head down towards the river where I came across The Pathway of Honour which commemorates those who have served in various conflicts in which Australia has been involved.

Along the pathway are monuments and plaques to various military units.

On our first evening we had dinner at a typical old Italian restaurant that I had walked past earlier in the day and decided to make a reservation as it looked so lovely when I walked inside and the elderly Italian gentleman at the door was so sweet.

Our food was really good; typical delicious home made Italian. And we each received marriage proposals from the [very old] Italian waiters – we decided to decline!!  ha ha, but it made for a wonderful evening with much laughter!!

Adelaide is also is the home to ‘Haigh’s’ – a south Australian family owned chocolatier.  All chocolates are hand made and I stock up every time I visit Adelaide, especially the chocolate frogs which are definitely one of their best sellers.

(source: http://www.haighschocolates.com.au)

After work on our second day we took a taxi down to a seaside suburb called Glenelg which is about twelve kilometres from the city.

 

Glenelg is a really popular tourist destination with lots of lovely cafes, restaurants and shops but this afternoon we walked along the beachfront for about an hour, after which we walked through the shops and cafe area and found what is fondly called an ‘icon’ in Glenelg; Lim’s Chinese Restaurant which has been open for forty-years.

Whilst the Chinese food at Lim’s is definitely not traditional [it’s more Aussie/Chinese], it was certainly edible and we had a very amusing hour or so with the owner, Mr Lim as he made jokes throughout our service and was extremely charming.

Then an early night in a taxi back to the hotel and up the next morning for more meetings before heading home!

Vincent’s Bar & Restaurant – Canberra – ACT – Australia – February 2017

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ACT, Australia, canberra, French wine, Tapas, Vincent's Bar & Restaurant

Tapas and drinks at a local bar 

A couple of weeks ago, we hosted an international colleague in Canberra.  She had arrived a few days before I met her and was inundated with lunches and dinners so by the time we met, she was rather.  My idea was to have an early glass of wine at the local bar near our office with another couple of colleagues followed by dinner.

And of course I wanted our visitor to try some good Aussie wines.  We walked to the bar and found a table.  I was quite surprised when I was told that the bar did not stock Aussie or New Zealand wines which really I would expect to find in a local Aussie bar.  The waiter chose a French wine similar to savignon blanc for me.  I do admit I initially turned up my nose but I had to immediately change my mind; the wine was fabulous!!

Vincent’s specialises in pairing food with specifically sourced wines from around the world [clearly not from Australia or NZ] and you can make a selection from a variety of small plates of delicacies or if you are really hungry you can order larger meals.

Both the wine and food menu are located on the side wall and remind me of the boards at the airport that tell us when flights are arriving and departing.

We sat for a while and chatted over a couple of glasses of wine (me now loving the French drop) and as our international colleague was tired, I said that instead of driving to another  restaurant we could order a few share plates which meant we would all have an early night.  Everyone agreed!

We went to the wall and chose our dishes:

The wagyu sirloin with parsnips, swiss brown mushrooms and mustard.

The zucchini flowers with asparagus, goat curd and celery salt.

The scallops with speck, smoked cauliflower and dasi (stock).

The gnocchi with goats cheese, pumpkin, rocket and pear.

 

The prawns with Jerusalem artichoke, almonds and beurre noisette.

And finally the medley of beetroot with cherry tomatoes, macadamia nuts and goat curd.

All of us said our favourite was the vegetarian gnocchi which was really good.  So fresh and tasty!  This bar is a great place to go as it’s close to work with excellent wine and food.

Rubicon Restaurant – Canberra- ACT – Australia – November 2016

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ACT, Australia, canberra, Fine Dining, Rubicon Restaurant

Dinner with some visiting South Korean colleagues

In one of the outer suburbs of Canberra there is a lovely Italian restaurant called Rubicon and one night a friend and I took two of our international visitors there for dinner.

It’s a quaint little place that’s been around since 2000 and has four small dining rooms including a terrace which is lovely for small parities.  I have eaten here a few times and on this occasion, which was a Monday night, it was pretty quiet.

I don’t usually eat a great deal on week nights so ordered a lovely salad of fennel, orange, radicchio and hazelnuts; delicious.  I really love fennel.

For entree our visitors ordered the gruyère and chestnut twice cooked soufflé with tomato kasundi and labneh which they shared.

My Aussie friend Jon ordered the scallops and confit chicken with bacon jam, apple and calvados [which I now know is an apple brandy from the Normandy region in France].

So far the meals have been delicious.  Then our international guests ordered the chargrilled Wagyu rib eye with miso onions, boulangère, gentlemen’s relish and horseradish which again they shared.  I really have no idea what ‘gentlemen’s relish’ is…or why it’s called that but they loved their meal.

Jon ordered the duck breast with pickled blood plum, salt baked celeriac, beets, black eye beans, kale and duck brick…he loved this too…but again no idea what a ‘duck brick’ is….some restaurants just have strange names for things I think!!

Of course there were the obligatory fries with the meal….I would love to say I didn’t have any but I did have a few…

It was a rather quick meal as we had been out sightseeing all afternoon and I was a bit tired [getting too old to stay out late these days], but a lovely meal and the main thing is our international guests enjoyed themselves.

Wharf Road Restaurant – Nowra – New South Wales – Australia – December -2016

Tags

Australia, New South Wales, Wharf Road Restaurant

One of my favourite things – dinner with friends (overlooking the river)

Just before christmas last year, four of us from Canberra travelled just over two hours to the south coast of New South Wales for a weekend away at our friend’s home.  We decided to have an early dinner at a local restaurant overlooking the water about half an hour from our friend’s home…

The restaurant is really lovely and pretty relaxed with a lovely view through open doors and windows.  We sat in the large dining room which has a modern and light atmosphere with  wooden tables overlooking the water.

We were immediately seated at our table and I was one of the lucky ones to have a view of the water.

Unfortunately that is where the quick service stopped!  It took quite some time for our waiter to return to take our drink order then even longer for those drinks to arrive.  Some of my friends ordered beers, others including me, wine and someone else a cocktail which I had a sip of and was quite refreshing.

Whilst we waited (and waited) for our drinks, we chose our entrees and main courses to ensure we were ready for when our waiter returned with our drinks.

My friends started off with several serves of oysters natural with lemon and sherry vinegar dressing, also a plate of the tiradito of ocean trout over crispy tacos with a yellow chilli dressing and then the new season asparagus with pecora dairy goats curd and a fried egg dressing (a lot of dressing actually).  Two of my friends absolutely loved the ocean trout on the tacos!!

I wasn’t that hungry so I didn’t order an entree and had the summer salad with witlof and  blood orange pomegranate for my main course and some of the communal hand cut chips with two different sauces.

The menu was great for my friends as it has fresh local seafood as well as Wagyu beef.  One of the specialities of the restaurant is the alpaca from nearby farms which is dry-aged on the premises in a custom Himalayan salt brick cool room. Interesting but definitely not for me; I like alpacas (or any animal) running around paddocks not on a plate.

My friends ordered the pasture feed local wagyu beef with roasted beetroot and smoked carrot puree and the zucchini flowers with spiced ricotta, preserved lemon risotto and quinoa crunch.

Also the hot smoked blue eye trevalla with a white bean puree, broad beans, parsnip chips and an anchovy crumb, the linguini with mussels, clams with yellow chilli and lemon and finally the barbecue prawns with tamarillo salsa, smoked eggplant and lime.

All of the friends I was at the restaurant with have been there before and love the food.  For me, it was a nice evening but it’s another restaurant with some vegetarian dishes but each one had some sort of cheese accompaniment or included in the dish…so it was a limited menu for me (lucky I wasn’t hungry).  Views were lovely though as was the company of my good friends.