Tags
Australia, canberra, Dickson, dining with friends, Eggplant, steamed bao, Superbao restaurant, Tofu
A visit to a newly opened restaurant
Earlier this week, I asked my friends Ray and Natalie to come with me to a new restaurant near my home. It’s located in the ‘Chinatown’ of Canberra and inside is bright with nice decor; all clean and fresh with amazing artwork on the main wall.
The restaurant is owned by Paul and Angel who both grew up in China and have been selling their bao at local markets in Canberra before they opened this restaurant.
Our waiter had a great sense of humour and he and Angel made our visit a really lovely experience. We were told that the shop closes on Mondays and it’s this day they make hundreds of steamed buns for the week ahead. I guess no rest days for owners of a new restaurant!
Of course the main food on the menu is bao. If you don’t know what a bao is…well they are those fluffy, folded-over steamed buns usually filled with pork belly, pickles and crushed nuts but this restaurant has all different types of filling. There was one I really wanted to try; the Panko Tofu Bao; tofu crumbed with panko flour, white and black sesame seeds and then fried. There are also rice and noodle dishes along with vegetable and meat dishes on the menu; so a good range of food.
Our waiter kindly let me know that the steamed buns are not vegan which was a bit of a shame as I really felt like eating the panko tofu. So instead I ordered lightly fried tofu which was so fresh and tasty and an eggplant dish. It wasn’t the style of eggplant I am used to (Sichuan style with oil) but more chargrilled I think. Both dishes were beautifully presented.
Ray and Nat ordered several of the bao to taste and both said they were very good.
Their choices were the Pork Belly Bao where the pork belly is cooked traditional Taiwan style and served with crushed peanuts, pickled cabbage and coriander leaves. Their second choice was the Shanghai Duck Bao; the duck stewed in soy sauce and Chinese spices with a slice or orange which we were told amplifies the rich and decadent taste and their third choice was the Crispy Fried Chicken Bao where a chicken thigh is marinated overnight then coated with a secret flour recipe and deep fried and comes with a drizzle of saffron mayonnaise.
Also ordered were the beef skewers which Ray and Nat shared and sparkling water and a glass of wine each.
When we called over our waiter to ask for the bill, he told us that we definitely had to try the Oreo Bao [not vegan unfortunately), but shared by my friends who said it was absolutely delicious. Rather decadent I think!
I am sure I will return as it’s a good place to pop in for a quick meal and glass of wine albeit a little expensive!
But back to our dinner… Bicicletta Restaurant serves locally sourced food and its menu has several vegetarian and vegan options. In this location, there are several restaurants and a few residential complexes who share a communal vegetable and herb garden. I loved this little area; so beautifully maintained also with an ‘interesting’ statue and small gardens and pathways for local residents to enjoy.
We sat outside in the courtyard with a view inside the restaurant through large windows.
The courtyard is great for the warmer months with lush greenery and coloured chairs and umbrellas. In late Autumn and Winter, blankets are supplied to keep your legs warm.
I loved the look of two vegan items on the menu so decided to try both an entree and main course. I chose the eggplant dish for entree which was deep fried with a balsamic glaze, polenta chips and a small amount of rocket. This was an incredibly delicious meal…really too big for an entree but I was not complaining. I loved it!
My friends shared the Pane, Olio E Balsamico which was a selection of breads; sourdough, baguette and brioche served with butter, aged balsamic reduction and extra virgin olive oil [forgot to take a photo].
One of my friends also ordered the gnocchi but hers included a topping of crumbed goats cheese.
Also the Ravioli Di Maiale Arrosto; house made ravioli stuffed with roast pork, apple, potato and thyme in a creamy apple, rhubarb and white wine sauce finished with rocket, toasted walnuts and aged balsamic. 
And finally the daily risotto dish with wild mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes, rocket and freshly shaved parmesan. 
I thought all the meals looked so appetising and were beautifully displayed. But in relation to our friendship, no matter how different our lives are now, this group of friends is still very special to me and I always enjoy catching up with them over a meal.
I find that no matter how many new restaurants open in Canberra, I always seems to return to the ones I love and one I particularly enjoy is Lazy Su voted the number 1 people’s choice restaurant in Canberra. The interior is distinctly Asian with a Japanese-Korean pop culture theme…I love it!!
On this occasion a few months ago I went with my friend Jon and a young Chinese friend we have become close to over the past year or so and who refers to us as his Aussie mum and dad – very sweet! The menu is good for meat lovers, vegetarians and vegans and there is a good choice of wines and spirits.
We started off with dumplings; vegan kimchi, tofu and shallots (more for me as neither Jon nor Peter ate any), pork and cabbage Chinese style dumplings and Korean buffalo wings which the boys told me were spicy and delicious.
The boys then ordered a soy braised pork dish with Korean pickles and shallots and a dish of jasmine tea smoked duck breast which was pan-seared with carrot and yuzu citrus purée and charred Asian greens. Then they shared a Korean noodle soup which contained pork belly, egg and crispy noodles.
I ordered a cheezeburger which has vegan mince, black beans, mustard, vegan cheddar, cos lettuce, tomato sauce and charred leaks. It was ‘really’ good but quite large so I need not have ordered Grandma’s Spicy Tofu (Ma Po Doufu 麻婆豆腐) with pickled mustard, eggplant, garlic, chilli and shallots.
Peter who was born in Sichuan in China and eats very spicy food regularly told us that to calm the tastebuds and numbness after a spicy dish you should eat sugar; haven’t tried this yet but I do know that milk, water and yoghurt do not work. We did order some from the waiter but it took a little while to reach us and my mouth had calmed down by that stage.
We were way too full for dessert so after an evening of good food and wine and lovely company it was time to say ‘goodbye’…until next time.
Jon chose The Green Herring Restaurant which is located in a historic village near my home. The restaurant is housed in one of Canberra’s oldest buildings; a 150 year old slab hut. The Slab Hut was built in 1860 in a small town about 100 kilometres from Canberra and was transported to Canberra in 1970 and has been The Green Herring Restaurant for over twenty years. The owner told us that the restaurant still maintains the original construction materials from almost 150 years ago with minor modifications and extensions to provide the necessities for restaurant operations.
We arrived and were shown to our table. The inside of this beautiful building is just as charming as the outside but probably a little too old fashioned for me. 
We ordered a bottle of Australian wine but found out Peter doesn’t drink so we ordered him a soft drink. Jon knows the owner of the restaurant having been there several times, so we were lucky to have personal service from the owner that evening. We started off with a cob loaf with roasted garlic butter and balsamic olive oil as well as dukkah focaccia bread with a duo of dips.
For our main courses, I of course, chose non meat dishes [a very nice pumpkin dish] and Jon discussed with Peter the Australian cuisine on the menu and then ordered for them both. They ate kangaroo, Australian prawns, Australian lamb and Australian eye rib fillet…
We also shared a couple of side dishes; beans and toasted almonds and buttery mashed potatoes…
Throughout the evening, it was lovely chatting to Peter and getting to know him a little better; hearing about his family in China and his studies in Australia. He has since invited us to meet his family in China [which we are now doing next month; so looking forward to returning to what I call ‘my second homeland’].
All in all a great night of fun conversation which allowed me to practice my Chinese (sometimes successfully)…
I wanted to thank some friends for something they did for me last year so I thought a dinner out at one of Canberra’s Chinese restaurants would be ideal…it was!
And tables are very nicely presented…
We ordered a couple of dishes to start; the Sichuan style crispy chicken with barley and caramelised onion and salt and pepper tofu and we also shared a bottle of white wine. I did like the serving bowls the dishes arrived in!
We also ordered the roast duck and mushroom pancake and a mushroom vegetarian pancake for me. These were put together at the table by our waiter so whilst it doesn’t look that great in my photo both were delicious. I also borrowed a photo to show what they look like inside.
A really nice evening and an excellent way for me to thank friends for being so generous.
A few months ago my friend Jane invited me out to dinner and said she wanted to try an Afghani restaurant near the city. I had no idea what Afghani food tasted like so took a look at the menu on-line and it looked great with lots of vegetarian dishes so off we went.
We decided on a banquet as both of us were relatively hungry and Jane suggested all vegetarian was great for me, but we really could not eat all dishes as there were so many!
We were then served a traditional Afghan dumpling which is steamed and topped with yogurt, chickpea tomato sauce and garnished with a little bit of mint. Again very good and so tasty…feeling a touch full at this stage!
Our next dish was called Kachaloo Loobia Korma; a chef’s special comprising a korma sauce with red kidney beans, mild spices and herbs accompanied by a really good naan bread. As you can imagine very full by now but had to taste this delicious dish and eat the naan bread.
At this stage I took a little break from eating and took some photos. It really is a lovely restaurant with great traditional ornaments, pictures and wall carpets. 
And the iconic photograph of the young beautiful green-eyed Afghani girl who appeared on the front of National Geographic in 1985.
I did find a photograph of her now on the internet [courtesy NY Times)…still with same amazing eyes just probably not staring as intently at the camera.
But back to our restaurant…still more food to come…the Banjan Boranee arrived which is another traditional Afghani dish of fried eggplant covered with cooked tomato and yogurt sauce and it was supposed to be garnished with dry mint but I couldn’t see any. Loving this dish so much along with a separate [large] dish of rice topped with a layer of julienne caramelised carrots, sultana and almond nuts [had to pick out the sultanas but apart from that a delicious aromatic rice].
A really good restaurant that I must take my friend Naomi to as she lived in Islamabad for over four years and I think she would love the food and ambience which I know is similar to that of Pakistan.
And walk along beautiful paved pathways…
Whilst enjoying a number of iconic cherry blossom trees. The planting scheme is mostly trees, groundcover plantings and specimen shrubs. The trees include twenty-four cherry blossoms, four Crepe Myrtles, ten Japanese Maples, and one Japanese Red Pine. Shrubs include Japanese Lily of the Valley, one of Japan’s earliest spring bloomers which is still the most common shrub grown in the city of Nara’s parks because the deer will not eat it.
Central to the park is the eight-metre tall pagoda, crafted by a Japanese sculptor. It stands as a miniature replica of Empress Komyoh’s towering pagoda, which was erected in Nara in 725AD. 
Other structures within the park are two large tōrōs, or Japanese lanterns, which weigh five and three tonnes respectively. 
And the World Peace Bell… 
The 350-kilo brass bell came from Japan and is a replica of the peace bell at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Its design includes 103 coins from nations of the UN.
And the final structure is a ‘Toku‘ which was commissioned to celebrate the 1300th anniversary of Nara. The sculpture has three main elements: A five-storied pagoda form which represents Canberra; a floating stone representing Nara; and the form of a small bird symbolising peace. The bird resembles a Latham’s Snipe, a species which migrates annually between Japan and Canberra (long way to go!!). 
A really lovely place to visit and enjoy the peacefulness and beauty.
The gardens celebrate the sister city link between Canberra and Beijing and is designed in the imperial Chinese garden style of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). The garden’s main feature is a traditional Chinese welcome gate guarded by two stone lions.
Once you have taken in the lovely views through the welcome gate you walk down the handcrafted steps which were made by the Chinese stonemasons and past Chinese stone sculptures depicting the four celestial symbols in Chinese mythology.
There are also lovely roof figures on the pavilion. These are statuettes placed along the ridge line of official buildings in particular in the Chinese empire. It is said that only official buildings (palaces, government buildings, and some temples) were permitted to use them but of course times have changed and I was able to buy some in Beijing whilst living there.
There is also a Stone of Appreciation which has been brought from Tai Lake near Shanghai. Limestone pieces such as these were often used as garden ornaments in the Tang Dynasty. Actually the Forbidden City has a large stone garden at the rear which is quite beautiful.
Then onwards toward Lotus Bay where there are lovely individual sculptures of cranes…
After seeing these lovely statues you walk towards the lake to a large replica statue of the Bronze Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow known in Chinese as Ma Ta Fei Yan马踏飞燕 and is regarded as a national treasure in China. 
The original sculpture is from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) and was unearthed by local farmers in Wuwei Country, Gansu Province in 1969.
I read about the horse some years ago and in late 2014 I returned to China to see both the bronze statue at the Gansu Provincial Museum and the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park (Rainbow Mountains) – both were amazing.
The original statue is relatively small. It measures about 34 cm high and is 41 cm long. It’s posture is said to be unique and carefully balanced according to dynamics. The horse is raising its head, neighing and galloping forward and with one foot treading on a flying swallow. That swallow accentuates the power and speed of the galloping horse.
Located near the gardens are the Japanese Gardens which are also worth a visit [more on those later].
I had read about the Chinese restaurant at the Canberra Casino which had very good reviews but had not particulary wanted to go there as it was located inside the casino and guess I didn’t think it would have great ambience being next to gambling tables. But… recently I read another review at the beginning of Chinese New Year (gong xi fa cai to my Chinese friends) which again mentioned how good the food is…so knew I had to go especially over CNY.
We were the only people in the restaurant which had lovely Chinese lanterns all throughout and was served by a beautiful girl who was born in Japan and moved to Australia to be with her partner; an Aussie boy – lovely chatting to her I must say.
I am not sure where the name Natural Nine comes from but all the colourful paper place mats have the Chinese character for the numeral nine on them and also the same character is on the walls. They all look fabulous.
The menu is extensive and great for vegetarians and I think that is why we ordered so much food. 
First up we ordered the steamed mushroom and water chestnut dumplings with black garlic dressing and as Jon loves spicy food and chicken wings he ordered the Sichuan pepper and lime chicken wings. Both dishes arrived pretty quickly which made me think they are part made and heated up when ordered but my dumplings were still very good and Jon said the wings were extremely tasty.
Our next dishes were the sweet and sour plum eggplant with handmade egg tofu – best dish ever!!! I loved it. This came served with a bowl of steamed rice but as we had ordered another rice dish we did not touch it.
We also shared a bowl of exotic mushroom and burnt onion wild fried rice; so delicious and such a big bowl, so we only were able to eat about half. Shame we were so full as it really was very good.
This restaurant is well worth visiting; such good food. After lunch we head to the Casino and watched a few people start with a huge pile of chips and end up with none!! I guess that is why I never gamble!!
When I spoke to the waitress, I had mentioned that the paper place mats were fabulous, so when we went to pay she gave me two to take home…very kind!!
A thirty minute walk from my home is a suburb with many Chinese/Thai/Indian and Vegan restaurants. I usually eat at the Dickson Dumpling House which is definitely my favourite but I wanted to try something different, so with a good friend who I used to go to school with [all those years ago], we visited a Malaysian/Chinese restaurant called Rasa Sayang. This particular restaurant has been in this suburb for over thirty-five years so it must be doing something well.
The menu is extensive with over 100 dishes to choose from and has lots of options for us vegetarians. I ordered the tofu with peanut sauce and Anne ordered the deep fried spring rolls with a plum sauce. Pretty good but am glad the tofu comes with a sauce otherwise in the main I do find it rather bland. But this particular tofu was lovely and fresh so it was enjoyable.
I ordered some Malaysian bread [roti chanai] to share which was absolutely delicious. My friend had not tried this type of bread before and loved it so guess next visit she will order it along with her omelette.
The owner is very personable and enjoys a joke whilst taking your order and as soon as he saw us laughing at his jokes, he returned to tell us more…more laughter and now ready to order our main courses. Anne ordered the crab omelette with beansprouts, shredded onions and topped with oyster sauce…she said it was absolutely delicious. So delicious that since that visit she drives over from her home [about half hour] to pick up this omelette regularly. [no photo as forgot to take one].
I enjoyed the evening very much and loved chatting to my friend but as it was a week night [I was working back then], we just ate our meals and left rather than what I usually like to do which is relax, chat and enjoy a glass of wine. Next time!!
