Tags
ACT, Australia, canberra, Cheezeburger, deep fried tofu, dinner with friends, Dumplings, jasmine tea smoked duck breast, Korean buffalo wings, Lazy Su restaurant, mapo doufu
A Canberra restaurant I love…
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.
I only like mildly spiced dishes and I forgot to ask the waiter how spicy this dish was…oh my goodness it made my tongue and lips go numb with the first big mouthful. What a shame as it really was good but I couldn’t eat any more.
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 did order one more dish which was really tasty; deep friend tofu with an avocado sauce – wow so good. I think even non-tofu lovers would enjoy this one.
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.
Last month a friend of mine was departing Canberra to work in London so we met one day to enjoy some dumplings just days before she left Australia. We were the only people in the restaurant as we arrived for an early lunch, so had the full attention of the waitress who was very friendly. The walls are still adorned with colourful pictures and photos and there is a well stocked bar for evening drinks.
I had been to this restaurant previously and had been told that the menu was going to become more extensive especially in relation to vegetarian food, so wanted to give it another go; glad I did. There was a lot of choices for us vegetarians which was great.
Jen also ordered the Peking duck bao and I was going to order the fried green beans but the waitress said she thought I would really enjoy the mini Jian Bing which is also known as a Chinese egg burrito. The waitress was right; this was absolutely delicious.
It’s a nice little restaurant where you can sit inside or out [we sat indoors on our visit as it was a bit warm outside] and the food is really really good. Definitely worth a visit for anyone living in or visiting Canberra.
We enjoyed the evening very much and spoke about our recent travels to China including some amusing stories that my other friends could relate to having lived in Beijing for two years.
