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.

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.