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ACT, Australia, Australian Capital Territory, canberra, Chinese cuisine, Dickson, Dickson Dumpling House, dinner with friends, Friends, Malaysian cuisine, Rasa Sayang Restaurant
A quick dinner with a friend
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.
We had made a reservation but as we were there early, we were initially the only people in the restaurant.
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 ordered the Eggplant Sambal, which was sliced eggplant cooked in a spicy sambal sauce..not bad but my preference is up the road at the Dumpling House. I don’t think this dish was as spicy as my preferred dish. Still good though!
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!!
A little later we walked up to Surry Hills, an inner city suburb and found our restaurant which was pretty cute inside along with a very sweet and attentive waiter.
Another four of my friends met us and we ordered some fabulous food; everyone decided on the vegan menu which was great for me as I got to try all dishes. Our entrees were home made spring rolls with a light sweet chilli sauce, deep fried vegetable puffs and steamed dumplings with a side of dipping sauce.
All were very good. Our main dishes consisted of two curries; one a lemongrass tofu curry and the other a deep fried tofu with vegetable dish. Then a mock chicken dish with finely chopped lemongrass and onions. All ‘yum’. I was so lucky to enjoy such a large selection of food.
As for my second visit, every year since we attended a 25 year school reunion twelve years ago, three (now four) of my school friends and I meet together for a long weekend, usually at one of our houses, but last year we decided to meet in Sydney and see the Carole King musical ‘Beautiful‘. We all grew up with that fabulous ‘record’ ‘Tapestry‘…
The musical was excellent and we sang along to all the songs and had a bit of a tear during some parts. No photos allowed during the show of course but I managed one of the stage before the show commenced.
As we attended a matinee session, we were finished around 5pm so decided to walk back to our Airbnb through the city, Hyde Park and then through the main street of Paddington where we stopped and had dinner at an Indian restaurant I used to go to when I worked in Sydney all those years ago. Great to see it was still there.
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 then walked for about half an hour until we found our next location and along the way we also saw some great local artwork along the street; this is definitely a real funky suburb with fabulous shops.
Jane said the bathrooms in the Sofitel are gorgeous; they have views overlooking the city – guess five star hotels can afford to have this.
After I retired from work at the end of November last year, I arranged a little mid-week catch up with two friends; Jane and Natalie. I decided to return to a contemporary Thai restaurant I had been to several years ago but didn’t enjoy but since have heard very good things about the food. I think the main reason I didn’t enjoy it previously was that it was a banquet without many vegetarian dishes. This time I had perused the menu and the vegetarian dishes looked so tasty. Even before I arrived I knew what I was going to order.
We decided to share some dishes but Nat and Jane wanted to also taste some of the meat dishes. This gave me the opportunity to order about three vegetarian dishes as of course I don’t eat meat.
To celebrate my retirement I brought along a bottle of French champagne which we enjoyed throughout the meal. I quite enjoy an inexpensive meal with a glass or two of champagne…
Jane and Nat decided on the salmon and pork crackling tortilla with kewpie and ham jam (one each) and the BBQ pork bun again by two so they could have one each.
The restaurant is located on the foreshore about a twenty minute drive from my home and has views of the lake. It’s a very busy area in the summer as with the seats and tables outside, people come for dinner and stay a while for some drinks…some restaurants here are a little overpriced but this one is reasonable and I am sure I will return!
Last year my friend Tracey leased a lovely little home in the southern highlands of New South Wales, which is about a two hour drive from Canberra, and invited me to visit her for the weekend. The home has two bedrooms and a newly renovated bathroom and kitchen. The gardens are just gorgeous with a small pond and waterfall.
After I arrived and Tracey had shown me around the garden and house, we took her dog Laddie for a walk up the laneway and back – a nice little walk in the countryside which takes about half an hour or so. For the next two mornings, I would get up early and do this same walk with Laddie. He really loves his walks and is fine to walk off the lead [unlike my furry babies].
Along our walk there were beautiful meadows containing many cows…so lovely to see the countryside and take in its smells; good and bad!!
The views in the early morning and late afternoon were particularly beautiful…
One morning we went to the local markets where we both bought some locally made jams and condiments followed by a drive to the local village of Fitzroy Falls where within the bushland you will see a beautiful 81 metre waterfall.
There are also some stunning cliff face views and mountain scenery along the way; not a place I think you would want to get lost…
And some interesting Australian bushes [being shown off by Tracey all rugged up for the cold weather].
On our way home we stopped off at a local supermarket which sold great home made soups, desserts, biscuits, jams, pickles etc and bought up a storm both to eat that evening and for us both to take home!
Sharon [girl after my own heart] ordered the shoestring fries with house seasoning and ranch dressing – very good fries and I can say that being a total ‘French fry connoisseur’.
The bar theme also centres around floral displays of stunning orchids and other greenery which makes the bar very feminine…I loved it! The visual centrepiece of this bar is a large LED flatscreen attached to the roof, showing a live feed of the movie Alice in Wonderland [minus the sound] – what a fabulous idea!
Velour couches frame all areas of the interior, with a lower area complete with an antique sideboard as a DJ table. The decorations are lovely and the checkered wallpaper just adds to that classiness.
A great place for a cocktail before dinner or a longer evening with drinks and snacks.
In October this year, I met my friend Sandy in Melbourne. I travelled with my Canberra based friend Jane and prior to our travel I contacted two friends I used to work with (and had visited them both in NY and London when they lived there), so it was obvious that we would also visit them whilst so much closer in Melbourne.
Platform 4b is next to platform 4a and as we walked past we saw a train there, but as Jane had the lead we waited to hear from her….[silly us] so this was not good when we missed another train as it departed from 4a not 4b. Imagine how we mocked Jane!
Our dear friends, chef Annie and wait staff were all waiting for us and had pre-arranged a lovely meal taking into consideration my dietary needs. The menu at this fabulous restaurant is created from fresh food from the garden and meats and poultry from the surrounding region – exceptional food I must say!
Chef Annie creates a seasonal menu and sometimes the dishes are plated, sometimes shared, but always they revolve around what is being harvested from the garden or taken from the store cupboard.
The others were served dishes of duck which came out beautifully presented and I am told delicious.
My friend Sandy, who doesn’t eat duck [amongst many other things], had a pear, rocket and parmesan cheese salad.
At the same time as our main course arrived, we were also served a dish of scolloped potatoes to share which were oven baked in a cream sauce.
Our main courses consisted of a potato rosti with salad and dressing for me and a fresh fish dish for others.
It really is amazing how different fresh food from the paddock tastes – love it.
Annie also sells beautiful seasonal jams and preserves. I bought a jar of raspberry jam and marmalade [which I gave to a friend who said it was delicious). And I love the raspberry jam.
I look back now and realise I do miss New York; the hustle and bustle, those wonderful yellow taxi cabs with constant horn blowing and the sights that are famous and known throughout the world. My two friends Tracey and Sandy and I went there in 2015 and I can’t believe its been two years; where does the time go. This post will cover a few of the places we visited whilst in NYC.
One of the main reasons my friend booked this tour was to visit a wonderful pizza restaurant called Grimaldi’s whose history of coal-fired brick oven pizza cooking can be traced to the first pizzeria in America back in 1905. It was a fabulous little restaurant and just before lunch there was already a lengthy line up waiting to get in but as we were on a bus tour, we went straight in.
We also took a cruise of NY Harbour one afternoon which was a great way to see the city buildings and the Statue of Liberty although I hear the Staten Island ferry is a better way to get close to the statue and its free.
We also went to the National September 11 Memorial but didn’t go into the Museum as the line was very long. Tracey had visited the museum before and said it was worth the visit but as we were time poor we decided not to line up. We were so glad we paid our respects at the Memorial though; it’s a beautiful site for such a tragic event.
It was our friend Sandy’s first visit to New York so we wanted to make sure she went to the tope of the Empire State Building. We hopped off the hop on hop off bus tour at this stop and went to the viewing platform for some beautiful sights of NYC.
Coney Island was another place we went to on the bus tour to Brooklyn. This was a nice place to see and just take a stroll along the beachfront. The huge roller coaster was not working but I wasn’t sure if that was a long term thing or it was just closed for the day.
We also had drinks at a rooftop bar in NYC with fabulous views and excellent cocktails!!
Sue's Fabulous Travels 
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