Jamie’s Italian Kitchen – Canberra – ACT – Australia – May 2016

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ACT, Australia, canberra, Italian food, Jamie Oliver's restaurant, lunch

Eating Italian food at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant 

This year, I made a list of casual restaurants I would like to try in Canberra and Jamie’s Italian was one, so with two of my friends we met and tried the food at this franchise.

One friend and I sat at the bar enjoying a glass of wine while we waited for our other friend and when she arrived, we were seated at a little booth which was comfortable with a huge chandelier above us and an array of cured meats and hanging garlic above the kitchen area.

Our waitress allowed us to sample a couple of wines before we bought, as they were Italian and we had not tasted them before.

There are great small plates to share on the menu and whilst we wanted to eat them all, we decided on just one dish which was the crispy polenta chips – they were good!!

I ordered the margherita pizza for my main course and it was nice; a reasonable looking pizza with a tasty base and even though it was not the best I have ever had, it was still enjoyable.  There were many dishes to choose from for vegetarians but this day I felt like pizza as had seen one being delivered to another table and it looked pretty good.

My friends ordered the prawn linguine which consisted of fried garlic prawns with fennel, tomatoes, chilli, saffron, fish broth & lemon rocket and the squid and mussel spaghetti which had  flash-fried squid and mussels with octopus, capers, chilli, anchovies, tomatoes and white wine.  My friends both said they enjoyed their meals.

Food was ok and service very good, but I think I need to return to try an eggplant dish that I think has my name on it which has so many ingredients that make it sound really interesting (roasted eggplant with a ragù of lentils and tomatoes and smoked paprika with a garlicky yoghurt dressing, toasted pine nuts, lemon rocket and pomegranate).

Jamie’s has so many vegetarian dishes on its menu which all sound delicious including:

• pasta filled with roasted squash, ricotta and parmesan in a pumpkin, chilli and rosemary butter
• a tomato based pasta with garlic, basil, chillies, vegetarian pecorino and herb breadcrumbs
• pasta stuffed with zucchini and mint and
• a truffle risotto

 It’s always nice when a restaurant has so many options for vegetarians!!

Lunch at Marble & Grain Restaurant – Canberra – ACT – Australia – October 2015

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Australia, canberra, lunch, Marble and Grain, restaurant

A long lunch with fabulous cocktails in Canberra

My dear friend from Sydney, Tracey wanted to come to Canberra for a visit so I planned with another friend to go out to lunch at a local restaurant; one I hadn’t been to before – Marble & Grain near the centre of Canberra city.

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into the restaurant as it was very modern but I should have realised this as it’s actually located in the new ‘Avenue Hotel’ which other friends had told me was very lovely and a good place to recommend for visitors to Canberra.  The kitchen is open plan and we sat nearby and could see the chef cooking our meals.

The restaurant also has a huge glass fridge which contained the cold meats (not for me of course being a vegetarian but I am sure meat eaters might find it appealing)

The menu had good variety and I ordered the haloumi cheese salad (which was very nice) but a lot of cheese so I shared with my friends.  Both my friends ordered four oysters kilpatrick each and scallops for entree which came served with cauliflower, watercress and smoked chorizo oil.  We all agreed the entrees were delicious.

We also started with some NZ white wine and both my friends had a cocktail each; one of about three or four I think they had [each].  The cocktail menu is rather extensive with some very interesting cocktails and cocktail names.  I had a taste of each but as cocktails are not my thing, I only had one sip.  Both of my friends enjoyed every one they ordered which included names such as ‘The Italian Job’, ‘Pablo Escabar’, ‘Xpresso Ice Cream Martini’, ‘Chilli Chilli Bang Bang’ and ‘The Kardashian’.

For our main course I ordered the honey roasted pumpkin salad which came served over winter leaves with honey roasted seeds and lemon dressing; but too much mayonnaise over the whole dish [which was not on the menu] for my liking and unfortunately only two pieces of pumpkin.  My friend Tracey had the goats cheese soufflé with wild fig and roasted hazelnuts whilst my other friend, Jon ordered the seafood bouillabaisse with tomato, saffron and fennel broth.  He enjoyed this enormously and used the sourdough bread which came with our entrees to dip into the broth which he said was absolutely delicious.

Service was excellent.  Our waiter was a young boy who told us he was leaving Australia to move to Canada as he has a job as a waiter ready for him.  The wine menu was reasonable with plenty of wines to choose from.  The restaurant also had a beautiful wine fridge which really suited the ambience of the place; all wood and glass.

There is also a great bar menu for those who just want to hang around the bar and eat some snacks.  They serve arancini balls, thick cut chips, cheese platters and soft corn tacos and other more substantial meals.

A place definitely worth going for lunch or for dinner.

Drinks and Lunch at The Kurrajong Hotel – Barton – Canberra – Aug/Sept 2015

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canberra, drinks, Kurrajong Hotel, lunch, restaurant

The Kurrajong Hotel

(photo from http://www.travellingking.com)

The Kurrajong Hotel, is located just across the road from my work in Canberra and has, in the past few years, been refurbished.  When the hotel was built, it was used as a hostel for public servants awaiting relocation.  But now it’s a good place to pop over after work for a glass of wine or great for a set lunch (again with a glass of wine).

The lobby area is decorated in rich browns with bright blues and gold and looks very inviting especially in winter with the open fire.  It’s quite cosy in the lobby to sit for a couple of glasses of wine but it can get a little busy around 5pm when guests are entering the reception area, which is just at the back of the lobby, to check in after a days work in Canberra.

A couple of weeks ago some colleagues and I went to the Chifley Bar & Grill, which is named after Australia’s 16th Prime Minister, Ben Chifley who lived at the hotel for eleven years from 1940-1951.  We made a booking for a table on the enclosed verandah which was very nice but service was extremely slow both waiting to place an order for drinks and then our meals.  And it was not a busy day for the restaurant.

We all ordered from the entrée and main course Lunch Pre Fixe which has a vegetarian option for both courses.  Several of us had the pumpkin & ricotta tortellini with sage beurre noisette which was absolutely delicious.  For my main course, I ordered the porcini mushrooms and pecorino risotto – which was a little dry for my liking.  I have had the same meal on a previous occasion and it was delicious so perhaps just a bad day for the chef!!

Several of my colleagues had the wagu, pearl onion and pepper pie with parsnip crisps which most of them enjoyed but one colleague sent hers back as it was cold inside.  Once we had attracted the staff, they did offer a replacement meal.  It is a place I would return to because the ambience is lovely and I think it was just a bad day for service and meals.