Another weekend in Sydney – New South Wales – Australia – June – 2018

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Australia, Capitol Theatre, Chippendale, Concrete Jungle Cafe, New South Wales, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, school friends, Spice Alley, Thai food

My annual catch up with school friends

I left school ‘many’ years ago and for the past fourteen years a few of my school friends and I catch up annually.  This year  with my friends Belinda, Lianne and Michelle we went to Sydney to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the iconic Capitol Theatre.

(www.priscillasydney.com.au)

 It was an extremely funny musical and the costumes were amazing but of course no photos allowed during the show so took one of the stage before the musical started and the classical statues wearing feather boa.We laughed pretty much non-stop for two hours after which we popped into a local bar for a cocktail before heading back to our Airbnb.We decided to walk back towards our apartment and on the way found this fabulous Thai restaurant where we enjoyed satay tofu, salt and pepper tofu, curried vegetables (and tofu) and my friends ordered two meat dishes.  I think we were ‘tofued’ out at the end of the evening but we all said the food was exceptional.

The next morning Belinda left very early to get home (her train journey was over two hours) so Michelle found a great local cafe on-line called Concrete Jungle that served vegan dishes.  Great find!!I started off with a pot of peppermint tea and the girls ordered coffees, followed by poached eggs on sourdough toast.  This came with a side of avocado (more than anywhere else we have seen – half an avocado!).  I ordered a vegan dish of coconut feta and quinoa fritters with coconut labne, avocado, fatoush salad and hazelnut dukkah – oh my goodness I have never tasted coconut feta but it was the best and the rest of the dish was amazing!!When we finished I wanted to walk through an alley I had seen the previous evening –  Spice Alley – what a great find.

We wished we had eaten there the previous evening with its gorgeous coloured lanterns, wooden stools and seats and a large range of Asian restaurants.  But we decided we were more than happy with our Thai choice.Spice Alley is quite small but definitely worth the visit to see its paved pathway, colourful signs and street art…And vibrant posters of Asian women and lovely rooftops above the restaurants…It was so lovely walking through mid-morning as the restaurants were just in the process of lunch preparation so no-body was around.We finished our walking tour and stepped onto another slightly wider paved street that runs parallel to Spice Alley which has more lovely restaurants and an actual Tuk Tuk parked on the kerb.  We walked a little further to Central Railway Station through the country train station which is rather lovely with a beautiful clock hanging in the grand concourse…And time to depart once more until we meet next year!

 

 

Morks Restaurant – Kingston Foreshore – Canberra – ACT – Australia – December 2017

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ACT, Australia, canberra, champagne, Contemporary Thai food, Friends, Moet & Chandon, Morks Restaurant, Thai food

Midweek dinner with champagne

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.

I ordered a dish of sweet potato dumplings in a Panang curry for us to share and the Chinese eggplant bun [just for me]…wow great dishes and so delicious.  The curry was really good and very filling too!!I also ordered the Thai noodle salad with Vietnamese pancake – again this one for sharing as it’s a pretty big dish.  This was also very good.
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!

Little Thailand Restaurant – Canberra – ACT – Australia – September 2016

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ACT, Australia, canberra, Little Thailand Restaurant, Thai food

An unexpected evening out in Canberra

A friend called me unexpectedly one Monday night and asked me out for dinner.  Now I usually don’t like going out on a Monday night, not really sure why but I just like to come home from work, go for a walk with my little dog and then rest up.  But I decided to go out and we went up to my local restaurant area and found my absolute favourite Chinese dumpling restaurant closed, so we decided on the restaurant next door which serves Thai food.

Service was excellent during the whole evening and we enjoyed sitting around for quite a few hours chatting and eating lovely Thai food.

We shared our main meals but ordered separate entrees.  I ordered the tofu with peanut sauce (delicious – perhaps a little too much sauce though) and my friend ordered the tempura prawns with dipping sauce.

For main course, we decided to share two dishes; the vegetarian pad thai with bean sprouts, chives and crushed peanuts and the mixed vegetables and tofu with chilli jam and cashew nuts…both dishes were lovely and fresh.  I really enjoy pad thai and often order it at Thai restaurants and this one was delicious especially with a squeeze of lemon.  We also ordered some steamed rice which came in the lovely silver dish that is so often used at Thai restaurants to serve the rice.

A nice evening with great fresh Thai food.  A place to remember to return.

Thai Restaurant – Canberra – ACT – Australia – June 2016

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ACT, Australia, canberra, Kinn Restaurant, Thai food, Vegetarian

What I think is the best Thai food I have had in years!!

I had never heard of this restaurant in Canberra until a friend of mine invited me to dinner one evening.  It’s in the centre of Canberra along the main street [for those of you who do not know Canberra it’s a pretty small main street but has several nice restaurants and a large shopping centre].

My two friends decided they would order a vegetarian dish so that we could all share and I am so glad as there were such fabulous dishes on the menu.

To start we shared the deep fried eggplant which was amazing…I think I order eggplant at any time I can when I go out I love it so much.

Then we ordered the tofu, egg and pumpkin curry with greens and also the stir fried chilli green peppercorn eggplant with green beans and chilli – I am so lucky my friends are also lovers of eggplant so I got to share more than one eggplant dish!!!

The food at this restaurant is so good that I went again today and my friend and I ordered the curry puffs to share for entrée, whilst my other friend ordered the duck pancakes; which he loved.

Then for main course, as I had told these particular friends about the deep friend eggplant dish and the pumpkin curry dish and told them how delicious they were, they both wanted to try them.  So that’s what we ordered to share and my friends also ordered the Crying Tiger Salad which is Wagu beef with stir fried mixed vegetables and a Thai dipping sauce called Nam Jim Jaew.  They both told me that was a really tasty dish.

Such fabulous food!! On the way to our cars, I saw a couple I used to work with in Beijing and funnily enough they were asking about a good Thai restaurant in Canberra so I was able to honestly tell them about this great restaurant.  I am sure I will be back!!