Pomegranate, Kingston – trying the Banquet Menu

Ever since I noticed Pomegrante’s Banquet menu, it’s been on my Wishlist to try.

It wasn’t perfect timing – I’d not long finished an amazing lunch – but I couldn’t let that deter me.

Having said that, it could have been a lacklustre appetite, the lack of good lighting, or my determination not to be too annoying to my friends, but I do have to apologise up front for the following severely sub-standard photos.

Please do use a little imagination and know that my pics don’t do justice to the quality or presentation of the dishes.

Our $62 per person banquet began with

Chilli, humus and eggplant dips with bread and assorted olives

Then came a selection of entrees…

FRITTERS Zucchini and fetta cheese fritters with garlic yoghurt dressing

CHARGRILLED FIELD MUSHROOM with rocket salad, tomato salsa and fetta cheese

CHARGRILLED QLD KING PRAWN Wrapped in thin pastry strings, served with tomato relish & tahini yoghurt

….and a variety of main dishes with a side salad

BABY HIROSHIMA KINGFISH with braised leeks and carrot

MILDLY SPICED CHICKEN BREAST sliced, served with Dijon lime mustard dressing

CHARGRILLED COWRA LAMB CUTLET

LEAF SALAD

Mix of radicchio, cos lettuce heart, roquette, goat fetta cheese,walnut & tomato slice, dressed with balsamic dressing

We finished with dessert which was my highlight of the meal – a delicious…

SEKERPARE Almond, Semolina pastry soaked with honey syrup, served with Tahini Helva & Cardomon icecream

But others at my table chose a la carte so I can show you more…

Entrees a la carte

PRAWN MUSAKKA served with chargrilled eggplant, tomato relish and tarama-salata  $25

BALMAIN BUG-PAN sautéed ,braised baby fennel,lemon yoghurt &shitaki mushroom $30

Sardines with panko crust

Mains a la carte

Spatchcock, marinated with mild chilli paste and spices served with baby veg & cracked wheat pilaf  $33

Chargrilled Cowra lamb cutlets, served with Saffron Cous Cous  $33

Baby Hiromasa Kingfish with braised leeks and carrot and Dijon mustard dressing  $33

WAGYU BEEF SIRLOIN with mash potato, exotic mushrooms, beef jus & truffle mushroom puree  $36

Slow cooked lamb shoulder

MIXED NUT ICECREAM with cinnamon crunch and caramel sauce $14

Everyone enjoyed what they’d ordered.

But I think, as the standout for me were the seafood and fish dishes and the desserts, next time I’d skip the banquet (great value that it is) and order a la carte.

Lovely decor and excellent service.

Pialligo Estate – excellent for lunch in the Garden Pavillions

Pialligo Estate is one of my three favourite Canberra spots for fine dining.

It is blessed by the most gorgeous setting, so close to town.

And Pialligo Estate does food and wine so well, enjoying it’s own vineyard, winery and smokehouse.

I especially love the Garden Pavillions that truly make the most of Pialligo Estate’s assets.

So I was especially pleased to be there to try a group set menu lunch, a new experience for me at Pialligo.

Our delicious meal began with…

Three Mills Sourdough, Pialligo Estate Olive Oil

Pialligo Salmon Gravlax, Dill Pickles

Burrata, Early Season Tomatoes & Rocket Pesto

Smokehouse Meats, Condiments

…progressed to….

Spit Holmbrae Chicken, Pazanella

Whole Roasted Lamb Shoulder & Chickpeas

Potatoes in Olive Oil, Rosemary

Leaves in Aged Vinegar

…..and finished with….

Cheese Platter & Condiments

Vanilla Panacotta with Coffee & Chocolate

This pannacotta was the most lovely I’ve ever had and the star of the meal.

I will need to enjoy that again!

The set menu we enjoyed is excellent value at $70 per person for three courses with sides and cheese platter

This was beautifully complimented by a great selection of wines

I do love all the innovative things Pialligo Estate gets up to.

They are currently renovating the Farmhuse Restaurant and Rohan has more plans in mind.

The new Masterclasses are on my wish list.

So exciting to see the offerings from Pialligo Estate constantly evolving with new delights.

Canberra Wine Week – showcasing the best of the region!

Canberra District Wine Week has just finished up with the Harvest Festival on the weekend!

And what a great line up of dinners, tastings and hands on experiences!
My week began with Matt from Long Rail Gully and Fergus from Mt Majura Winery, who were first to host after work wine tastings at Ostani, Realm Hotel.

I learnt that Canberra has great Rieslings and Shiraz and I agree. They were definitely my favourites along with that gorgeous Long Rail Gully SC dessert wine – yes, it would be perfect over ice cream.
But the Rieslings and Shiraz continued to be wonderful as I had the lovely job of planning a ladies lunch for five old school buddies in town for the weekend!
Along the way to the wineries we called in at Hops & Vine in Hall…

Not only is Hops & Vine the cellar door for many regional wines, it has great tastings of local fudge, balsamic vinegars, olive oil and Dukkah! But the shop is full of gorgeous treats.

My favourite was the Murrora 2016 Riesling – so good!

I had consulted the Food & Wine Marshall and trawled the Liquid Geography website for the best spots for lunch.

A hard task, as so many wineries were offering music, food and….wine!
But Barton Estate ticked all the boxes!

Close to town…

Art….

Music by the very talented young Nama….

A lovely family run business that Bob and Julie, both plant biologists, started in 1998.

They now have children who are involved in the winery like Georgia, whom the Estate’s Shiraz is named after.

And Marty!

Luxurious tastings to narrow down our choices for lunch and again, it was hard to beat the Shiraz – Georgia’s Shiraz!

A wonderful $25 lunch including our choice of wine and either a Harvest Platter with chicken and pork terrine, prosciutto wrapped figs on haloumi, selection if fine cheese, Barton Estate olives plus more!

Or we could have chosen with our wine the Tuscan rustic sausage and bean casserole served with bread…

Julie insists on doing everything with style. I love that thoughtfulness and attention to detail. There’s no paper plates or catering here, everything is home cooked!
And then for $15 we could have finished our meal with one of the Individual Cheesecakes with an Autumn Berry Coulis, Riesling Jelly and edible flowers and a glass of delicious Elva Late pick Riesling….

But we were off to Robyn Rowe Chocolates to try the $8 desserts on offer there.

Our favourite was the Lime and White Chocolate Mud Cake with Candied Lime Zest and whipped cream or icecream….

But the Prune and Hazelnut Torte with Frangelico Cream and icecream ….

….and the Date Meringue Gateaux with Chocolate Mousse filling served with whipped cream or ice cream, were all good choices.

What a perfect day, full of the company of gorgeous old friends, delicious wines, lovely food and the warmth and friendliness of local wine and chocolate makers, cooks and local purveyors of fine foods.
We are already looking forward to next year!

Unpacking the Indian Lunchbox with Cooking Circles Canberra and Joy Indian Restaurant

This week Cooking Circles Canberra‘s hosted their biggest ever event at Joy Indian Restaurant – Unpacking the Indian Lunchbox.

Shafique and his lovely wife Farhana, proud owners of the recently opened Joy Indian Restaurant, generously welcomed over 50 Canberra women and taught and prepared some of the dishes that go into the Indian lunchbox.

Some had come along last year to Shafique’s Cooking Circles Bangladeshi workshop at Taste of Bangladesh in Manuka. Last year it was delicious so Cooking Circles regulars were expecting equally wonderful food from Shafique this time.

But before we started cooking, we needed to know the amazing story of the Indian Lunchbox….

Mumbai has an incredibly efficient and economical lunch delivery system that is over 125 years old.

Six days a week, 5,000 Dabbawallahs collect over 200,000 home cooked meals, deliver them to offices and then return the lunchbox or dabba to the cook at home charging only $10 a month.
It all started in 1890 when Mahadeo, like many others, arrived in Bombay seeking to make his fortune.

Mahadeo quickly realised that those who did have work, found it particularly tricky to eat the kind of home cooked lunch they wanted.

It was hard for the home cook to have the rice, bread and curry ready by 7am when their menfolk left for work and if they did get up super early, it would all be cold by lunch time.
So Mahadeo recruited 100 men and started the now famous Bombay lunch delivery system.
This is how it works. Office workers leave home around around 7 o’clock…

….when their wives, sisters and mothers are busy cooking.

Then the Dabbawallahs start work around 8:30 after a quick road side Chai with their mates.
They are easily recognisable by their white cotton Kurta pyjamas and their Gandhi style cap.
Dabbawallahs are organised into groups of 25 who work together all their working lives.
If someone leaves, they recruit a friend of relative, which means that most Dabbawallahs are from the town of Pune. It also means they are great friends!

About 9 o’clock each Dabba wallah picks up around 30 different lunches from home cooks and then by bike takes them to the nearest train station….

…. where they get coded and sorted by another Dabbawallah who loads them onto the train.
Then they are taken by another Dabbawallah to the end point station.

The lunch delivery system all depends on Mumbais amazing railways, and timing is tight to fit with the train timetable.
There’s about 30 seconds to load or unload at stations.
Needless to say, no Dabbawallah gets to eat his own lunch until well after everyone else.
The lunchboxes are often carried in wooden crates on Dabbawallahs heads.

The coding system uses colours shapes and numbers.
The code identifies the Dabbawallahs at each stage of the process, the collection neighbourhood, office building and floor. The colour of the bag identifies the office worker.
At the end station, a local Dabbawallahs collects the lunchbox and delivers it to the right person in the right office by 12:30. Mistakes are incredibly rare, 1 in 8,000.
The office worker enjoys a lovingly cooked home made meal just the way his wife, mother or sister knows he likes it!

Then at 5pm it all happens in reverse. And the dabba or Lunchbox gets safely delivered back to the home cook.

The dabba wallahs also have started a system where any uneaten food can be identified by a sticker and taken to feed those in need, all at no cost to the client. This is a service to the community by the Dabbawallahs.
Dabbawallahs consider their work to be worthy and noble. They are serving God by delivering healthy, nourishing food and will be blessed.
And to it was to Shafique who told us more about the foods that go into the Dabba!

We tried our hand at rolling roti and learnt to cook it in our home frypan.

We also learnt to cook lentil vegetable rice….

….and Chicken Kadai all typical dishes that might be found in many an Indian lunchbox!

And finally we all sat down to enjoy a fabulous meal together.

We all left a great evening with new friendships, new recipes and new experiences!
Many thanks to Kirsty Young for her photos.

Check out this 3-minute video that explains everything about these amazing lunch boxes

Catch ‘The Lunchbox’ movie free to watch on SBS On Demand.

Photo sources http://sonyclassics.com/thelunchbox/dates/ and

Continental Delicatessen, Newtown – old Sydney done well!

I love the restaurants of Ben Milgate, Joe Valore and Elvis Abrahanowic -, they are my favourites in Sydney – Porteno, Bodega and my favourite in Sydney so far….Stanbuli

What you dependably get is a good time!

Theatre, pizazz and waitstaff full of personality.

But each restaurant has its on distant theme.

Portenos is Argentinian and spit roasted meats. Stanbuli is middle eastern meyheme bar!

Continental Deli is European old Sydney.

It captures the strong influence of European immigration on Australian colonial-style cuisine.

It’s like a family owned Old Sydney corner store full of continental meats, cheeses and tinned fish.

It fondly takes me back to Uni days in Newtown and I love the feel of happy memories.

But it Continental takes it’s theme to a new level, adding great style and chic.

A cross between a deli and a bar there’s an…

Upstairs bistro but like Stanbuli…

…the downstairs bar is so much more fun.

Having regretted not choosing the chef’s menu at Stanbuli, it’s on my Wishlist for 2017 at Continental Deli.

For $65 per person it’s good value, offers dishes I wouldn’t have chosen for myself that I loved and surprisingly is not too much food.

Continental sourdough & olive oil – per person $3.50 is an extra, but boy is it worth it.

The platter of meats was surprisingly excellent with the Hot sopressa, Jamón serrano and thinly sliced Mortadella (really good!!)

I was not as much a fan of the fish plates…

Don bocarte anchovies with pickles

Raw kingfish, finger lime, curry leaf oil and bottarga

Really good were the…

Steak tartare, parmesan, gaufrette potatoes

Heirloom tomatoes, pickled green tomatoes, stracciatella, grilled sourdough

Octopus, sobrasada, corn and jalapeno

Roasted chicken with pot-au-feu vegetables

Fantastic was the Strawberries, fennel seed caramel & creme anglaise – a wonderful way to finish!

It was a memorably great meal!

Looking forward to a return visit!

Fine Eating

Hints Hacks and Highlights

Month: April 2017

Pomegranate, Kingston – trying the Banquet Menu

Pialligo Estate – excellent for lunch in the Garden Pavillions

Canberra Wine Week – showcasing the best of the region!

Continental Delicatessen, Newtown – old Sydney done well!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Catch ‘The Lunchbox’ movie free to watch on SBS On Demand.

Photo sources http://sonyclassics.com/thelunchbox/dates/ and

Share this:

Share this: