Little Bird, Barton – another delicious sandwich! @littlebirdbarton

Little Bird has a small but excellent menu, quick, friendly service and great prices!

The salads are great, but I do especially enjoy the roasted sandwiches.

Having savoured the Reuben I was keen to try the Roast Pumpkin.

ROAST PUMPKIN
Field mushrooms, basil pesto + fetta $11.90

It had just the perfect balance of fetta, pesto, nicely roasted pumpkin slices and large flavoursome field mushrooms.

The soup of the day was Winter Vegetable – a generous serve, also very much appreciated by my lunch companion!

SOUP OF THE DAY
with bread $12.90

Flying Duck, Prahran, Victoria – a friendly local

The Flying Duck Hotel in Prahan, is a great all rounder.

Relaxed and casual it has a varied and interesting menu that includes dishes like…

Caprese salad – heirloom tomatoes, homemade ricotta and basil

Croquettes – semi dreied tomatoes and goat cheese with broccoli pesto

Salt and Pepper Squid and housemade kimchi salad with sushi

Aromatic grilled focaccia and housemade dips

Spanish-style ratatouille with baked egg, tomato, zucchini and eggplant

Spinach spaghetti with spanner crab, diamond clams and manzanilla wine

Gurnard, green mojo and potatoes cooked in papillote

Duck breast, served with chestnut puree and pine mushrooms

Vegetarian risotto with button mushrooms and parmesan cheese

300gm Porterhouse – grass fed steak with mushroom sauce. roquette slad and hand-cut chips

Side of green beans

Dessert plate!

Chez Kimchi, Canberra City

Chez Kimchi has been on my wishlist for a while so it was great to try the highly popular fried chicken

…and some dumplings to go with it…

Very friendly and helpful staff..

…and clearly popular…

but next time I do think I’d try a soup, korean pancake or stew..

..or share a hotpot…

Open Sundays for lunch.

Trying South Indian String Hoppers (Idyappam) at home!

Idyappam are very popular in South India and Sri Lanka (string hoppers) to mop up delicious curry gravies.

Earlier this year we learn the technique from Mary (Mary’s Kitchen) in Kochi Kerala, who, along with her husband Martin, serves amazing food, but also is a wonderful teacher.

In fact we learnt a whole host of fabulous recipes like Fish in Green Mango Curry, Chicken Korma and Aloo Gobi ( potato and cauliflower).

Mary taught us, but Martin hopped on his motorcycle and headed to the market to buy us the special press and steamer we needed.

Now back in Canberra, it was time to try it out on my own.

Mixing approximately equal parts of rice flour mixed with a little salt, and boiling water until I had a soft dough, I then added this to the press.

The thin noodles were steamed for a few minutes and while I’m they are best made just before serving, there was no problem making them ahead of time and microwaving them to serve.

They were perfect served with some of the curries I’d learnt from Robin in Munnar, Kerala…..

And from Lishan at the Spice House in Marissa, Sri Lanka.

Lots of wonderful memories.

Daana – heading to Curtin, the start of an exciting new venture! @daana_canberra

Daana has gained a strong following of lovers of regional Indian cuisine since Sanjay and Sunita opened in Westside Acton late last year. Serving great street food from a both north (Sanjay) and south (Sunita) India, they’ve added comfortable wet weather seating for customer comfort.

But now it’s time to take their great street food from a both north (Sanjay) and south (Sunita) India, to a new home in Curtin.

Following in the footsteps of Binny’s Kathitto ( that recently made the move from their pop up in the Hamlet to a permanent home on Lonsdale Street), Daana is heading to a great stand alone venue previously occupied by Silver Fox and before that Delissio. It has in front free parking very easy a access for Woden workers. The perfect spot for end of year lunches!

But Saturday was the time to celebrate this new venture with Sanjay and Sunita as they served Biriyani for the last time from Acton Park.

They were serving their famous Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani…

$8 for a half serve of Vegetable Biriyani….

$12 for a full serve….

$12 for a half serve of Chicken Biriyani ($18 full serve)

The raita that accompanied the Biriyani was amazing!

(The Malabar Paratha with Chicken Marsala $15 was so tempting…very hard to decide).

There was also Carrot Halwa for dessert $5 half serve $8 full serve.

Other delicious choices included the samosa $8 for two…

Dahl Vada $10 for 4

Idli with Sambar $10

I can’t wait to try the new venue when it opens in September, Tuesday – Sunday lunch and dinner.

Grill’d Manuka – a good spot for a group

It’s not always easy to make a chain eatery work well for a group meal because tables as often smaller and fixed position and it’s often busy.

However, Grill’d in Manuka, has a great large, sunny table near the front of the store that’s perfect for a larger group. It’s also less busy in Manuka than some other stores and has an atmosphere that doesn’t feel so much like a chain outlet.

If you have the Canberra Entertainment Book you can use the two for one vouchers making it good value.

There’s lamb burgers $13.50 like the Morrocan Lamb with roasted peppers, tzaatziki, salad and relish 2100kJ…

…chicken burgers $10.50 – $13.50 like the Simon Says $12.50 with avocado, trim bacon, salad, relish and herbed mayo 2240kJ…

…with thick cut potato chips or zucchini chips for an extra $4.80 and 1710kJ…

….beef burgers $9.90 – $13.50 like the Crispy Bacon and Cheese 2830kJ $11.50…

…or the Almighty 3260kJ $13.50.. with bacon, egg, beetroot, salad, relish and mayo..

…and I’m told the ‘Baa Baa’ Burger is the very best pick of all, a lamb burger with avocado, tasty cheese, salad, relish and herbed mayo.

For those who aren’t so keen on burgers, there’s also some lovely salads on offer like the Chicken, pomegranate and goats cheese 1890kJ $13.90, with grilled chicken breast, black and white quinoa, meredith dairy goats cheese, pomegranate, almonds, mescaline, raspberry andpoppy seed dressing

There’s also wine (glass or bottle), cider and beer on offer too.

Red Chilli Sichuan, Canberra City, great energy and atmosphere!

I love going to Red Chilli Sichuan in the Canberra City.

It’s always packed with people who look like they know what they’re choosing and it’s got great energy.

Feels like you could really be in Sichuan Provence.

When the Canberra Food Bloggers had a night out there (a little while back) they were generous and keen to please. I liked that!

Again, I really enjoyed those duck pancakes!

Corkage for BYO is $10 a bottle, but wine by the glass is a generous pour and reasonably priced too.

Clancy’s Brasserie, Banjo Patterson Hotel, Jindabyne

Clancy’s in Jindabyne, is in the Canberra Entertainment Book offering two for one meals.

But it’s also just a great spot for lunch when you’re cold and tired….

…and great to add in to a lodge weekend with friends!

There’s the Banjo Beef Burger $15…

…or $17 with chips..

..the Club sandwich $15…

…Roast Pumpkin Salad $19…

…or Surf and Turf $36

1565, Kensington, Victoria – great for late night ice-cream @1565gelateria

Open everyday 12pm until late 1565 is excellent for a late night icecream in Kensington.

500ml! Yum to share!

Chomolungma, Manuka – good for Nepalese cuisine

Chomolungma in Manuka is a great spot for Nepalese food.

I really like their thali style choices but this last visit we tried some curries with rice and breads and of course, the momos.

For a light lunch the pork momos are great…

..about $14 for 10…

$11.90 for 6 fried..

But it’s also a good option to share one chicken/lamb/goat or pork curry cooked with ginger, garlic onion, tomato & Himalayan spices $17.50 and rice $3 and a roti $3 with a friend..