Casa Anjuna, Goa – gorgeous shared spaces

While most of the rooms at Casa Anjuna’s are lovely to stay in. one of the villa’s best features is all the shared spaces to enjoy.

Balcony on first floor A block (outside rooms 10 & 11) Front garden

Restaurant

Pool

Foyer A block

Treehouse, Canberra City – a quick look at Wednesday evening ‘Rollers’ special

The Treehouse on Northbourne Ave, Canberra City offfers a range of great specials.

Particularly wonderful is the Rollers Wednesday night special available 4-10pm.

$10 includes a glass of beer or cider (5-7pm wine is $5 a glass if you would prefer) as well as a gourmet burger with hand cut chips and aioli.

Chilli beef meatball, caramelised onion and cheddar (especially good)

Pulled pork, apple and fennel slaw (also very nice)

Haloumi, hummus and tomato saffron salsa
Gourmet bread pockets served with a side of
hand cut chips and aioli (also very good)

Mexican chicken fajita and guacamole (probably not as good as the others)

It’s especially nice sitting upstairs with the view through the golden leaves to the main bar.

Casa Anjuna, Goa – ideal spot to stay in the rainy season

Casa Anjuna, in quieter , leafier Anjuna, North Goa, is a converted Portuguese mansion, packed with character and charm.

It is open and full of gorgeous spots to sit, making it ideal in the rainy season for sitting and drinking marsala chai or a gin and tonic and watching rain fall on the lush garden setting.

Most rooms feature four poster beds and antique furniture and many have sit outs and balconies. There are so many lovely rooms, it’s hard to pick and even the base level rooms are a great choice.

Staff are friendly and immensely helpful, there’s a lovely pool, the restaurant offers a range of good choices and room prices start at $108 in the low season.

Floriade – A Canberra Spring Festival with food!

Floriade each spring in Canberra, is undeniably about flowers.

But a closer look reveals plenty of opportunities to try, taste and learn about new foods and wines.

And there is no more gorgeous setting for picnicing on the wide range of foods for sale.

Around Anjuna – Goa

Anjuna is well known for it’s huge Wednesday flea market (October to April only), its hippy history and it’s parties. In low season however, it’s green and quiet ( really quiet as lots of places are closed).

Good places to eat in low season include Curlies that stays open all year round…

And Villa Anjuna Guest House….

…and the Burger Factory.

Oxford Arcade is a terrific small supermarket stocking great buys including alcohol.

$AUS3 for 750ml gin

The new Chong Co in Woden – a great spot for lunch

Not to be confused with the Chong Co restaurant close by in the Woden Southern Cross Club, the new Chong Co Woden that has opened up on Corina Street in the restaurant strip on the outside edge of the Westfield mall, is excellent.

It shares the same great dishes as it’s sister restaurants in Kinsgston Foreshore, Belconnen and the Southern Cross Club, and serve sizes are equally generous. The green curry (vegetarian was $14.90) we shared between two was truly delicious and plenty for both of us.

Vegetarian Green Curry $14.90 Two serves rice ($3 per person)
Too lovely to leave, staff are more than happy to bundle up any of the precious flavours to take with you.

The atmosphere is pleasant and staff are lovely. The Chong Co inside the Southern Cross Club is still my all time Woden favourite as the decor, space and ambiance are so special, but if you aren’t with a member, then this Chong Co, open to the public is the next best lunch option in Woden. It is also helpfully slightly cheaper.

Highly recommended. As it’s popular, it pays to make a booking. The phone number can be tricky to find – 0262823001

Around Jaisalmer – worth a look

A few more interesting spots to visit around Jaisalmer that take you into the countryside, include….

Gadjisar Lake

Barabagh Royal Cenotaphs

The Sam Sand Dunes

The Forage – A Canberra Spring Foodie Festival

The Forage last weekend, in it’s new home at Fairbairn, was another wonderful spring Canberra foodie festival opportunity. Coupled with the Hustle and Scout twilight fashion market, it’s a very lovely opportunity to taste and try, admire and enjoy.

Pulled Pork Roll $10 Smoked Goat Pita $10

Mix and match muesli B St Bakery

Sweet Bones Bakery Poacher’s Pantry

Suryagarh Hotel Jaisalmer – absolutely delicious for food

Suryagarh Hotel, 16km out of Jaisalmer, is beautiful, but isolated in the desert.

While rooms can be quite affordable, especially in the low season, food and drink is expensive, at Australian prices.

That said, the dining is very, very memorable….and there’s a few ways to stay in budget.

Welcome drinks and snacks are amazing and extremely generous.

Then, through your stay, little treats and sweets arrive mysteriously in your room.

Breakfast is included in the room price and is incredible, including a ‘chaat bar’ (make your own snacks) and traditional Indian sweets, as well as Indian breakfast foods and marsala chai served in a variety of traditional ‘tea cups’.

The setting for breakfast is lovely and peacocks wander around the courtyard.

Dinner is silver service, glamourous and romantic in the courtyard and very, very good.

Safed chicken, rice, misi roti $AUS25 Bundi ladoo

If you have enjoyed the arrival snacks and sweets that arrive in your room, then really, one main, bread and rice is enough for two people…and helps to compensate for otherwise steep prices.

The complimentary sweets are very lovely too.

Another tip to stay in budget is to take some pre-dinner drinks and snacks out with you (a welcome tip from a fellow traveller).

Gin is $AUS3 for 750ml (a bargain)

Navaratri Celebration – a Canberra Spring Festival (with great food)

Spring is a great time to be in Canberra for festivals and September-October coincides each year with the Gujarati community’s Navarati Celebrations – colourful, spectacular and great fun, featuring amazing traditional clothes, music, dances and food!

Organised by the Gujarati Samaj of ACT, the Festival of Dance, Raas Garba and Dandia runs for ten nights – this year from 25 September to 4 October 2014.
The Sur Vrund Group from Vadodara, Gujarat India is providing some great music that inspires some amazing dancing.

Everyone looks so beautiful, dressed in some very special outfits and there is an obvious pride and pleasure in celebrating shared traditions and experiences.
Much effort has gone in to creating some wonderful traditional Indian vegetarian food with new dishes being added to the menu each night.