Copper Chimney, Canberra City, still a top choice for Indian cuisine

Copper Chimney has not long taken over the restaurant space that Jewel of India, on West Row, used to occupy.

Pramod, the new owner, has kept the same luxuriously carpeted and elegant décor with soft chairs and the gorgeous colourful feature wall.

This sets the mood for a special night out and allows for easy conversation even when the room is busy.
Copper Chimney has a new menu, but it still features many of the Jewel of India classics, which is very good as ‘Jewel’ was a top choice for Indian food in Canberra.
The service is excellent, attentive, professional and thoughtful, delivering a ‘fine dining’ experience.
Pramod is a pleasure to chat to and only too willing to help design a menu for a group or to accommodate special requests.
Serve sizes are generous and ideal for sharing between up to six people (for a ‘tasting’ banquet).
Corkage is very reasonable at $6 per bottle.
Copper Chimney also offers 25% off for Canberra Entertainment Book holders (to $30) and is happy to take up to three vouchers (for groups of 6 or more).

Excellent choices based on Her Canberra’s recent review are:

Entrée:

Pappadoms with mint sauce and tamarind chutney (complimentary)

Chicken 65 (spicy and delicious) $14.90

Mains:

Prawn curry Goanese – prawns cooked in a sauce of coriander seeds, cumin, turmeric powder and freshly ground coconut $24

Chicken Chettinad – a speciality from Southern India, chicken with a pepper spiced curry $19

1 Goat Bhuna Masala – spice coated pieces of goat, served on a sizzling plate $21

Aloo Paratha (with potato) $5 each

3 serves rice ($4 per serve)

Raita $5

Dessert

Mango Kulfi $6

Pistachio Kulfi $6

Gulab Jaman with icecream $8

This menu below for 5-6 would be $22-26 per person ($16-20 with 25% Canberra Entertainment Book discount).

If your budget is very tight you could leave out the Chicken 65.

Entree:
Pappadoms
1 x Chicken 65
Mains:
1 x Prawn curry Goanese
1 x Chicken Chettinad
1 x Goat Bhuna Masala (or swap this for Fish Methi Masala ($24), also a lovely dish)
3 x Aloo Paratha (cut into ¼)
3 rice
Raita x 1

Dessert
2 Mango Kulfi
1 Pistachio Kulfi

Garnish of India, Canberra City

Recently opened Garnish of India, overlooking Garema Place, is serving some of Canberra’s best Indian dishes at good value prices.
Located in former site of Canberra City’s Flavours of India, it has a similar décor and feel, but a new menu with great promise.
Service is friendly and efficient and there is a warm generous hospitality that seeks to help diners understand and enjoy regional Indian cusines.

Five dishes, three naan and 4 serves of rice and a raita is more than enough for six mixed sized appetites. Four dishes, 3 naan, 3 rice and a raita would be perfectly sized for 6 medium appetites.

Ask for recommendations/specialities as these are the often best options.

Dishes are listed here in order from best pick:

BEEF HARA MASALA $16.50

Diced beef cooked to perfection in a spinach based gravy & flavoured with
fenugreek leaves.

KUMBH MAKAI PANEER $14.50

Fresh mushroom, fresh corn, and dices of paneer a medium spicy preparation (really very good with fresh ginger too)

ERACHI VARATHADU –LAMB (KARNATAKA) $16.00

Tender lamb in a thick gravy made with the spices special to the region of Coorg.

CHETTINAD (TAMIL NADU) $16.50
A Spicy treat from the Chettiyars of Tamil Nadu.

MURGH ZAFRANI KORMA $16.50
Morsels of boneless chicken cooked in cashew gravy & flavoured with cardamoms,
mace & Saffron.

SQUID PEPPER & COCONUT FRY $18.00
A Speciality from Southern India that has a flavour of coarsely ground pepper, coconut
& fresh curry leaves.

ALOO – GOBHI $14.00

Flowerets of cauliflower &diced potatoes cooked with onions , tomato, & ginger juliennes.

MEEN VEVICHATHU –FISH (KERALA) $19.00
Fish in red hot chilli curry flavoured with kodampuli (Fish Tamarind) (not great at all, flesh is too firm, lacking flavour and overwhelmed by chilli).

Sides:

The plain ($3) or garlic ($3.50) naan is excellent and the plain rice is probably a better accompaniment than the saffron rice or even the coconut rice.

GARLIC NAAN $3.50
Indian garlic bread that is baked in Tandoor

2 serves of ZAFRANI PULAO $3.50 per serve
Steamed basmati rice with saffron in milk & garnished with roasted cumin.

2 serves of SAFED CHAWAL $3.00 per serve
Steamed plain rice

THENGAI SADHAM (COCONUT RICE) $3.50
Steamed rice mixed with fried grated coconut& garnished with curry leaves &
mustard seeds.

MIXED RAITA $4.00

Plain yoghurt mixed with cucumber & cumin (good).

Recommendations to try next time include:

PANEER MUSSALAM $14.50 Paneer pieces cooked in red medium spicy gravy with cashew nut paste in it garnished with grated paneer.

TAVA DHINGRI (MUSHROOM) $14 Fresh mushroom and sweet corn cooked in red gravy with more of chilly pepper & coriander

DAL MAKHNI $14 A traditional Punjabi black dal preparation.

DAL TADKA $14 A moong dal delightful preparation with seasoning of garlic & dry red chilly & mustard seeds.

MURGH KAALI MIRCH $16.50 A speciality from Southern India that has a flavour of coarsely ground pepper & fresh curry leaves.

MALABAR LAMB CURRY $16.50 Diced lamb cooked in a medium spicy curry.

BEEF COCONUT FRY $16.50 A Superb medium spiced dish of diced beef that is flavoured with desiccated coconut & curry leaves.

…and the samosas looked yummy too!

Corkage is $8 per bottle and a 25% discount is offered to Canberra Entertainment Book holders.

Cafe Arirang – Canberra City

Tucked away in Hobart Place off London Circuit, Cafe Arirang is a wonderful discovery of excellent Korean dishes at bargain prices.

Popular with students, serve sizes are very generous and two dishes is plenty for three people. Cafe Arirang will also happily give you a container to take with you what you can’t eat.

Great picks are the….

Pork Kathu Set $14.50 (the chicken is also good)

and the Korean style seafood and vegetable pancake $15 (packed full of prawns and octopus

Another good choice would be the Pork Bulgogi, Korean sizzling BBQ pork marinated in special sauce $17 (served with steamed rice).

25% discount for Canberra Entertainment Book holders.

BYO wine $4 per bottle

AMP Building, Hobart Place
Canberra City

Ph: 62571889

Open lunch Monday to Friday, dinner Monday to Saturday

C-Dine, Kingston Foreshore

C-Dine on the Kingston Foreshore has a prime corner location that is lovely in the warm weather.

Popular, it gets quite busy.

Specialising in seafood, prices are quite high and serves quite small.

Corkage is $20 per bottle, but wine by the glass starts at around $8.

As it can be quite an expensive meal, it’s helpful to use the 25% discount for canberra Entertainment card holders or to make use of one of the specials like the $30 entree and main early bird menu (out by 7:30pm).

Barramundi $32

Grilled fillet, fondant potato, braised pork belly, cavelo nero, prawn butter

Special – Grilled snapper with scallops and fennel risotto $36

Quizine – Phillip

Quizine is conveniently located for a weekday lunch in Woden and within walking distance of many offices.
Cheery and friendly, it has some interesting and fresh ideas for lunch and it’s great to see someone offering something a little different (including a complimentary apple!).

The current menu differs a little from the one on-line
…but essentially the two lunch options are one of the ready made salads ($13.50-$15.50) or a fit meal (cost depends on what options you choose).

The ready made salads are a generous serve and attractive, especially the Pumpkin and Quinoa.

Traditional Greek Salad

The Fit Meals include delicious dressings on the side and the option to choose the combination you prefer.

Garden Salad base $8.50, 120gm Tandoori Chicken Breast $3.50, 2 poached eggs $2.50 Balsamic dressing and Garlic Aioli on the side

It is a bit tricky though, to get the ordering just right. The ready made salads are generous in salad ingredients, but need a bit more protein to satisfy.

The fit meals are good on protein foods but lack salad ingredients.

Both lack carbs if you usually need at least a little.

It’s possible to add an extra base of carbs (e.g. brown rice, sweet potato etc but it would add an extra $8.50 to the meal.

It could be possible to add chicken/poached eggs or a vegetable fritter to a ready made salad for $2.50-$3.50.

Perhaps the solution is to share two meals between two people, a ready made salad $13.50/$14.50 for plenty of salad ingredients and a fit meal with plenty of protein options (e.g. 200gm chicken, 2 poached eggs and a vegetable fritters $10.50) and dressings on the side.

Two meals for the price of one are offered to Canberra Entertainment Book holders.

Eat Me, Drink Me – Phillip

Eat Me, Drink Me opened about 6 months ago in Dundas Court Philip.

It’s a friendly, cheery sandwich shop, offering great value focaccia toasted sandwiches for $6.90, homemade hamburgers $7.90 and a generous serve of pan fried dumplings with a tasty thick soy dipping sauce for $5.

Spicy veggie burger $6.90 Pan fried dumplings $5 for 10

$10 with get you a burger or sandwich and a large coffee and your second meal is free if you have the Canberra Entertainment Card.

Pick the couches for a bit more comfort and style.

Thai Herb, Gungahlin

Located near other restaurants on the waterfront in Gungahlin, Thai Herb has a more upmarket setting that is engaging with both indoor and outdoor seating. BYO is very reasonable at $2 per person. Dishes, while tasty and attractive, are not large and difficult to share between more than four or five people. Prices are good, ranging from about $15 to up to $27 for specialities. Rice is $2.50 per serve. Desserts are generous serves and good for sharing – $6.50- $9.50. For a mixed group order one dish and one rice per person. A banquet from $25 per person is also a good option and a 25 % discount is welcome for Canberra Entertainment Book holders. Some the best dishes are: 47. Roasted duck with oyster sauce and steamed Chinese Broccoli $26.50 48. Roasted duck in red curry with lychees, pineapple, tomato and basil $26.50 28. Beef massaman curry $17.50 20.Stir fried chicken with cashews $14.90 the 18. Stir fried prawns (7) with ginger and mushrooms $14.90 while generous with prawns $18.90, was a bit too salty Also recommended is the 17. Beef with Chilli and Basil $14.90 and the other curries and 27. Sushee $17.50 look worth trying too.

Pork Barrel Cafe, Old Parliament House, Canberra

The Pork Barrel Cafe is set in the lovely surrounds of Old Parliament House. It has cozy indoor seating next to large sunny windows with a great view of the rose bushes but it’s nicer to sit outside under the leafy trees if the weather is good.

Pizza is the specialty ($16-37), there’s a Greek salad for $14.50 or garden salad for $10.50, hummus with roasted olives and house made bread for $12.50 and a range of daily specials for $18-22 such as homemade pies with accompaniments, a more detailed salad, battered fish with chips and salad or an omelette with salad.

There’s space in the weekend menu for some gourmet sandwiches/wraps/foccacias for around $15 that are a missing option. (However, it looks like these are available weekdays).

Not BYO but wine starts at $6.50 per glass, making Pork Barrel a good spot for a glass of wine and the hummus and olives with bread or a small pizza to share between two on a summer evening.

Open seven days 8-3 and late on Thursdays and Fridays from 5pm when there are also good two for one pizza specials.

25% discount offered to Canberra Entertainment Book holders.

Cork Street Cafe, Gundaroo – a great lunch spot with kids

Cork Street Cafe is worth the 40 min country drive. It has a lovely sunny setting that is also cosy in winter, friendly relaxed staff, great food and good prices.

Set back from the road, the space and casual environment is great for kids.

The menu great for young kids with finger foods like homemade baba gnash and hummus dips with focaccia and veggie sticks, gourmet pizza and some delicious potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce $9.