Urban Corner Cafe, Fyshwick – a convenient spot for lunch if shopping.

The Urban Corner Café, located opposite Harvey Norman in Fyshwick, offers Canberra Entertainment Book holders
two meals for the price of one.

This means you can choose something like Fish and Chips with salad as well as Grilled Barramundi with salad and chips and just pay $17 for both.

Other options include a range of burgers or breakfast dishes as well as risottos and schnitzel.

A fairly plain setting and a bit of a wait if it’s busy, it is still a light and open space in a convenient location if shopping.

Phone: 0474963158 / 0451321861

Silver Fox, Curtin – a first look at a couple of brilliant salad options for lunch

Silver Fox has recently opened in the spot where Delissios used to be in Curtin.

Parking is easy and it’s just a few minutes drive from the Woden CBD.

Pleasant décor and friendly, helpful staff make it an attractive place for lunch. It is also fairly quiet and an easy place for conversation.

In addition to pizza, pasta and grills, Silver Fox offers a couple of interesting salad options that are truly good!

An excellent fruit and nut salad of strawberry, pear, brazil nut and almonds with rocket, red onion, mint and balsamic vinaigrette ($18 for the regular size), has got the perfect balance of sweet, crunch and mint and is generous with the nuts.

An equally good, but perhaps a little more oily, warm roast vegetable salad ($20 for the regular size) of sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot and celery with walnuts, red onion, baby spinach, semi-dried tomato has a seriously good maple-cinnamon toffee dressing. It’s especially good topped with prawns (an extra $8 for 6) but I’ve also heard the crispy calamari ($6 extra) is terrific.

Half serves are offered for a little less cost e.g. $15/$18 compared to $18/$20 for the regular size but it’s good to get the larger serve for not much more and share both between two people.

Other good choices are said to be the Creamed Chicken Penne Pasta with pine nuts, broccolini, baby spinach, parmesan and oregano $22, Seafood Aglio Olio Linguine with prawns, squid and smoked salmon, caper berries, fennel, cherry tomatoes, and rocket $25 and the Mexican Beef Pizza with spiced beef and beans, jalapeno peppers and mozzarella, rocket, corn salsa and cheddar cheese $22. (The Greek Garlic Prawns Pizza $22, also sounds wonderful with herb-garlic butter, prawns, capers and mozzarella with parmesan cheese, fresh red onion, rocket and aioli.)

A great idea would be to take a few friends and share one of each.

Prices are what you would expect for mid-range Italian style restaurants.

There is also a 25% discount offered to Canberra Entertainment Book Holders making it excellent value for good food.

And if you can’t make it to them, they can bring the food to you at work.

There’s even a discount for 5 (1/2 price for one meal ) or 10 (one meal free).

Serve sizes are the same as those in the restaurant and meals are delivered in clear take-away plastic containers or pizza boxes as appropriate.

Glasses of wine start at $7 a glass.

BYO wine is an option for $10 corkage per bottle.

Quizine, Phillip – an excellent spot for a light tasty lunch close to Woden

While it used to be a bit tricky to order a nicely balanced meal at Quizine, they now have it well sorted so that the Fit Meals have a fixed price for a bit of everything and you get to choose what to put together.

So first you choose whether you’d like a 125gm protein food meal for $12.50 or a 200gm protein food meal for $15.50.

Then you can choose what type of protein food e.g. steak/chicken breast in various styles/poached white fish/lentil slice (or 200gm salmon for an extra $3).

Add one or two carb/veg/salad bases (so one carb, one veg/salad works well) and a side sauce e.g. garlic aioli, chunky satay, peri-peri mayo.

If you’d like any extras like avocado, salsa or pesto or a couple of poached eggs, that would be $2.50 more.

If that is too much choice you can just go with one of the ready to go combinations like the…

Classic – 200gm lightly grilled chicken breast with brown rice, broccoli and carrots and chunky satay salsa $15.50…

Or a Lean and Clean – 200gm poached white fish, white rice and gourmet garden salad and lemon $15.50.

Tender Chicken Salad – $15.50, Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad $14.50 and Chicken Caesar Salad $15, are also available.

A little bit sweet treats are also available for about $3 each.

Canberra Entertainment Book Holders are offered two meals for the price of one making Quizine excellent value.

Open Mon-Fri 7:00am – 5:00pm and Sat 7:30am – 4:30pm.

Urban Pantry, Manuka – lovely for lunch

While Urban Pantry shares much in common with Me & Mrs Jones, The Public Bar and Cream, it really does have the nicest setting (especially in the good weather) and arguably the best menu for lunch.

In fact it’s hard to pick from so many delicious sounding salads, gourmet burgers and grills, and that’s without even looking at the great changing specials on the wall inside.

The Urban Nicoise is not only delicious and delightfully light but also very beautiful ($21) with poached salmon, heirloom tomatoes, green beans, potato, an olive and tuscan onion salsa and aioli.

The Straighty 180 is a good choice for something more filling and traditional ($19) with a 180gm beef patty, mustard, onion marmalade, gherkins, ketchup and cheddar on a brioche bun.

Like Me & Mrs Jones, The Public Bar and Cream, Urban Pantry is open 7 days and Canberra Entertainment Book holders are offered two meals for the price of one making it good value.

Like Me & Mrs Jones, BYO wine is $5.50 corkage per person. Cakeapge is $2.50 per person.

Urban Pantry is very popular on the weekends so do book to get a table overlooking the lawns if it’s a lovely day.

(There is a surcharge of 10% for Sundays and 15% for public holidays).

Trading hours

Monday-Tuesday 7:00am – 6pm

Wednesday – Friday 7am – late

Saturday 7:30am – late

Sunday 7:30am – 4pm

Wheat & Oats Café, Phillip – still a great pick for lunch near Woden.

Wheat & Oats Café Phillip is still an excellent place for lunch if you need to stay near Woden. It’s a short 10-15 minute walk from Woden office buildings and service is very quick.

There’s even a good range of ready to options if time is especially short.

Daily specials change but always include some interesting gourmet sandwiches for $7 like…
…pumpkin and fetta…

…chicken, avocado and baby spinach on rye sourdough bread…

And a BLT and vegetarian roasted vegetable sandwiches.

These are great value and particularly nice toasted.
The hot specials are always delicious and good value too like…

Vegetable Korma with rice and pappadam $10.

There’s inside and outside seating, very friendly and helpful service, a lovely casual atmosphere and a discount of 25% for Canberra Entertainment Book holders.

It’s hard to find a better value spot with such a nice atmosphere, so close to Woden.

Pho Quoc, Dickson – a new venue, but as good as ever!

A Canberra favourite for Vietnamese, Pho Quoc has outgrown it’s original home and moved around the corner to 5 Badham St, Dickson (where El Dorado Steakhouse used to be).

Some lovely huge lanterns from Hoi An, are a lovely feature and it’s good to have the extra tables for booking but it still gets quite noisy.

The spring roll entree ($5.90 for 4)…

….Birdsnest Seafood $19.90 (excellent) (or chicken $16.90)…

….Caramelised Pork and Prawns (very good) $18.90….

…and Rare Beef Pho $12.90…

are as good as ever.

Two dishes and two rice is perfect for three people to share with a serve of spring rolls.

The corkage has increased to $5 per bottle, but glasses of wine are good value, starting at $5 (bottles start at $20).

There is also still a 25% discount for Canberra Entertainment Book holders.

Petra Palace Lebanese Restaurant, Phillip – delicious food

Recently opened last year, Petra Palace is a relative new comer to Canberra world cuisine dining, but one well worth seeking out as the food is simply delicious!

Tucked away in Colbee Court Phillip, like many of Canberra’s suburban gems, it offers easy at the door parking and good value prices.

The decor is welcoming and attractive, with some cozy, colourful couches.

Great for groups who would like to share a few dishes, it can get a little noisy for the hard of hearing.

Some of the most delicious dishes include:

Hummus $10 (especially the Hummus Beirut with parsley and chilli) served with the most amazing Lebanese bread.

These are probably better picks than the (also nice) Baba Ganoush $10

Falafel (4 pieces) $10 with tahini sauce, pickles and tomatoes.

Lamb Fatteh $25, Chicken Fatteh $25 or Petra Fatteh $18 – casserole of marinated chicken/chargrilled eggplant, crispy Lebanese bread, spiced rice, garlic, mint, yogurt and tahini topped with pie nuts.

For variety you may want to add…

….a Fattoush Salad $15 cos lettuce, diced tomato, cucumber, capsicum, onion with a lemon and olive oil dressing topped with crispy Lebanese bread….

…or some kebabs $25 for 3 lamb, chicken or ground lamb and beef kebabs or $20 for vegetable kebabs, all served with rice/couscous/hot chips and a garnish of vegetables.

The Cheese Sambousek (4 pieces) $15 Handmade pastry filled with feta cheese is also very good.

For something sweet the Baklava is nicely portioned at $5 for two small pieces.

For a group of four people a lovely menu to share would be:

1x Hummus Beirut with Lebanese Bread $10

1x Falafel $10

1x Chicken Fatteh $25

1x Fattoush Salad $15

Total $60 ($15 per person)

Not BYO, but wine is available by the glass starting at $7.50 and bottles are reasonably priced at $28 -$35.

Canberra Entertainment Book Holders can also get two main meals for the price of one.

Timing a visit for the Belly dancing on Saturday nights would also be great fun.

Open for dinner Tuesday – Saturday 5-10pm

Flavours of India, Woden – trying a few more dishes

Warm and cozy in the cold weather, with an attractive décor, Flavours of India is a great pick in the Woden CBD for a weekday lunch.

Sharing a couple of dishes, breads and rice works well, without being too filling. One of each between every two people works well (dishes are big enough for up to six to share, but double up when you need to).

Corkage is $8 per BYO bottle of wine and this can transform a routine lunch into a special event.

A 25% discount is offered for the Canberra Entertainment Book which makes it great value.

The Kadhai Lamb (Gosht) $17.95 is tender and lovely, a top pick.

The Kulcha Paneer with Onion and Marsala is a must have $4.50.

The Biryanis – e.g. the Chicken Biriyani for $19.95 is well sized and tasty, but can be fairly oily, so good to get some plain rice too.

My Friend Vietnamese Restaurant, Watson, excellent for families with young children

The great strength of My Friend Vietnamese Restaurant is that it is ideal for introducing young children to the experience of dining out and trying cuisines from other cultures.

To start with, ‘My Friend’ Restaurant has an engaging child-friendly name.

Parking is close by at the Watson suburban shops. It’s easy and convenient even in cold weather, and the decor inside is welcoming and homely. Booking is not necessary.

It looks like a grown-up restaurant but feels very child friendly. Being a family run business, often the family, including other children, are dining too.

It’s not a quiet spot so normal children’s noise is no problem.

The menu includes lots of popular dishes that are easy for children to enjoy like Vietnamese springs rolls, Sate chicken and Honey Beef.

It is also very reasonably priced, making it easy to take the whole family out. Many dishes start at $13.50.

Serve sizes are very generous and easily shared. Two dishes and is enough for three adults, or two adults and several children.

One serve of rice $2.50, is enough for two people.

There’s a range of desserts that are bound to appeal to children , for $5.

Soft drinks are $2. Corkage is only $1 per person.

And if you have a Canberra Entertainment Book then My Friend offers a 25% discount.

Service is incredibly fast, so there’s no long waits for children. Complimentary prawn crackers appear straight away. (If however you’d like a break between courses then it’s a good idea to mention that to wait staff).

Six seafood rolls with sweet and sour sauce are $5.50

The Peanut Beef $14.50 is a better dish than the Chicken with Lemon Grass and Chilli $13.50 which is very spicy, especially for children.

Some of the other dishes that are popular include:

Vietnamese spring rolls $5 for 4

Peanut Chicken $14.50 or Peanut Lamb $15.50

Sate Chicken $13.50, Sate Beef $13.50, Sate Pok $14.50 or Sate Lamb $15.50

Peanut Chicken $14.50, Peanut Lamb $15.50

Curry Chicken/Beef/Pork with Vegetables in Coconut Cream $14.50 or with Lamb $15.50

Honey Beef $14.50

Caramelised Pork $13.50

and Pork/Chicken with lemongrass and chilli $13.50 or with Lamb $15.50

Banquets are also available, but these would be more expensive and more food than you’d need.

Cafe Alibi, New Acton

Cafe Alibi is in a quiet spot in New Acton, in between Marcus Clarke Street and London Circuit. Open weekdays 7:15 am – 4 pm it is well located for office workers during the day.

Interior decor is small and fairly plain, but large open windows make it light and pleasant.

The Breakfast menu is well priced and includes many popular dishes.

The Lunch menu offers lighter meals like salads and bruschetta as well as main meals like risotto and pasta, schnitzel and gourmet burgers with chips. There are also blackboard specials.

Serve sizes are generous and easy to share. Takeaway is also an option.

BYO is $5 per bottle

The Sticky Pulled BBQ Pork Burger $17.5 – pulled pork & onion reduced in BBQ sauce, cos lettuce, tomato, cheese, chips, is tasty but quite rich.

Cafe Alibi offers Canberra Entertainment Book holders two mains for the price of one or a half price main if dining alone.

Fine Eating

Hints Hacks and Highlights

Canberra Entertainment Book

Urban Corner Cafe, Fyshwick – a convenient spot for lunch if shopping.

Silver Fox, Curtin – a first look at a couple of brilliant salad options for lunch

Quizine, Phillip – an excellent spot for a light tasty lunch close to Woden

Urban Pantry, Manuka – lovely for lunch

Wheat & Oats Café, Phillip – still a great pick for lunch near Woden.

Pho Quoc, Dickson – a new venue, but as good as ever!

Petra Palace Lebanese Restaurant, Phillip – delicious food

Flavours of India, Woden – trying a few more dishes

My Friend Vietnamese Restaurant, Watson, excellent for families with young children

Cafe Alibi, New Acton

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