Monster Kitchen is Good Food’s number one Canberra restaurant – and it’s not hard to see why.

Quirky and welcoming, the eclectic decor is engaging.

But it’s the food that is the real star.

Our lunch dishes were perfect! Beautiful, well priced and a unique combination of ingredients and textures.

The two of us first shared the:

Fried tofu with pickled shitake, boito soy, spring onion oil and sesame $18

Eggplant, smoked goat’s curd, katsuobushi and sesame $20

Pulled lamb shoulder with pistachio, yogurt, vine leaf, pomegranate and brik $30

I especially liked the pairing of the goat’s curd with the eggplant and the yogurt with the lamb shoulder. Thses gave the dishes a delightful creamy highlight. But I also loved the salty elements of the soy with the tofu and the katsuobushi with the eggplant.

The textured coating on the tofu had a lovely light crunch. I loved the colour and crunch of the pistachios and pomegranate with the lamb’s shoulder and the gorgeous green tinge on the tofu.

We finished with a dessert of Soft chocolate with mandarin, almond and rosemary $20.

This was also a perfect balance of textures and flavours, especially the ice-cream that came with it.  The crisp garnish was excellent as was the puree garnish but the fresh mandarin would be better preserved.

Still on my wish list for another time is the Yabby Waffle $20, the Boxgum grazing beef tartare $23 and the Green tea dessert with coconut, raspberry and mille feuille $18.

I also want to try the Monster Light Lunch that offers specials like Spagetti with wagyu tongue, peas, capers, reggiano and chilli $17, Baby beet salad with wild rice, pear, walnut $16, Pork belly banh mi $13 or Boxgum grazing ham, pyengana cheddar and green tomato pickle $15 sered 12-5pm daily.

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 has a lovely and lively community of people writing and posting about food!
The food bloggers are an especially social bunch and we love to get together for lunch every couple of months and enjoy some of Canberra’s wonderful venues.

This week Bizzy Lizzy took us to try out Pod Food’s new menu, in the conveniently close but relaxingly rural Pialligo.

Sam Kildea, fabulous host that he is, set us up beautifully in Pod’s delightful garden…

….but at Pod, there are just so many cute and cozy nooks to choose from.

The most difficult decision of the day was whether to enjoy two ($50) or three ($60) courses!

Second most tricky was which of the gorgeous options to choose.
Some went with entrees: the Prawn noodle (yes, noodles made from prawns), with a soft 65 degree egg, parmesan, bacon and avruga caviar (which they raved about!)…

….and the very decorative Pork sausage with pickled peach, mushroom cream, capsicum and chilli jam.

Other choices on the menu were Asparagus spears, with beetroot, caramelised onion, goat’s cheese and rye cracker or Duck rillettes with pickled raspberry, crispy chicken skin and nashi pear.

We covered all the mains with the sirloin being the standout dish (along with very popular chilli and rosemary salt baked potatoes and aioli, which Sam thoughtfully threw in for us).

Seared sirloin with fennel, dutch carrot with saffron potato foam

Mushroom and chicken roulade with wasabi jelly, shimeji, chorizo and pea

Pan fried market fish (swordfish this time) with potato, chermoula, wild rice and a lovely spinach soubise

Wombok wrapped nut and lentil with pumpkin, tomato and radish

And hugely successful were the desserts….

My Lime cheesecake with raspberry, lime get, macadamia, raspberry meringue and pineapple sorbet was a delicious balance of tart, sweet, crunchy and creamy – wonderful!

The others loved their Pan perdu cooked in a very aromatic clarified butter with apple tarte tatin ice cream, brandy apple puree, blackberry and white chocolate!

Also tempting was the sour cherry ice cream with coconut and oat crumble, chocolate jelly and cherry marshmallow.

As we chatted about cookbook launches, restaurant recommendations, writing opportunities and of course the wonderful food and atmosphere that Pod Food offers – the new Pod menu was declared a great success!!

The Monster nature of Monster Kitchen and Bar makes it a perfect choice for a Canberra brunch any day and any weather.

Elegant in both decor and dishes – this interesting and stylish restaurant morphs throughout the ground floor of Hotel Hotel in New Acton taking on new personalities as it fills different spaces.

And while the ambiance is fine dining, prices are unexpectedly, very reasonable.

My favourite is the Salon, filled with eclectic furnishing and luxurious fabrics that hark back to an era when everyone dressed well to dine.

On a cool or rainy day the large open fire that forms an engaging centrepiece is greatly welcome. The underground parking means there’s not need to brave the elements. Thoughtfully, Monster guests can validate their parking tickets to receive half price parking rates.

Monster’s cheeky nature also means it’s open early serving breakfast from 6:30am right up until 12 Noon.

The understated menu underplays the deliciousness of the dishes.

It is easy to miss those moreish, comforting House made crumpets with Hotel Hotel honey, a large serve at the great value price of $11. It’s a must have to share for the table!

My table agreed that our favourite dish was actually the Braised lentils with sauteed bitter greens (actually not bitter), oft egg and zaatar $18.

Next was the Poached eggs with avocado, whipped chevre and (great) dukkah $18. It was also generously garnished with wonderful fresh herbs that completed this excellent dish.

The Spelt and Maple Granola with roasted rhubarb, berries and whipped ricotta is very beautiful and an absolute steal at $13. Full of crunchy nuts and with just the right amount of sweetness, it’s a well put together dish.

The Confit ocean trout with poached eggs, turnip, radish, spinach and lemon $19 was done well but was not quite as interesting as the other dishes.

The Baked eggs with kale, sheep milk feta, chilli and lemon $18 looked a good choice at another table and the Porridge has some wonderful toppings – spiced pear, halva, pistachio and rose $14. I’ve added them to my wishlist for next time.

An unexpected added bonus is that Monster also provides breakfast for Hotel Hotel guests, one of Canberra’s most popular places to stay and clearly the choice of TV celebrities and famous chefs. We shared our brunching with four national identities also enjoying the hospitality of Monster.