Treehouse Bar on Northbourne Ave must be Canberra’s best value spot on a Thursday night for a casual dinner in the cooler weather. Now with another ‘tree’ full of lights, it’s sparkly and welcoming inside.

It offers $5 glasses of  house wine, beer, basic spirits and sparkling wine until 7pm (also available Wed-Fri) and two for the price of one, gourmet burgers with hand cut chips and aioli ($9 each on Thursdays).

All burgers are good, but perhaps the best, surprisingly is the vegetarian option (lentil burger with tomato, rocket, avocado salsa, alfalfa and peanut sauce)

Double beef burger with tomato, pineapple, cheddar, wholegrain mustard and caramelised onions

Spiced lamb burger with grilled eggplant, baby spinach and hummus

Treehouse is also great on Wednesdays for two for one gourmet hotdogs and Fridays two for one tapas (all tapas and starters except the charcuterie plate for two $18 although another starter of tapas option ( Sourdough with olives and balsamic $12, chilli salt squid with fresh herbs, tomato relish and lime aioli $14 or sizzling honey prawns with shallots and ginger $14) would be free.

While evenings are still warm, it’s still hard to beat the Mandalay Bus for a very casual, great value weeknight meal.

Take a candle along with wine, glasses a few extra sharing plates, some folding chairs and a make shift table and you’re set for a relaxing evening.

All options on the menu are great and suitable for sharing if you also bring a sharp knife, but a few worth considering are the… (again) spicy pork tortilla $10

Prawn twisters (7 for $9) (great with ranch dressing and sweet chilli sauce)

Burmese Calamari Salad $10

Don’t forget to add the yummy sauces that are available.

..and sharing a crepe with marshmellow, Nutella, peanut butter and banana $6 is a perfect end to the meal (unless of course you are planning to head across to the Frugii Dessert Laboratory).

Taste of Bangladesh & India, Canberra’s new Bangladeshi cuisine restaurant in Manuka is a wonderful discovery. The flavours are unique and delicious, serves are generous, hospitality is warm and the value for money is second to none.

Pleasantly cozy with thick carpet for easy chatting, it is ideal for couples or groups.

Wine is BYO and corkage is free.

The naan is huge and lovely ($2.50 each)

Pappadoms are complementary.

Great choices are….

…the samosas (2 for $7)

Fish Bengali – snapper fillet cooked with eggplant in Bangladeshi spices $16.50 (beautiful flavours)

Dum Murgh – boneless chicken marinated in special herbs and spices and cooked on a slow fire $15.50 ( a standout dish)

The mango kulfi $4.50 is a generous serve that can be shared and makes a fine finish to the meal.

1 dish, one rice and one naan with one serve kulfi is just right for two people.

Suggested menu for a group of six:

pappdoms

3 serves Samosa (6 pieces)

1x Dum Murgh

1 x Fish Bengali

1x Palak Paneer

3 naan

2 serves rice

2 x kulfi

$15 per person (corkage free)

 

If you’ve enjoyed the Forage street food offerings you will love The Hamlet on Lonsdale Street Braddon, a (temporarily) more permanent home for these caravan vendors of yummy, casual eats.

Open Tuesday to Sunday, it’s a great, inexpensive night out and just perfect for sharing a range of samplings between a group in good weather (just bring a sharp knife and a few extra paper plates).

Start a Lonsdale Street food tour (as it’s hard to get a table later) or stay the whole evening.

BYO (drinks and glasses) without corkage, adds to the great value.

Top picks include Mr Pappas’ Pork Belly Roll ($12)….

….and Broddogs “pups” (perfectly sized for sampling, $5-$7 each).

…or a full sized ‘dog’ $6.50-$11 (about 1 1/2-2 times the size of a ‘pup’)

New Yorker Dog with a Kransky

Omi Pup (the best!), New Yorker Pup & Chilli Pup are all good.

Choose from a Vienna Frankfurt, Spicy Kransky or Pork free sausage.

Also worth trying is the pork roll with apple sauce from the Spit Shack ($12:90)…

….and the Bratwurst in a roll with sauerkraut $9 from ‘Bratwurst’…

I’m also told that the Bratwurst’s Schnitzels are good and easily shared ($16 small, $21 large).

One of the great things about the Hamlet, is that there are often smaller serving sizes on offer like Free Range’s pulled pork with couscous, rice and salad ($8).

There’s also plenty to choose from for those wanting gluten free options. Broddogs has gluten free buns available and the sausages are gluten free. Free range’s pulled lamb is gluten free.

Mr Papa’s Pork Belly sandwich is also gluten free if you skip the roll.

Other choices include Mr Papas’ Peruvian Stuffed Potato (tasty, but plenty of outside coating to get through)

…and Mr Papas’ Empanadas and Chicken Wings.