Urban Bean, Woden

Urban Bean is located at the bottom of Scarborough House in Woden. It does a great job of servicing the surrounding offices for breakfast, lunch and coffees.

However, it is well worth considering in it’s own right as a lunch venue as it has good food offered in generous serves that are best enjoyed at one of the outside tables in warm weather.

Dishes include large gourmet burgers wraps and open sandwiches served with aioli and chips for around $14 each. These are way too much for one appetite but perfect for sharing between two people.

The Warm Chicken and Cashew Salad with mustard chicken tenderloins on a bed of mixed leaves, tomato, cucumber, carrot, Spanish onion with lime aioli and crunchy cashews is a good choice if eating light.

It’s ideal for sharing, but you might also want to order a side of Turkish bread to round off the meal.

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.

Red Brick Expresso – Curtin

Red Brick Expresso at the Curtain shops has great coffee and real style.

Sunny seating inside and out, friendly service and a small selection of light lunches and baked items makes it a good suburban spot to catch up for a quick lunch of a coffee.

Slow Cooked Beef Brisket Burger w bbq sauce & herbed sour cream on a soft brioche roll served w apple slaw $15.90

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.

Chong Co, Woden Southern Cross Club – new summer menu

Chong Co at Woden Southern Cross Club has tweaked it’s menu for summer.

It’s still the top spot in Woden for lunch that lends itself well to sharing dishes in a group.

One dish from the main menu with one serve of rice $3 per two people is just right to enjoy the rich flavours, but leave feeling comfortable.

The summer menu can be a bit confusing, but don’t let that deter you from ordering dishes that might appear in some parts of the menu but not others.

The Beef Massaman Curry is now served with roti $21. The roti is excellent making the Beef Massaman Curry even better as the top pick here.

Green Curry with Chicken is still a great choice as well $18.90.

Another great pick is the Lamb Prik Khing $18.90 stir fried with curry paste, green beans and kaffir lime leaves.

And the Chicken and Cashew Stir fry with chilli jam $18.90 is as good as ever.

Crispy soft shell crab with Tamarind or Chilli Jam Sauce $25.

Thai Beef Salad $18.90 has a good flavour, but is not as good as the curries, laab or stir fries.

Three dishes with three dish is just perfect for six.

Smoque Woden

The recently opened Woden branch of Smoque, is a very welcome addition to Woden lunch options.

Located at the bottom of the Abode hotel in Bowes Street, opposite the Hellenic Club, it offers sunny, open and airy indoor and outdoor seating.

The feel is casual and relaxed, but service is quick and efficient.

The same rich, delicious flavours available at its sister restaurant in Canberra City are on the menu with blue cheese aioli partnering the spicy, tasty buffalo hot wings , BBQ sauce and a zesty coleslaw teamed with pulled pork on a burger, and goats cheese and smoked chicken with cranberries, highlighting the Thanksgiving Salad.

Buffalo hot wings $8.90 for 6

Thanksgiving Salad $15.90 with Smoqued Chicken, Quinoa, Pumpkin, Toasted Pecans, Red Onion, Goats Cheese, Spinach Fresh Herbs with Lemon Vinaigrette

Smoque Vegie Burger $13.90
with Smoked Mushroom, Pumpkin, Onion, Zucchini, Rocket is perhaps the absolute top pick .

Texan Waldorf $15.90 with Brisket, Pear, Red Onion, Gorgonzola, Rocket, Walnuts, Coriander Vinaigrette & Balsamic Glaze is also good

…as is the Original $11.90 with Pulled Pork or Brisket with BBQ Sauce & Coleslaw

Not quite as good are the…

Smoque Vegetable Salad $12.90 with Pearl Barley, Rocket, Goats Cheese, Pine Nuts, Eggplant, Onion,
Zucchini, Mushroom, Pumpkin, Honey & Rosemary Vinaigrette

Smoque Signature Burger $12.90
with Brisket, Cream Cheese, Jalapenos & Smoked Capsicum

The LA Green $12.90 with Broccolini, Broccoli, Spinach, Sprouts, Snow peas, Asparagus, Toasted Peanuts & Lemon Vinaigrette

As all flavours are rich and strong, it can be good to share dishes to vary the textures and tastes. It’s also great way to try new things without committing to a whole dish of the same option.

Smoque is also happy to provide a container, to take with you what you would enjoy more later.

Breakfast also looks very interesting and I have heard that the Breakfast Salad with poached eggs, spinach, pumpkin and bacon as well as the Chicken Waffles are both well worth trying.

Ming’s Chinese and Malaysian Cuisine, Philip – $18.80 Banquet

Ming’s offers an excellent banquet full of classic Australian Chinese favourites, in unbelievably generous portions at an amazing price of $18.80 per person.

Possibly this is the best value asian style dinner banquet around and ideal for groups with mixed preferences on a limited budget.

The atmosphere and decor is pleasant, parking is plentiful, service is friendly quick and efficient, and BYO corkage is $4 per bottle.

The $18.80 banquet (here shown for 7 people) includes:

Spring rolls (one per person) Steamed Dim Sims (one per person, and very delicious)

Honey Prawns Stir-fried vegetables

Boneless chicken with lemon sauce Sizzling Mongolian Lamb

Satay Beef Fried Rice

Plenty of boiled rice

…and naturally, prawns crackers..

While serves are so generous that you could eat twice, Ming’s helpfully offers takeaway containers at around 50 cents each, to take home extras for later.

Open for lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday and dinner Sunday, it’s an ideal spot for a family gathering.

Belluci’s Woden – a group lunch from the a la carte menu

Belluci’s in Woden, like Belluci’s in Manka, has a great lunch special than includes a range of Italian dishes and a drink (house wine/beer/soft drink).

But it can also be more interesting, varied and allow you to vary your portion size more easily, if you share dishes from the main menu.

This can be especially handy if you have already treied many of the dishes on the lunch specials menu and are looking for something new.

Ordering 4 dishes for a group of 6, or 6 dishes for a group of 9 gives a good range of different dishes to share while leaving you feeling comfortable at the end of the meal.

Choose 1-2 pizzas, 1-2 pastas, 2 side salads and perhaps a risotto, to share. This works out at around $16 per person.

The Bombay pizza $23 is excellent (as is the Verdura and Bellucis Special also on the lunch specials menu).

The Gnocchi Di Agnello (gnocchi with lamb shank ragu, citrus gremolata and aged parmesan $27) is especially good. The gnocchi is light and the ragu rich and flavoursome.

The Linguine Affumicato $25 (with smoked chicken, tiger prawns, pumpkin and avocado $25) is a good dish, but very rich creamy and best shared.

The Insalata Di Verdura (roquette, Israeli couscous, roasted vegetables,feta and sultanas $21) is a better choice than the Insala Di Bietola (roasted beetroot, lentils, fresh basil, goats cheese & blasmic glaze $21) however, both have a lot of roquette and are only side salad sized. A better choice may be two of the Insala Di Rucola (roquette, gorgonzola dolce, roasted walnuts and balsamic reduction $12) or the chicken cesar salad (also on the lunch specials menu) $22.

The Risotto Di Zucca (caramelised pumpkin, baby spinach, gorgonzola dolce and toasted walnuts $23) is larger than that on the lunch specials menu, but perhaps not as tasty.

Belluci’s also offers Entertainment Book holders a 25% discount.

Chocolate Olive – Phillip, Canberra

This Monday to Friday stylish cafe is within walking distance of Woden Westfield and one of the best spots for a weekday lunch.

It recently changed hands, but has maintained a similar menu, specialising in inexpensive gourmet burgers and interesting salads.

Large serve of three salads $9 Small salad and quiche approx $9

Also open for breakfast.

Paparazzi, Garren, Canberra

One of the great things about Canberra are the restaurants and cafes tucked away in the suburbs. Paparazzi at Garren shops offers a nice range of breakfast and lunch options at good prices.

Even though busy, the service was quite quick and very helpful.
The outdoor seating, though limited in outlook, is good for sunny days and there are cozy tables in side.