Bellucis Woden – a good Woden lunch spot

The lunch special weekdays in Woden at Bellucis are one of the best midweek lunch with friends options around Woden.

At $19.90 you get a glass of wine, beer or soft drink and can choose from a number of pastas, pizzas, salads and risottos.

The salads are great especially the Chicken Caesar salad and the Roast Tuscan Vegetable salad with Goats Cheese Fritters. But the Roast Vegetable Pizza (Verdura) and Caramelised Pumpkin Risotto with Walnuts are great too.

Best option is to get a selection and share dishes as the risottos, pastas and pizza are all filling, quite dense and very tasty.

You can easily order fewer than one dish per person here if you like to leave feeling comfortable as serve sizes are generous. However you need to order from the main menu as the policy is one lunch special per person. Belluci’s has a good atmosphere which gets even better at night.

Caramelised pumpkin risotto Chicken rissotto

Rigatoni Ciacciatore Spagetti alla bolognese

Penne Bellucis

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni

Chicken Ceasar Salad (great with dressing on the side)

Roast Vegetable Salad

Rockmelon and proscuitto salad

Bellucis special pizza (excellent)

Vedura pizza (a favourite)

Corvida, Swinger Hill- Lunch Special (Tues to Sat)

Corvina at the Swinger Hill shops in Mawson, Canberra has been open since June 2014, in the site previously occupied by the popular Italian Santa Lucia Restaurant.

It continues the style of Santa Lucia and like it’s predecessor it offers a great value lunch special, Tuesday to Saturday.

A short drive from Woden, it’s a good weekday lunch choice, but also makes a good Saturday option.

The $13.90 lunch special includes wine or softdrink, Italian bread and a choice of two delicious salads (the mushroom salad is excellent and the chicken salad is very good), a selection of pastas (the pesto fettucine is good), two risottos (chicken is better than the vegetarian), soup and pizza.

If dining as a group, it’s a great idea to order a selection of dishes and share a variety of flavours and textures.

The chardonnay is very good and a generous serve and the bread is also very good.

Service is friendly and attentive. Decor is pleasant. There is indoor and outdoor seating. BYO is $6.50 per bottle for extra wine.

The Corvina lunch special is a worthy challenger to Woden Belluci’s similar $20 lunch special. Corvina certainly wins on value. But Belluci’s dishes are probably the winners for taste and visual appeal.

FETTUCINE PESTO- diced tomato, olives & finished in a light pesto sauce (v) (using penne to make it easier to share) (a good choice)

RAVIOLI – house made ravioli filled with spinach & ricotta and finished in a traditional napoletana sauce (v)

CHICKEN RISOTTO- chicken risotto with mushrooms, sundried tomato & baby spinach (gf)
VEGETABLE RISOTTO- roast vegetable risotto blended with a light napoletana sauce (v)(gf)

MUSHROOM SALAD- mushrooms sauteed in garlic & chilli tossed through a mixed salad with a olive oil vinegarette (v)(gf)(d) (our best dish)
CHICKEN SALAD- grilled chicken tossed through a seasonal mixed salad (gf) (missed the photo) (a good pick)

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday
Lunch: 12pm – 2pm
Dinner: 6pm – 9:30pm
Ph 02 6286 2271
10/84 Ainsworth Street, Swinger Hill, ACT 2607

Cafe Gaudi – Woden

Located at the entrance to Woden Westfield, Cafe Gaudi is in a perfect location for a quick workday lunch.
What seems open becomes actually cozy and private if you pick a comfy corner in the warmth and relax on the soft couches.
The menu is quite broad wide and interesting. The serves were generous and the prices reasonable.
Service is very friendly, accommodating and quick.
I really liked the look of the focaccias ($14) and the smoked salmon bruscetta ($16.50). But even the sandwiches ($14) were thick with generous tasty fillings.
Cafe Gaudi also offers 25% discount for Canberra Entertainment Book owners.

The Palette Cafe, Deakin, Canberra – a quick look at lunch

The Palette, located at the Beaver Galleries in Deakin is a little cafe with plenty of class and a good, though small menu.

Cream of Mushroom soup with garlic butter $10.90 & Mixed leaf salad $7.50

Sourdough bread $4 Slow roasted duck with beetroot rocket and orange $23.90

However, prices are quite high and serves small. Booking is important.

Stand By Me, Lyons – Canberra

Stand By Me Cafe at the Lyons shops is helpfully located an easy and quick (about 10min) walking distance from Woden.
It’s open 7 days for breakfast and lunch (Mon-Fri 7-4pm, Sat- Sun 8-2pm) and has lovely staff and service.

While it is a welcome new addition to the Woden workday lunch scene with a short list of regular dishes and some changing specials, its real strength is it’s breakfast menu (only available until11 am weekdays, but all day on weekends).
The setting and decor is relaxed, friendly and pleasant with indoor and outdoor seating (front and back). SBM is also happy for diners to share dishes.

Meatball sub $11
The cakes are good value, but lunch serve sizes are fairly small.

Blackened Lamb Burger $15.50

The new Chong Co in Woden – a great spot for lunch

Not to be confused with the Chong Co restaurant close by in the Woden Southern Cross Club, the new Chong Co Woden that has opened up on Corina Street in the restaurant strip on the outside edge of the Westfield mall, is excellent.

It shares the same great dishes as it’s sister restaurants in Kinsgston Foreshore, Belconnen and the Southern Cross Club, and serve sizes are equally generous. The green curry (vegetarian was $14.90) we shared between two was truly delicious and plenty for both of us.

Vegetarian Green Curry $14.90 Two serves rice ($3 per person)
Too lovely to leave, staff are more than happy to bundle up any of the precious flavours to take with you.

The atmosphere is pleasant and staff are lovely. The Chong Co inside the Southern Cross Club is still my all time Woden favourite as the decor, space and ambiance are so special, but if you aren’t with a member, then this Chong Co, open to the public is the next best lunch option in Woden. It is also helpfully slightly cheaper.

Highly recommended. As it’s popular, it pays to make a booking. The phone number can be tricky to find – 0262823001

Chong Co Thai, Woden Southern Cross Club – Woden’s best lunch spot

Woden Westfield Mall is not blessed with the same number of nice lunch spots as the city so Chong Co Thai restaurant in the Woden Canberra Southern Cross Club is a great find.

At lunchtime it is quiet and relaxed. Service is graceful and stylish, matching the more upmarket setting, but still efficient and timely.

The serve sizes and quality reflect that of Chong Co’s sister restaurant on the Kingston foreshore and newly opened Woden Westfield location.

Ordering one dish and one serve of rice from the dinner menu can be enough for two modest appetites at lunchtime. The food is so rich in flavour and texture, savouring it slowly is a treat.

Two dishes with two rice is plenty for four people.

Three dishes with three rice is a good amount for six people.

This pattern of ordering works out at around $11.50 per person which is excellent value for delicious food and a lovely seeting.

Alternatively, if you would prefer not to share, but don’t want the dinner menu serve sizes, there is also a lunch menu with a smaller range of dishes that is priced lower ($13-$16 including rice).

If the number in the group is uneven, it can work to order one main and rice per two people and the smaller serve of the Chicken Cashew Stir fry with rice from the lunch menu.

Wine is available by the glass, and starts from $5-6 if bought at the bar downstairs.

Access is open to the public not just for members and their guests.

Open daily for lunch 11am-2:30pm and dinner 5-10pm.

Both indoor and outdoor seating

Beef Massaman $20.90 (the best I’ve ever had) Chicken Laab $18.90 (Excellent)

Red duck curry $20.90 (very delicious) Rice is $3 for a generous serve

Vegetarian Massaman Curry (not as good as the beef) $16.90

Green chicken curry – excellent $18.90

Chicken and cashew nut stir fry $18.90 Chicken Penang Curry $18.90 (very good)

Chicken Pad Thai $16.90 (good) Saffron rice $4.50 per serve (a little sweet which is very nice for variety)

New menu starting November 2015 will see the Beef Massaman Curry served with roti. The roti is excellent making the Beef Massaman Curry even better as the top pick here.

The Dumpling House -Woden

The Dumpling House – Woden

The new Dumpling House (Chinese Kitchen BBQ restaurant) is a fun and welcome addition to the Woden lunch options.

The decor sets the scene and staff wear traditional style uniforms adding an ‘authenticity’ to the atmosphere.

Dumplings are a specialty, but the other dishes are good too. The steamed prawn dumplings, combination dumplings, pan fried pork buns and eggplant hot pot are particularly good, followed by the ‘Mixture’ dumplings, then the steamed pork buns and lastly the pan fried pork dumplings.

Three dishes between four people is just right for lunch.

Pan fried pork dumplings- excellent Deep fried bean curd with spicy peppery salt $14.80 – good texture, but lacking flavour

Combination (Chicken, beef, veg) steamed dumplings $15.80 excellent Eggplant and chicken mince in X.O sauce $17.80 very good

Combination laksa $15.80 – large enough to share, flavour quite good

Vegetarian spring rolls $3.40 for 2

Kung Po Chicken $15.80 – good

Busy and buzzing, it pays to book a table.
Service is efficient and quick making it ideal for a workday catchup.

steamed prawn dumplings $12.80

Mixture’ dumplings $13.80

steamed pork buns $13.80

pan fried pork dumplings

Open 7 days for both lunch (11am – 3pm)and dinner (5-10pm)

Shop G93-94
Corinna Street
Woden Plaza, Phillip, ACT 2606

Phone: 62604888

Asian Noodle House Woden – generous serves, good for sharing

The Asian Noodle House Woden is close to a number of offices, so it can get very busy at lunchtime. It’s a good idea to book. Despite this, service is quick and professional. Staff are friendly, accommodating and helpful.

The meals are attractively presented and tasty. Serves are generous and one serve is enough for two people for lunch. A group of six could happily share three dishes for an interesting and varied range of dishes. Containers are also offered for 50 cents each to take what you will enjoy more later, with you.

The Hainam Chicken $14.50 is a good choice if you’re feeling like something a light.
The Kwangtong Noodles with Beef $14.50 had good flavour.
The 1/2 serves of Laksa are good value for money.
The Chilli Basil with Prawns $19.50 is well presented, but really very spicy (hot).