Exploring some of Canberra’s best foodie haunts Part 2- At Westside with Eat Drink Blog 2015

Following in the footsteps of the Hamlet is Westside at the Acton end of Commonwealth Bridge.

Offering different cuisines to the Hamlet, but in a similar style, Westside is also a great summer spot to head with a group, your wine, glasses and a few dollars. Set up some folding in a nice position overlooking the lake and pick up a range of interesting foods from the friendly street food stalls, to split and share.

Or if you haven’t come prepared, just grab a table and a glass of wine from the Aviary bar on the top level.

Habibiz offers Mediterranean food and Limey’s…Gelato.

The One has some good looking soft Thai pork and beef tacos $12…..

The Fish Can‘s menu includes tempura prawns and sweet potato chips $13…

….some delicious Bao like prawn, fish, and soft shelled crab $13.50 in a surf pack….

….and perhaps even better chicken and pork belly Bao for around $4.30-$4.50 each…

….also they offer a Mars Bar Bao and Tempura Tofu Bao…

The sweet Bao Fries $3.50 with condensed milk glaze and black sesame are very morish.

Miss Van’s has an excellent Ginger Chicken, Vermicelli noodles and fresh herbs Vietnamese salad $12 in a generous size, and it is also famous for it’s Banh Mi.

Daana is serving up some great South Indian Street foods like the, hard to find idli, Vada, dosa and Uttapam according to Jude and Travel and Beyond.
A great place for families with younger children as parking is easy and free there’s plenty of space to run around nearby.

Exploring some of Canberra’s best foodie haunts Part 1 – At The Hamlet with Eat Drink Blog 2015

The recent, brilliantly organised and executed, national food bloggers conference, was an excellent opportunity to meet and fall in love with some of Canberra’s best food experiences.

Launching at the Hamlet on Lonsdale Street, Braddon, generous and gracious hosts showcased much that this friendly, relaxed collection of street food stalls has to offer.

Broddogs offered a selection of their smaller sized Brodpups…..

…..Mr Papa Peruvian Street Food their delicious pork belly sandwich…..

…..Spit Shack treated bloggers to their 2 foot King Roll and smaller samples of their yummy pork and lamb rolls….

…Fillos were generous with their souvlaki…

…Custom Pizza prepared a selection of their wood fired favourites….

…Mr Morris had some gorgeously decorated donuts…

….Little Dreams wonderful macaroons…

….Thomas from the Brathaus was full of fun and encouraged bloggers to enjoy his meats and sausages…

( Thomas and his family also turned up to serve breakfast all weekend, a true host!)…

….Pie Day teamed their melt in the mouth pastry with mushy peas….

…April’s Caravan served wonderful milkshakes and waffles….

…But perhaps the very best of all were the Katti Rolls from Binny’s Kathitto, traditional Indian street food…

The Hamlet is the perfect place to grab a table, BYO ( glasses too), and collect and gather a selection of good value, wide ranging options to share ( just bring a sharp knife) and enjoy as a group.

But do leave space for icecream from The Frugii Dessert Factory, the very best in Canberra. John lovingly creates new flavour experiences like Passionfruit Pavlova, Cardamom and Lemon Myrtle, to delight customers.

His passion for great icecream is infectious. Great value at $5 for a small serve with two flavours.

Read more about Eat Drink Blog Fun with Gary, Rose, Serina, Serena and Erin.

Yarralumla Halal Pide House, Yarralumla – a great large group idea for an Anzac Day lunch

Ordering Turkish Banquets is an excellent idea for catering for a large group at home.

Adding a few extra touches and re-plating can give the meal a whole new look.

A Turkish lunch is particularly wonderful on Anzac Day to remember the special relationship between Turkey and Australia in the Great War. It’s a great way to get family or friends together after the formalities and share what is such an important time for so many.

Add a few special ANZAC traditions like vegemite on Turkish bread, a Gunfire breakfast (coffee with a shot of Bundaberg rum or condensed milk (whatever was available at the time)),Two Up, and of course ANZAC biscuits!

(Cinnamon Scrolls has a recipe for Anzac Biscuit Sandwiches with Coconut Butter Cream which sound very luxurious if you’re looking for something extraordinary to make dessert particularly special!)

There are several spots in Canberra to order from including the Yarralumla Turkish Halal Pide House who deliver free of charge within 15km – outside of that area a $25 surcharge applies.

Probably a good idea to give a minimum of 1 day’s notice if you will be ordering quite a number of banquets.

Yarralumla offers particularly nicely presented salads as well as the usual options included in most Turkish banquets.

Only order what you need. One banquet per three people may well be enough if you are adding your own dessert, extra vegetable crudités for the dips and perhaps adding a few extra garnishing ingredients to the salad.

Often the basic banquet is the best and most versatile.

For example, the Yarralumla Halal Pidehouse Banquet includes:

A selection of dips, pide bread , kabak, falafel, salad, rice, lamb skewers, chicken skewers and mixed pide – $40.00 for 2 banquets then $20.00 per extra banquet.

Cold starters:

Dips Humus • Beetroot • Carrot • Eggplant • Cucumber

with some extra Vine leaves stuffed with rice, onion, tomato and olive oil $1 each added for variety

…re-plated with torn turkish bread

Warm entrees:

Kabak Mucveri Fried zucchini puffs with yoghurt sauce

Falafel Deep fried chickpea patties with tahini sauce 6 per serve

with some extra Börek – Fetta cheese and spinach pastry rolls ordered and added

…re-plated with the garlic dip and tahini dip

Chicken and Lamb Skewers

…cut in half with kitchen scissors and re-plated..

Mixed Pide

…cut up with kitchen scissors and re-plated..

Salad

Salad re-plated with extra olives and nuts to garnish

Rice

…re-plated…

Sliced meat..as it arrives and re-plated

extra Turkish bread and some roast vegetables

Enlighten Noodle Markets 2015

Canberra’s newest food festival, the Enlighten Night Noodle Markets are a very welcome addition to the annual Canberra Enlighten.

Running for the ten nights before Canberra Day on March 9 (in 2015) they are well worth including in a visit to the ‘must see’ Enlighten projections on some of Canberra’s significant buildings along the lakefront near Old Parliament House.

Don’t be discouraged by the reports of long lines, crowds and parking issues. Like other Canberra festivals with food, it just needs a few good strategies to overcome the challenges:

Go with a group
Park away from the main area and walk down to the lake.
Grab a table and chairs close to the noodle markets (there are nice ones in front of Questacon from where you can also see some of the projections as it gets darkTake your own wine and glasses (not allowed into the actual noodle market stall area) as well as a few extra paper plates for sharing dishes. While one person minds the table and ‘tableware’, others in the group can head to the stalls, each bringing back a dish to share.
Lines move fairly quickly, even the long ones, but look for some that are shorter.
Some excellent options (e.g. Thirst, Mork’s) have very short lines. (It’s also great to support these local Canberra eateries).