Eating out in Canberra

Mandalay Bus, more great sharing options

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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.

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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

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

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Burmese Calamari Salad $10

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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).

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The Mandalay Bus on Urbanspoon

Chomolungma Nepali Cuisine, Manuka, absolutely delicious

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The test of a good nepalese restaurant is it’s momos and Chomolungma has the best momos I’ve tasted outside of Kathmandu. They come with a delicious tomato and sesame chutney and a tasty clear soup.

Recently opened Chomolungma in Manuka, fills the spot left by the Himalayan Restaurant in Palmerston Lane.

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Chomolungma’s menu is short and focuses on a thali style meal with variations. But boy is it good.The Nepali spiced gravy is absolutley delicious and the dahl smoky and flavoursome. The sides include a crunchy vegetable mixture that provides a great texture contrast and a dahl that is smoky and flavoursome.

The roti $3 is an essential addition.

The service is very friendly, warm, welcoming and efficient.

Three people could share 1 serve of momos, two main thali meals and two roti.

It is the type of meal that is memorable and makes you look forward to going back to have the same meal again…even the next day.

ten chicken momos $12 (excellent) with a tasty clear soup

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khassi ko masu $18 – braised goat meat (on the bone) with a nepali spiced gravy, rice, dahl, sautéed spinach, mango pickle and crunchy vegetable side

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pappdoms are complementary and corkage for BYO wine is $2 per person.

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Desserts include a hot millet pancake served with banana, strawberry and honey $9 and ice-cream with a trio of toppings mango, berries and chocolate $6.

The pork momos and the chicken thali style meal (Kuyhurako Masu $15) are well worth a try.

Closed Sundays

Phone: 0450 317 346

Chomolungma on Urbanspoon

Harmony Week, Street Food, Food Court Lunch, a very easy idea for sharing food with friends

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Another good and very easy idea for celebrating Harmony Week is to head to your local food court with a group of friends and create your own ‘global cuisine street food tour’.

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While someone finds a table, everyone else collects a food from a different national cuisine and brings it back to share.

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It can be good to take along a sharp knife, extra serving cutlery and extra plates. If you’ve time to plan ahead it can even be good to share a bit of background to the dish you’ve each bought (or otherwise just sit back and enjoy travelling the world through food.)

Woden Westfield Mall Food Court

Spice of India  Marsala Dosa $9 (Excellent choice)

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Roll’d 2 soft shelled crab soldiers $7.80 (not as good as some of the other picks)

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And 2 classic pork Bun Mee $17 (not as good as some of the other picks)

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Ethiopia Down Under Meat Combo (with rice and injera bread) $12 (Excellent choice)

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2 Brown rice, chicken and avocado sushi from Hero Sushi $7 for 2 (Excellent choice)

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Harmony Week lunch, great idea for sharing food at work

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There are lots of opportunities to create food sharing events at work and Harmony Week is one of the best. It’s well supported by the Taste of Harmony website where you can download ideas, flags and labels as wells quizzes and other resources to enrich your event.

A pot luck lunch where everyone brings a food to share from a particular national cuisine (possibly reflecting your heritage), is easy to organise and lots of fun. Those who are short of time can whip up quickly to the local food court or take-away.

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Mekong Riverweed crisps (Laos)   Turkish bread and dips (Turkey)

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Cornbread (USA)                           Sushi (Japan)

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Dutch custard cake (Netherlands)                Upside down pineapple cakes (Australia)

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Spicy meatballs and dip (Italy)   Knodel dumplings (Germany)

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Fresh spring rolls (Vietnam)       Bacon buns (Lithuania)

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Vegemite and cheese scrolls (Australia)     Cardamon Kulfi (India)

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Oreo truffles (USA)

Also a great opportunity to dress for the occasion if you happen to have an appropriate outfit from your heritage or travels.

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Taste of Bangladesh & India, Manuka, an amazing discovery

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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.

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

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Wine is BYO and corkage is free.

The naan is huge and lovely ($2.50 each)

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Pappadoms are complementary.

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Great choices are….

…the samosas (2 for $7)

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

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

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

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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)

Taste of Bangladesh on Urbanspoon

Enlighten Noodle Markets 2015

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

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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.

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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:

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  1. Go with a group
  2. Park away from the main area and walk down to the lake.
  3. 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.
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  5. Lines move fairly quickly, even the long ones, but look for some that are shorter.
  6. Some excellent options (e.g. Thirst, Mork’s) have very short lines. (It’s also great to support these local Canberra eateries).

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7. Try to avoid the very busiest times.

8. Time your dining to coincide with the projections starting on dusk, because they are an essential finale to any noodle market visit.

BBQ Pork buns from Let’s Do Yum Cha (5 for $10)

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Vegetarian Dumplings from Let’s Do Yum Cha (5 for $10) (Good*)

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Fried Pork and glass noodle salad with tamarind jam dressing from Thirst $12 (Good*)

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Yellow Curry with Chicken,Potato and Rice Noodles also from Thirst ($12)

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Boat noodle soup (dry version without the broth) from Morks $10

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Pad Thai (probably from Spanthai for about $12)

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Mango Chicken (also probably from Spanthai for about $12) (also Good)

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 Enlighten projections

National Library

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Questacon

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National Portrait Gallery (perhaps the very best)

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National Art Gallery

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Old Parliament House

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Good for a large group – Bentham Street Bar ‘n Pizza, Yarralumla

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Bentham Street Bar ‘n Pizza in Yarralumla is a great spot for a large group get together.
Sisters Carol and Sandra are very helpful, accommodating and flexible.

While indoor seating is limited, in good weather, up to 40 can be accommodated outdoors in a lovely shady setting on a quiet leafy corner.

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BYO is offered at $5 per bottle and you can bring along your own dessert to keep costs down, for $2 cakeage per person.

When designing an interesting, good value ordering plan consider ordering the equivalent of ½ pizza per person and 1/3 of a salad, if also bringing dessert.

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This will cost approximately $19-20 per person including corkage and cakeage.

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Choose 4 types of pizza and ask for pizzas to be cut into 8 so that everyone is able to try a range of (if not all) choices.
Some popular choices are
Four cheese (vegetarian option) $21

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Gourmet vegetarian (vegetarian option) $21

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Spanish Chorizo $21

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Smoked salmon with onion, crème fraiche, spinach, capers, wasabi mayo $22

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The pizza oven can only cook seven pizzas at once, but this is not a problem as it means, hot pizzas keep coming. Gluten free bases are also available, which along with at least two very good vegetarian options, makes to easier to cater for special dietary requirements.

For Salads it is easiest and best value just to order the very good Mesculin, rocket, fetta, olives, tomato and capsicum $12.50, in which case three people share each salad.

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If opting for more variety also consider the Smoked salmon, capers, onion, with wasabi mayonnaise $16.50 if which case six people would share two different salads.

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Bentham Street Bar n' Pizza on Urbanspoon

 

Murrumbateman Winery, Murrumbateman

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Canberra is blessed with lots of lovely wineries for a weekend outing. But Murrumbateman Winery has the advantages of being easy to find and offering a genuinely welcoming, generous and gracious style of hospitality that is a treat in itself.

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Bobbie Makin’s passion for sharing his wines is clear as he introduces his range., each time making you feel like very welcome and special guests.

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Start with Bobbie’s wine tasting (free for groups of ten or less) before selecting a glass (around $7) (or bottle $25-$30) to go with your pre-ordered tasting platter (pre-order by 6pm Wednesday).
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Greek Mezze $19.50 (for two people, price reduces with larger groups)

Taramasalata, Hummus and Tzatziki with garlic baked Turkish Bread, Stuffed Capsicums and Roasted Artichoke

Then sit back and enjoy along with a lovely view of the vines.

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Murrumbateman Winery on Urbanspoon

Rama’s Fijian Indian Restaurant, Pearce

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Rama’s Indian Fijian Restaurant at the Pearce Shops is immensely popular and busy.

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Service is extremely friendly and efficient and there’s a real feeling of being welcomed and entertained.

Prices are probably more than average but this is balanced by no corkage BYO, and more reasonable rice and roti prices.

The food is also very good and serve sizes good for sharing between up to six people.

Entrees include the very delicious Roti parcel $9 each

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Cooked pumpkin and coconut wrapped inside a

pan fried roti

and large Vegetable samosa 2 for $12

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The mains that included a creamy spinach sauce win over the more tomato based sauces.

The standout dish is Lamb Saag

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Cubes of lamb cooked with fresh spices, spinach and

coconut milk. $24.50

quickly followed by Palak Paneer $20

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Home made cheese cooked in a smooth spinach sauce

The Curried Beans and Tomato $13 are a good value very tasty dish, good to add to a shared menu.

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Sliced beans, chopped tomatoes and onions cooked

slowly at low temperature, with a hint of spices.

The Prawn Saabji $24.50

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Prawns cooked with onion, garlic, tomato, spinach

and coconut milk, comes with six prawns and a tasty sauce.

The Aamm Chicken (Mango Chicken) $23

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Boneless chicken pieces cooked with fresh spices and a

sweet mango sauce, while listed as a ‘speciality’ is not as good as the other dishes, but better than the

Madras Fish Curry $23.50

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Boneless fillets of ling marinated in lemon juice, tumeric,

garlic and simmered in spices, in a tomato based sauce which is fairly hard textured fish in a very spicy sauce.

Pappadam 4 for $3 with yogurt and tamarind sauces

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Roti $2.50 each

Rice $2.75 per person (unlimited)

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Three dishes between four people is a good amount to share and stay comfortable.

If also ordering one entrée piece each (particularly the large samosa) then three between six may be enough especially with roti.

Suggested menu for six:

3x Pan fried roti with pumpkin and coconut (halved)

Lamb saag

Palak paneer

Curried beans and tomato

1 extra dish (e.g. the Potaotes and Peas Curry which comes highly recommended – Potatoes, pea, onion, tomato and fresh coriander cooked in a touch of spices $20 or try the Fijian Pork Curry $24 or the Goat Curry $23 )

3 roti

6 rice

$160 total approx. ($22 per person – no corkage required)

Ramas Restaurant on Urbanspoon