Local Press Cafe, Kingston Foreshore – trying the famous Green Pea Pancake

Local Press Cafe is famous for it’s Green Pea Pancake so it’s been on my wishlist.

Luckily, the Brunch Menu is available all day so this week I tried it out for lunch…

Green Pea Pancake with poached eggs, avocado, corn salsa, feta, chilli jam and mint $21

It’s good to try, but I think next time I’d go for the Wild Mushrooms sauteed in garlic, thyme and sage oil with pine nuts, almonds, meredith chevre, greens and poached egg on souorcough bread $19…

…or customise a meal with things like smoked trout $4.50, kale and almonds $3.50 and tomato and basil $3.50 that all comes with sourdough toast.

A lovely spot along the lake on a sunny day, it’s open six days for breakfast and lunch, but closed Mondays.

The current menu also varies from that on line.

Little Brother, Red Hill Lookout – perfect for a weekend coffee @littlebrotherredhill

Little Brother has the most gorgeous position, overlooking Canberra’s hills and valleys.

It really is worth booking a table by the window to make the most of the great views.

But if you miss out, it’s still cute and cosy anywhere.

The brunch and lunch menus are great and if you have the Canberra Entertainment Book you can also have a 25% discount.

But if it’s too early for a glass of wine and lunch, or you just looking for a light brekkie or a coffee then it’s hard to beat the morish, thick slices of raisin toast, just $5 for two huge slices.

Available all day, it’s the perfect comfort food in cold or cloudy weather.

Elk & Pea, Braddon – trying the Sunday brunch! @elkandpea

Elk and Pea has long been on my wishlist to try.

While Sundays only offer an all day breakfast menu, it includes some good options for lunch like the Smoked Salmon Salad $19 with a delicious combination or fresh herbs with the crunch of seeds and nuts..

…or the plentiful Smashed Avocado and Mushrooms $19

But the Grande is also a good choice $25…

..available in both vegetarian and non-veg.

Definitely somewhere I’d go back for brunch and enjoy the same dishes again.

Soi Noodle Bar, Canberra City – ticks all the boxes @soinoodlebar

The Soi Noodle Bar is a perfect spot for a pre or post movie drink and casual meal. Located in the Canberra Centre close to Dendy, parking is easy and it’s open every day until late.

Not licensed, it very helpfully offers BYO wine at $3 per person.

You can choose from differently sized Japanese, Thai and Korean dishes to suit your appetite and budget.

It’s great value, offering a 25% discount for Canberra Entertainment Book holders.

Service is swift.

The decor is chic, with some very impressive branding…

…that even extends into the kitchen!

Soi Noodle Bar has a friendly atmosphere and it’s the kind of place you can chat to fellow diners. At the table next to us we met Tam, Minh, Jenny and Tam who were lovely.

They are studying at ANU and enjoying Canberra, especially its food culture.

When it came to the menu, I loved the interesting mini-dishes especially the soft buns (3 for $15, $5 each for any extra).

These buns are teriyaki chicken, but the soft shell crab, spanner crab, prawn tempura or lamb all sounded great too.

Other great choices were the spicy edamame beans $5….

….and the delicious miso eggplant $10.

One order of each of these would be perfect to share between two with a glass or two of wine ($18 each including corkage or $13.50 with the Entertainment Book discount).
However, there’s also larger main meals on offer like the..

SLOW COOKED BEEF CHEEKS With salad & black rice $24

Or if you’d like, you can create your own noodle, curry, ramen or rice dish from a range of ingredients for around $14 (vegetable) to $19 for combination meats.

Serve sizes are very generous, ideal for sharing.

GREEN CURRY
Thai green curry with coconut milk zucchini, eggplant, green beans, bamboo shoot & sweet basil (medium spicy)

RAMEN – Chicken broth ramen noodle soup, topped with the meat of your choice, wakame, nori, chopped shallot, bamboo shoot, boiled egg and fish cake.

PAD SEE EW – Stir-fried thick rice noodles with Chinese broccoli, egg & sweet soy sauce

YAKIUDON – Udon noodles with soy, oyster ,fish sauce, cabbage, chopped shallot, onion, carrot, mushroom, egg and topped by bonito flakes & sesame oil.

The staff were friendly and accommodating.

They even sent us out some complimentary slushies to try –

LYCHEE SAKURA – lychee, lime & mint,

COCO-MANGO – coconut, mango & mint,

WATERMELON SUIKA – watermelon, mint & lime

Usually $6 each they were a perfect way to end the meal.

Soi Noodle Bar ticks all the boxes for me and will be my ‘go to’ pick when I’m heading to the movies.

The new ‘7 Experience’ on Kingston Foreshore @7BytheLake

Sushant and Tina at 7 By the Lake have a mission to introduce Canberra to some of the lesser known dishes of regional India.

This week they invited the Canberra Food Bloggers back to preview some new dishes that will feature on a new menu to be launched in September.

We also sampled the brand new ‘7 Experience’ a $49.50 per person four course banquet with accompaniments, breads and rice, full of specialities that many of us has never tried before.

We started with a Masala Papad – a crispy papad topped with onion, tomato, coriander and that great chaat masala spice.

(I still have the chaat masala I bought in Rajasthan to make these great starters back at home).
Then came a Solkadhior Kairi Panha, a coconut milk based savoury drink from the Konkan coast of Maharashtra.

The kokum fruit gives it the tang and the roasted cumin and chilli and garlic, the spice! It is a little like an Amuse Bouche.
Next there’s an entrée of your choice. But the Paneer Tikka (delicious with soft, melt in your mouth, house-made paneer) is hard to beat. It’s $16.90 if ordered separately to the ‘7 Experience’ but well worth considering.

Marinated in yogurt and spices, it’s cooked in the tandoor oven.
Diners can then chose a main, and we tried the Fish Rawa Fry from Goa.

This was just what I remembered, fried with a lovely crunchy chickpea and semolina coating. Sushant uses a beautiful firm Spanish Mackarel which is perfect for this dish. The fresh coriander gives a gorgeous green tinge and delicate flavour.(It’s $29.90 if ordered a la carte, a choice I’d definitely recommend.)
Other dishes I tried for the first time and loved were the Lamb Kalimirch (fabulous chunks of lamb in black pepper with a delicious gravy) ($25.90 a la carte)…

.. and the Veg Makkhnwala (like a veg version of butter chicken) a creamy textured curry made from vegetables simmered in butter, tomato and cashew based gravy, finished with cream (usually $22.90).

These came with a totally exceptional Date Kulcha, a sweet stuffed Naan to rival the wonderful Puranpoli we enjoyed last time.

I have a sweet tooth and just love Sushant’s sweet stuffed breads that he makes himself.
We also enjoyed Aloo Baingan from North India – Eggplant and potato cooked with onions, tomatoes and selected spices ($22.90 off the menu)…

..and Bhoona Kukha – chicken marinated in spices cooked with onion and yogurt, a dry hot and spicy dish from Rajasthan (usually $22.90).

To finish the ‘7 Experience’ diners are offered a choice of Gulab Jamun or Mango Kulfi. Either would be a perfect end to this varied and flavoursome meal, full of old favourites or new surprises – it’s up to you!
The beauty of the ‘7 Experience’ is that there is no minimum number, usually required for banquets.

(If ordering a la carte diners can use the Canberra Entertainment Card for a 25% discount, but as is usual for specials, it’s not available for the ‘7 Experience’).

BYO wine available.

7 By the Lake – back for dinner for 12

My first visit back to 7 By the Lake was with a group of 12 friends – and a strict budget of $25 per person.

But as 7 By the Lake has recently joined the Canberra Entertainment Card (as bonus offer number 47) Sushant was very happy to let us use up to three cards for a 25% discount.
We started with a vegetable samosa each (2 for $9.90)….

…ordered six naans ($4 each) which were large, fluffy and delicious and easy to share…

….six serves of rice…

….One serve for each group of four people of each of three dishes…

….a very excellent lamb rogan josh ($25.90)….

….chicken tikka marsla $22.90…

….and palak paneer $22.90.

The food was delicious, there was plenty for everyone and the service was excellent.
Corkage was $5.50 per person.
A great night was enjoyed by all and we did stick within budget!

Sharing a love of cooking, great food and an amazing venue @PialligoEstate

As I’ve mentioned before Pialligo Estate might be Canberra’s very best dining venue.

The Garden Pavillions are perfect for a winter’s day casual meal.

It was the perfect spot for the Canberra Food Bloggers to catch up over cookbooks on a cold Canbera Saturday. As the sleet and hail rolled in we were toasty warm enjoying Pialligo Estate’s fine wine, sampling the lunch menu and sharing our lives, joys and passions through cookbooks.

The idea is simple, yet brilliant. Bring along some cookbooks/foodbooks that you love and any that you have loved but are ready to share to a new home.

I’m always amazed at the many ways food can connect us with people and cultures, but I’d not yet come across a cookbook chat and swap.

As I looked through the cookbooks I’d collected over many years, to bring along, I wondered why some had survived many ruthless cullings.

I realised that it’s not that they are particularly good, but rather that they represent a part of my life. I’ve moved from handwritten family recipes that started me off as a child, through a spartan low fat eating era, to discovering the world of creating events around food. I will always be thankful for that commercial cookery training that dietitians once did. And I could see that now I collect cookbooks to remind me of places where I’ve travelled.

But it was fasciating to hear everyone else tell of their lives and loves through their favourite cookbooks. We only scratched the surface…there are more conversations planned!

Together with this wonderful cookbook inspired sharing, we enjoyed a Pialligo Estate Smokehouse Platter with Peppered rump, chicken roulade & cos lettuce, jamon, washed rind cheese from the Adelaide Hills and house made dukkah, served with Pepe Saya butter and crusty bread.

Followed by Southern Spiced Pork and Pickled Melon….

and Ham Bell & Garden Salad with red wine mignonette…

..and finished with a dessert of…

..and Spanish Herbed Sheep’s Cheese with rosemary (very delicious), pears & baguette

..Persimmon Crumble with lime mascarpone (wonderful flavours)

and Chocolate Delice & coffee biscuit..

All beautifully accompanied by Pialligo Estate Riesling and Shiraz.

Pialligo Estate generously subsidised our costs by the Platters are usually $42 per person (minimum tow guests) or the set menu is $48 pp for two courses or $60 for three.

Wine by the glass is around $12.

And we left with bags of Blood Oranges courtesy of RedBelly Citrus….to start new culinary adventures!

Chez Kimchi, Canberra City

Chez Kimchi has been on my wishlist for a while so it was great to try the highly popular fried chicken

…and some dumplings to go with it…

Very friendly and helpful staff..

…and clearly popular…

but next time I do think I’d try a soup, korean pancake or stew..

..or share a hotpot…

Open Sundays for lunch.

Daana – heading to Curtin, the start of an exciting new venture! @daana_canberra

Daana has gained a strong following of lovers of regional Indian cuisine since Sanjay and Sunita opened in Westside Acton late last year. Serving great street food from a both north (Sanjay) and south (Sunita) India, they’ve added comfortable wet weather seating for customer comfort.

But now it’s time to take their great street food from a both north (Sanjay) and south (Sunita) India, to a new home in Curtin.

Following in the footsteps of Binny’s Kathitto ( that recently made the move from their pop up in the Hamlet to a permanent home on Lonsdale Street), Daana is heading to a great stand alone venue previously occupied by Silver Fox and before that Delissio. It has in front free parking very easy a access for Woden workers. The perfect spot for end of year lunches!