Canberra
Great sharing plates around Canberra
StandardSharing plates and platters
Sharing plates and platters can really be your friend. They offer couples and groups the chance to try a larger range of taste experiences in smaller amounts rather than just being limited to one or two dishes, that may or may not be so good.
They are often also full of interesting and beautifully presented foods. A treat for all the senses. These can be ordered per person/two people and extra breads or crackers are usually available if you need them.
Some around Canberra include……
Dionysus Winery Murrumbatemen
Tilba Valley Wines Ploughman’s Lunch
$3 extra bread for Hometead Cafe’s Entree Tasting platter
Homestead cafe (Wallaroo Rd) Entree tasting platter $22 (extra bread $3), pesto, hummus, olives, Poacher’s Pantry Proscuitto, caramelised onion (all fantastic) BYO $3.50 pp
Santa Lucia Antipasti platter
Pistachio Dining Room Torrens, Dessert tasting plate $20 (a favourite) (Entertainment Book -25% discount)
Pistachio Dining Rooms Torrens Trip of Entrees $19 (Entertainment Book Discount -25%)
Punjabi Hut Manuka Entree Platter for two $19 (Entertainment Book -25% discount)
Adore Tea, Gold Creek, meat platter
Trev’s Dickson, 3 entrees platter (25% discount with Entertainment Book)
Jamie’s Italian, Canberra Centre, meat platter (veg platter and seafood platter also available) served with breads tin
And still on my wish list….
Sutton Forrest Estate Winery and Cafe (McDonald’s turn off) Hume Hwy half way to Sydney, great spot, extra bread offered and wine available (photo shows platter for two, but it looks like it could serve four)
The Green Herring Special (Serves 2 (but is really enough for 4) $32
Dessert plate at Green Herring
(Gold Creek, Nicholls)
Includes morsels of the maple and banana pudding, spring rolls, brulee and apple pie
Maple and Banana Pudding – Butterscotch sauce, vanilla bean panna cotta, cinnamon ice cream
Spring Rolls – Chocolate and Bailey’s filled spring rolls, peppermint ice cream, cocoa crumb,
and a coffee dipping sauce
Individual Apple Pie – Vanilla anglaise, apple sorbet, rosemary and apple gel
Lavender Brûlée – Raspberry macaroon, honey crème friache, almond crumble
And….
At Thirst Wine Bar:
Starter plate for 2 people $27.90
A selection of house specialities ;
Your choice of relish, chiang mai sausage, corn fritters & fish cakes
Relish options:
A hot & spicy chilli relish of shrimp paste and tamarind (hot) /nam prik gapi makaam Chef’s favourite
Mushroom and peanut relish / lon het tua li song
Northern chilli relish of tomato and eggplant / nam prik nuum
all served with rice cakes, seasonal vegetables & fresh herbs
Might be cold in Canberra but there was no end to the Saturday food delights about town
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Breakfast at The Cupping Room – Civic
‘Not So Raisin’ Toast Maple and Cinnamon Ricotta on Fruit and nut loaf (good for two)
Cooking Mexico Masterclass with Andrea
Andrea’s Mexican Black Bean Soup
Andrea’s Green Chilaquiles
Penny University
Coffee and Almond Crossiant
‘Window shopping’ at Ricardo’s Jamieson
The Forage Street Food Festival New Acton
Poacher’s Pantry menu- so hard to decide
Smoked Chicken on flat bread with pumpkin kasundi, labna and salsa (and wine)
Smoked tomato soup with lamb, pesto, puy lentils and soda bread looks great too
Cheers for helpful Canberra restaurants & cafes (for sharing)
StandardWhen a restaurant or cafe has tried really hard to make it easy to share, they deserve a special mention:
Noy at Thai Chiang Rai, Kingston was more than happy to prepare 1 1/2 serves of his wonderful Five Spice Prawns and serve them in two dishes.
3/4 serve Five spice prawns (about 10 prawns per one serve)
The staff at Chong Co, Kingston, likewise, did not hesitate to offer 1 1/2 serves of their soft shelled crab and duck salad dishes.
Pho Quoc in Dickson and Meccabah in Manuka, both happily offered extra serving bowls and spoons to split their soups.
Rare beef Pho at Pho Quoc – delicious
Meccabah’s Harira Soup
A delightful new wait person at The Palette Cafe (Beaver Galleries, Deakin) surprised us by arriving with our soup already split into two bowls.
Half serve of soup at The Palette
Soju Girl have been really great at making sure small plates come with enough pieces to share.
‘Tasting plate’ a good option at Flute Bakery, Fyshwick Canberra
StandardFlute Bakery in Fyshwick has the most beautiful cakes. So beautiful it’s hard to choose. But a great option is the $8 Assiette option which gives has four different small serves. It is also ideal for a ‘savour some now, enjoy more later’ option, or for sharing with a friend.
Da Rosario’s menu really does look ‘spectacular’ at ‘rock bottom prices’
StandardJust as The Canberra Times Food &Wine claims, Da Rosario’s menu does look like a ‘spectacular breakfast or lunch at rock bottom prices’
Two Sisters Kambah, Canberra – Lao Cuisine, Sharing Canberra’s World Food Delights with friends
Standard6 Kett Street, Kambah, ACT 2902
Ph (02) 6231 3331
Dinner (Tue – Sun): 17:00PM – 21:00PM
(Closed On Monday)
Suggested menu for four
Sticky rice is a must with main courses $3.50 per serve ( 2 serves)
Lao sausage is a good starter $16
Red curry with duck and chicken $20
Cashew stir fry are all good $17
The Kambah location has a lovely family run feel and dishes were better there than in Dickson.
BYO $2.90 per person
25% discount up to $30 for Canberra Entertainment Book
Total cost of food $60 ($15 per person) ($45 with the discount ($11 per person)
Sticky rice
Lao Sausage
Stir fry chicken
Red duck curry
Ethiopia Down Under, Pearce, Canberra – Ethiopian Food another Canberra World Food Delight to share
Standardhttp://www.ethiopiadownunder.com.au/
Pearce Shops
Shop 1 – 70 Hodgson Crescent
Pearce ACT
Open for Dinner – Tues – Sunday 5.30pm till late
Phone: 02 6286 165
Friendly service and easy parking.
Corkage is NIL
Suggested shared menu for six
ALIT’CHA DORO $19.90
Strips of chicken breast pieces cooked with carrot, green chilli & onion. (gf)
KAY WAT $17.90
Ethiopia’s main stay and most popular meat dish – tender beef pieces in a spicy berbere sauce. (gf)
ASAR TIBBS $20.90
Nile Perch fish fillet pan-fried fresh with burbere spices, capsicum, onion & tomato. (gf)
All mains come with steamed rice and fluffy pancakes made from sorghum.
HOMEMADE ICE CREAMS, GELATO & SORBETS
(225-250 gm or approx 2-3 scoops) $8.90 (gf)
Flavours vary with availability and season
Ice creams (full cream) (vegetarian) (gf)
Ethiopian Sidamo Coffee & Roasted Hazelnut
Three Chocolates & Cointreau
Caribbean Coconut Rum Triple Chocolate Chip
Ginger, Toasted Coconut & Chocolate Shards
Cumquat & Scorched Almonds
Turkish Delight
Malted Chocolate & Macadamia Nut
Gelatos (milk based) (vegetarian)
Gelatos (milk based) (vegetarian) (gf)
Lemon
Pure chocolate
GSorbets (non dairy – no egg white used) (vegan)
Sorbets (non dairy – no egg white used) (vegan) (gf)
Lemon
Pineapple and Coconut Cream
Passionfruit and Valencia Orange
Mango Sunset
25% discount for Canberra Entertainment Card up to $25
Total cost of food and corkage $111 ($18.60 per person) ($86 with the discount ($14.30 per person)
Icecream and gelato
ASAR TIBBS
ALIT’CHA DORO
KAY WAT
Sanur’s Balinese Restaurant, Belconnen, Canberra good sharing menu for a group
StandardShop 1, The Broadwalk
1/114 Emu Bank, Belconnen, 2617
Phone: (02) 6162 1688
Email: admin@sanurs.com.au
Opening Hours
Lunch 12.00 – 14.30 (Tuesday – Saturday)
Dinner 17.30 – 22.00 (Tuesday – Sunday)
Suggested menu for six
Opor Ayam $17.9
Tender chicken tenderloin cooked in spiced coconut curry
Beef Rendang $18.9
Slow cooked beef in rich coconut sauce with Indonesian Traditional herbs and spices
Gado Gado (V) $14.9
Steamed mixed vegetables with peanut sauce, boiled eggs, garlic crackers & fried shallots
Terong Balado (V) $16.9
Lightly fried Japanese eggplant with padangnese chili relish
Three serves rice
25% discount up to $30 for Entertainment Book
Corkage $5 per bottle
http://www.sanurs.com.au/index.html
(Total cost of food about $78) ( $13 per person) ($ 59 with the discount ($10 per person)
Gado Gado
Beef Rendang
Discovering Canberra’s World Food Delights with friends – good spots and great menus
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Canberra offers a bounty of great spots to explore the cuisines of the world with friends, and even meet some of the locals introducing the food of their home country to their fellow Canberrans, at the same time.
Vietnam, China, India, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Italy, Thailand, Mexico, Ethiopia, Laos, Burma, Malaysia and Bali as well many more cuisines are well represented in restaurants and street food style eateries around town.
Through some creative ordering and sharing, it’s easy to enjoy a range of dishes, finish dinner still feeling comfortable and keep the cost of the food down to around $20 or less.
And most places offer BYO which also keeps it affordable even if you’re planning a ’round the world’ ticket.
In the next few posts, I’ll help with some places to head and some menu ideas.
So grab some friends, a bottle wine and share some exciting food adventures discovering Canberra’s world cuisines.
Fine Eating 