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!

1 On One Expresso, Forrest/Barton @1ononeexpresso

1 On One Expresso is new to the Department of Finance Building, at 1 Canberra Ave, Forrest (Barton side).

It has an attractive decor….

….and interesting lunch menu with salads including a delicious haloumi fritters $17

..as well as a quinoa salad $16 (not quite as good).

Sandwiches ready to go are $8.50 and wine by the glass starts at $7.

Breakfast is avaialbe until 12 Noon, but a couple of the brekkie rolls are avaiallbe all day:

BACON AND EGG ROLL tomato or house bbq sauce $7

DELUXE BACON AND EGG ROLL rosti, smashed avo, cheese, house bbq sauce $10

Les Bistronomies, Braddon – a first look

I’ve heard much about the French dishes at Les Bistronomies, so it was great to finally get there.

The decor is lovely, relaxed yet elegant and standards are high.

It’s beautifully presented food served with great passion!

At lunch there’s four choices for main course and we choose…

Beef Bourguignon: Braised beef cheek in red wine served with
speck, mushroom & Paris mash potato $35, which was a good choice and …

Whole lemon sole with champagne sauce served with warm potato salad $31…

…but I kind of wish we’d gone with the Corn fed chicken & truffle blanquette: Traditional French casserole with fresh Braidwood truffle, carrots, mushrooms & rice $36, as truffle season is nearly over in Canberra.

For dessert we chose..

Montblanc: Chestnut mousse, chestnut crumb & vanilla meringue $16..

And the very dramatic and delicious Vanilla bean creme brulee $16.

Currently Living Social is offering a two course lunch with tasty bread and whipped butter, $55 for two people. It’s a great deal!

And if you don’t have a Living Social Deal, the Canberra Entertainment Book offers a 25% discount.

Little Bird, Barton – another delicious sandwich! @littlebirdbarton

Little Bird has a small but excellent menu, quick, friendly service and great prices!

The salads are great, but I do especially enjoy the roasted sandwiches.

Having savoured the Reuben I was keen to try the Roast Pumpkin.

ROAST PUMPKIN
Field mushrooms, basil pesto + fetta $11.90

It had just the perfect balance of fetta, pesto, nicely roasted pumpkin slices and large flavoursome field mushrooms.

The soup of the day was Winter Vegetable – a generous serve, also very much appreciated by my lunch companion!

SOUP OF THE DAY
with bread $12.90

Flying Duck, Prahran, Victoria – a friendly local

The Flying Duck Hotel in Prahan, is a great all rounder.

Relaxed and casual it has a varied and interesting menu that includes dishes like…

Caprese salad – heirloom tomatoes, homemade ricotta and basil

Croquettes – semi dreied tomatoes and goat cheese with broccoli pesto

Salt and Pepper Squid and housemade kimchi salad with sushi

Aromatic grilled focaccia and housemade dips

Spanish-style ratatouille with baked egg, tomato, zucchini and eggplant

Spinach spaghetti with spanner crab, diamond clams and manzanilla wine

Gurnard, green mojo and potatoes cooked in papillote

Duck breast, served with chestnut puree and pine mushrooms

Vegetarian risotto with button mushrooms and parmesan cheese

300gm Porterhouse – grass fed steak with mushroom sauce. roquette slad and hand-cut chips

Side of green beans

Dessert plate!

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!

But Saturday was the time to celebrate this new venture with Sanjay and Sunita as they served Biriyani for the last time from Acton Park.

They were serving their famous Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani…

$8 for a half serve of Vegetable Biriyani….

$12 for a full serve….

$12 for a half serve of Chicken Biriyani ($18 full serve)

The raita that accompanied the Biriyani was amazing!

(The Malabar Paratha with Chicken Marsala $15 was so tempting…very hard to decide).

There was also Carrot Halwa for dessert $5 half serve $8 full serve.

Other delicious choices included the samosa $8 for two…

Dahl Vada $10 for 4

Idli with Sambar $10

I can’t wait to try the new venue when it opens in September, Tuesday – Sunday lunch and dinner.

Grill’d Manuka – a good spot for a group

It’s not always easy to make a chain eatery work well for a group meal because tables as often smaller and fixed position and it’s often busy.

However, Grill’d in Manuka, has a great large, sunny table near the front of the store that’s perfect for a larger group. It’s also less busy in Manuka than some other stores and has an atmosphere that doesn’t feel so much like a chain outlet.

If you have the Canberra Entertainment Book you can use the two for one vouchers making it good value.

There’s lamb burgers $13.50 like the Morrocan Lamb with roasted peppers, tzaatziki, salad and relish 2100kJ…

…chicken burgers $10.50 – $13.50 like the Simon Says $12.50 with avocado, trim bacon, salad, relish and herbed mayo 2240kJ…

…with thick cut potato chips or zucchini chips for an extra $4.80 and 1710kJ…

….beef burgers $9.90 – $13.50 like the Crispy Bacon and Cheese 2830kJ $11.50…

…or the Almighty 3260kJ $13.50.. with bacon, egg, beetroot, salad, relish and mayo..

…and I’m told the ‘Baa Baa’ Burger is the very best pick of all, a lamb burger with avocado, tasty cheese, salad, relish and herbed mayo.

For those who aren’t so keen on burgers, there’s also some lovely salads on offer like the Chicken, pomegranate and goats cheese 1890kJ $13.90, with grilled chicken breast, black and white quinoa, meredith dairy goats cheese, pomegranate, almonds, mescaline, raspberry andpoppy seed dressing