Eat

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

Holi celebrations in Canberra

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Sharing in the recent Indian Australia Association of Canberra hosted Holi celebrations at Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park was a great opportunity to support the local Indian community, enjoy some colourful dress, dance, and dry colour ‘play’, henna painting and wonderful Indian foods.

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Particularly good were the goat and chicken biryani $8, palak paneer $8, samosa $2.50 and rashgulla and gulab jaman $2 from Taste of Bangladesh in Style Arcade Manuka.

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Aso for sale were choley kulcha $5, pani puri $6 and papdi chaat $6

Nong Kiau Riverside Resort Restaurant, Nong Kiaw, Northern Laos

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Nong Kiau Riverside Resort Restaurant is a good spot for dinner in Nong Kiaw if you’d like a nice atmosphere and alcoholic drinks (Deens and Chennai Indian restaurants have strong recommendations from others but don’t allow alcohol).

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It has a large menu that includes western and general asian dishes.The Lao menu is only short.

There’s lots of good dishes for around 40,000 kip ($5US) but the green curry is the tastiest followed by the chicken laab and then the fish laab

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Spring rolls  are also a good choice for 25,000 kip

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Sticky rice is 6500 kip
Prices are average and quite good for this lovely setting.

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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

 

Dee-licious at Altenburg, Braidwood

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The Braidwood café attached to Gallery Altenburg on the main street through Braidwood has always been a good spot to stop for a coffee on the way to the coast.

It has a gorgeous garden setting, homely service and food and there’s the opportunity to browse the lovely gallery while your order is being prepared.

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Coffee is good and there are always delicious home-made cakes and slices at a good value price.

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However, it’s also worth considering the well priced interesting brunch and lunch options.

 

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