Chong Co Thai, Woden Southern Cross Club – Woden’s best lunch spot

Woden Westfield Mall is not blessed with the same number of nice lunch spots as the city so Chong Co Thai restaurant in the Woden Canberra Southern Cross Club is a great find.

At lunchtime it is quiet and relaxed. Service is graceful and stylish, matching the more upmarket setting, but still efficient and timely.

The serve sizes and quality reflect that of Chong Co’s sister restaurant on the Kingston foreshore and newly opened Woden Westfield location.

Ordering one dish and one serve of rice from the dinner menu can be enough for two modest appetites at lunchtime. The food is so rich in flavour and texture, savouring it slowly is a treat.

Two dishes with two rice is plenty for four people.

Three dishes with three rice is a good amount for six people.

This pattern of ordering works out at around $11.50 per person which is excellent value for delicious food and a lovely seeting.

Alternatively, if you would prefer not to share, but don’t want the dinner menu serve sizes, there is also a lunch menu with a smaller range of dishes that is priced lower ($13-$16 including rice).

If the number in the group is uneven, it can work to order one main and rice per two people and the smaller serve of the Chicken Cashew Stir fry with rice from the lunch menu.

Wine is available by the glass, and starts from $5-6 if bought at the bar downstairs.

Access is open to the public not just for members and their guests.

Open daily for lunch 11am-2:30pm and dinner 5-10pm.

Both indoor and outdoor seating

Beef Massaman $20.90 (the best I’ve ever had) Chicken Laab $18.90 (Excellent)

Red duck curry $20.90 (very delicious) Rice is $3 for a generous serve

Vegetarian Massaman Curry (not as good as the beef) $16.90

Green chicken curry – excellent $18.90

Chicken and cashew nut stir fry $18.90 Chicken Penang Curry $18.90 (very good)

Chicken Pad Thai $16.90 (good) Saffron rice $4.50 per serve (a little sweet which is very nice for variety)

New menu starting November 2015 will see the Beef Massaman Curry served with roti. The roti is excellent making the Beef Massaman Curry even better as the top pick here.

Local Press Cafe, Kingston Foreshore – a quick look at brunch

Local Press was a good pick for breakfast on the Kingston Foreshore, inspired by Kate Freeman’s review of healthy Canberra cafes.

It’s full of energy and has a great atmosphere. It would be lovely in sunny weather as it’s nice to sit out alongside the lake…. and the coffee is good.

The Green Breaky Plate $18 (Za’atar coated hard-boiled eggs, kale, almonds, avocado, quinoa tablouleh, asparagus, dill yogurt and feta) had lovely flavours. It’s quite light so good for eating lean, but not so good for sharing.

The Green Pea Pancake or Poached Eggs on Rye (see Kate’s photos) would be better picks to share.

Open daily, except Mondays, breakfast is available until 12:30, when the lunch menu starts.

It’s very popular, so worth arriving early.

The Dumpling House -Woden

The Dumpling House – Woden

The new Dumpling House (Chinese Kitchen BBQ restaurant) is a fun and welcome addition to the Woden lunch options.

The decor sets the scene and staff wear traditional style uniforms adding an ‘authenticity’ to the atmosphere.

Dumplings are a specialty, but the other dishes are good too. The steamed prawn dumplings, combination dumplings, pan fried pork buns and eggplant hot pot are particularly good, followed by the ‘Mixture’ dumplings, then the steamed pork buns and lastly the pan fried pork dumplings.

Three dishes between four people is just right for lunch.

Pan fried pork dumplings- excellent Deep fried bean curd with spicy peppery salt $14.80 – good texture, but lacking flavour

Combination (Chicken, beef, veg) steamed dumplings $15.80 excellent Eggplant and chicken mince in X.O sauce $17.80 very good

Combination laksa $15.80 – large enough to share, flavour quite good

Vegetarian spring rolls $3.40 for 2

Kung Po Chicken $15.80 – good

Busy and buzzing, it pays to book a table.
Service is efficient and quick making it ideal for a workday catchup.

steamed prawn dumplings $12.80

Mixture’ dumplings $13.80

steamed pork buns $13.80

pan fried pork dumplings

Open 7 days for both lunch (11am – 3pm)and dinner (5-10pm)

Shop G93-94
Corinna Street
Woden Plaza, Phillip, ACT 2606

Phone: 62604888

Great quick and easy, mix and match salad idea that wows!

Grill’d Chicken and Quinoa with Pomegrante dressing salad

The lunch menu at Double Shot, in Deakin is a fine example of how to throw together a side or main meal salad at home that will wow your guests but still leave them feeling light and ‘fine’.

It’s also a great idea for work or home when you’re eating light and pacing yourself between social dining opportunities.

It’s a no-fail formula:

1. Pick a base for your salad (any washed green leaves will work)

2. Add colour, texture, flavour
– look in the fridge freezer and cupboards for what’s on hand; or
– if you have more time and energy, get inspiration from restaurant and cafe menus that usually have interesting combinations that work well.
– ensure there is at least one intense flavour (even just a little makes a big difference, without adding too many extra kilojoules or extra sodium) e.g. bacon bits/olives/feta/antipasti mix/anchovies/chorizo/baby beets/capers/marinated vegetables/sundried tomato

3. Layer the different ingredients on top of the leaves, leaving the most interesting colours, textures and flavours for the upper layers.

4. Serve with an interesting dressing (e.g. combine lemon juice or a vinegar e.g. balsamic (e.g. 3 Tbsp) with some oil e.g. olive (e.g. 1 Tbsp), adding a little sweetener to taste e.g. brown sugar/honey e.g. 2 tsp and I like some dijon or wholegrain mustard e.g. 2 tsp as well)
(Tip: if you allow the dressing to be added to individual plates then any leftover salad will keep better until the next meal).

For a main meal salad:

Add a cooked protein food (sliced often works best), perhaps marinated/smoked/warm (e.g. warm thai beef, warm chicken, tandoori chicken, smoked salmon/trout/ham/chicken, boiled eggs, cubed or crumbed cheese, prawns or other seafood, warm marinated tofu).

Usually this layer is best near the top of the salad, but with more colourful/flavoursome and textured layers garnishing it.

From the freezer:
Frozen baby beans/ baby peas/ tender corn kernels (blanch these by pouring boiling water over them, stand for a few minutes, then drain well).
Bits and pieces collected for just this purpose e.g. fried bacon bits, roast pumpkin, olives, antipasti mix

From the fridge/deli:
Protein foods
Left over roast vegetables (e.g. pumpkin/ roast potato/ carrot/ potato/ beetroot/ eggplant/ mushrooms/ zucchini/ capsicum/roasted canned chickpeas )
Left over steamed vegetables
Salad vegetables including blanched asparagus/snow peas/ green beans/ corn kernels (blanch these by pouring boiling water over them, stand for a few minutes until tender, then drain well)

Tomatoes/ baby tomatoes/ lebanese cucumbers/ red capsicum/ red onion/ avocado/salad leaves/ shredded cabbage

Marinated vegetables (e.g. olives/ antipasti mix/ artichokes/eggplant/ sundried-tomato)
And if you have an Asian peeler it can be used for green papaya/green mango/carrot
Fruit (e.g. orange/pineapple/apple)

From the pantry:
Canned chickpeas and beans
Nuts – whole and chopped, or seeds – best toasted and sprinkled on top at the last minute
Canned vegetables (e.g. baby beets/ asparagus/ corn kernels/ champignon mushrooms)
Cooked quinoa or couscous to stir through the leaves
Dried fruit and berries
Crispy noodles

Double Shot’s kale salad

Lemon Grass Thai – Woden

Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant in Woden is well located for a weekday group lunch with cheap corkage ($3 per bottle) and offers a number of lunch specials for $12.50.

Lunch specials

However, an alternative to ordering individual lunch special meals is to order a lesser number of larger dishes to share, for about the same price. This idea gives everyone a chance to enjoy greater variety, to eat mindfully and stay comfortable and to chat about the dishes.

Six dishes with five serves of rice, is about right for 8 people.

Combination Pad Cee Iew $16.50

Wok fried bean curd with chilli jam, cashew nuts, corn, snow peas and carrots $16.50

Red curry with vegetables and bean curd $16.50

Wok fried chicken with chilli jam, cashew nuts and corn $16.50

Wok fried bean curd with fresh chilli, vegetables and basil leaves $16.50

Coconut rice $2.50 per serve

Lunch Monday to Friday, dinner Monday to Sunday.

Corner Corinna and Ball Streets, Woden

Ph: 02 62821144

Trilogy, Cafe Bar and Grill – a good Woden lunch spot

Trilogy, located next to the Hoyts movie theatre at Woden Westfield is a good option for a weekday group lunch in Woden. Serve sizes (including wine by the glass) are generous making sharing easy. Two dishes is plenty for four people. A salad and pizza work well together and pizzas can be ordered with two toppings. The pumpkin and cashew, tandoori and ham and pineapple pizzas are excellent as is the pumpkin and baby spinach salad.

Staff are also happy to offer containers to take extra servings away to enjoy again later.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays Pizzas are two for the price of one.

Greek salad $13.90 and two large pizzas is plenty for six people.

Prawn and Calamari Pizza is very good $29.90 for a large

The Canberra Entertainment book includes a voucher for two mains for the price of one.

A large Tandoori Pizza and Ham and Pineapple Pizza (1/2 and 1/2) $25

Taking some with you to enjoy again later is easy

Asian Noodle House Woden – generous serves, good for sharing

The Asian Noodle House Woden is close to a number of offices, so it can get very busy at lunchtime. It’s a good idea to book. Despite this, service is quick and professional. Staff are friendly, accommodating and helpful.

The meals are attractively presented and tasty. Serves are generous and one serve is enough for two people for lunch. A group of six could happily share three dishes for an interesting and varied range of dishes. Containers are also offered for 50 cents each to take what you will enjoy more later, with you.

The Hainam Chicken $14.50 is a good choice if you’re feeling like something a light.
The Kwangtong Noodles with Beef $14.50 had good flavour.
The 1/2 serves of Laksa are good value for money.
The Chilli Basil with Prawns $19.50 is well presented, but really very spicy (hot).

A full serve of Laksa $13.50

Kwangtong Noodles with Beef $14.50

Chilli Basil with Prawns $19.50

Hainam Chicken $14.50

50c charge for a ‘take the rest with you’ container (Hainam Chicken)

Vegetable Pad Thai $13.50

Combination Chow Mein Noodles $14.50

Thirst Wine Bar West Row Canberra City – Modern Thai Street Food – A Canberra World Food Delight

Mondays and Tuesdays Thirst has a great two entrees/mains for the price of one offer.

(No BYO on these nights)

Suggested shared menu for six

Crispy Fish Salad

Beef Mussamun curry

Stir fry Chicken with Chilli and Basil

Chicken Penang curry

Three serves rice

Dessert
One scoop ice-cream per person

Total cost of food (on Mondays and Tuesdays) around $78 ($14.50 per person)

Crispy fish salad

Chicken basil and chilli stir fry

Penang curry

Homemade sorbets $2.90 per scoop include Chilli Chocolate (very good), Pineapple and Ginger, Kaffir Lime, Coconut

Salted plain or peanut caramel $1 per piece

20 West Row
Melbourne Building
Canberra City
ACT
ph; 02 62570700

Opening hours
Monday 5.00pm -9.30pm

Tuesday 5.00pm – 9.30pm

Wednesday 12.00pm – 2.00pm 5.00pm – 9.30pm

Thursday 12.00pm – 2.00pm 5.00pm – 9.30pm

Friday 12.00pm – 9.30pm

Saturday 5.00pm – 9.30pm

BYO corkage $10 per bottle

‘A Bite to Eat’ Chifley, Canberra, good options for sharing

A Bite to Eat is one of my favourite southside lunch spots. I’ve also heard it’s good for breakfast and dinner.
Serves are generous and ideal for sharing dishes.
The decor is relaxed and casual with an eclectic collection of chairs and crockery.
It’s always full of people enjoying each other’s company, so it pays to book.
Service is friendly and the menu offers interesting options.

The Malabar – an Indian style pilaf with mixed veggies, coconut curry and beetroot raita $17.50 is visually beautiful and I’m told, also delicious.
One serve can be easily shared by two people.

Chiquita – mini slow smoked pork burrito serve with herbed tomato salsa had some very flavoursome pork and was one of my favourites. $13.50
It’s serve size was not mini at all, but possibly not quite enough for two.

The Mario – beef meat ball open sammich with boccocini, torn basil, olive and tomato sauce $14.50, is also a good choice, well complimented by the olives. This was also especially good.
One serve was enough for two medium appetites.

Holy, smoked mackerel cake with a dijon caper dressing, served with leaves, tomato salsa and a boiled egg $14

The Holy was good, especially the dill and caper dressing. $14.

Hit the Beet – Crisp rosemary and barley cakes serve with beetroot fetta salad and artichoke relish $17

Hit the Beet had a particularly nice relish. $17.

The soup of the day came in a large bowl with plenty of bread and again, is a dish that could be shared.

The Cupping Room – Canberra City

The Cupping Room on London Circuit is warm, stylish and busy with couples and groups enjoying a range of interesting dishes. It is particularly good for brunch, with one dish enough to share between two.

The coffee is exceptional, but served at only 60 C.

Huevos Bollo (eggs,bacon, guacamole in Brioche roll) and Benedito (slow roasted tomatoes, spinach, two poached eggs and Guacacassa on toasted sourdough)

The ‘Not So Raisin’ Toast is very generous for $8 and great for sharing. However, some fresh or dried fruit with the ricotta would have enhanced the dish.

The Hogo Botoga looked great to try another time.