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
Buvette is fairly new to the Realm Precinct in Barton, but already it’s famous for it’s French cuisine and Petit Feast.
However, it is a well kept secret that Buvette is also a top lunch spot in Barton.
Decadent decor belies the modest prices for lunch options that are very genrously served with sides of salad and french fries, like the QUICHE OF THE DAY – $12
..or the delicious CHICKEN BAGUETTE – $16 Tarragon Aioli, Comte, Tomato, Baby Cos Heart
Also tempting are the CROQUE MONSIEUR – $14 Ham, Gruyère, Mustard, Toasted Sourdough and the SMOKED SALMON BAGUETTE – $16 Capers, Crème Fraîche, Red onion, Baby Cos Heart.
Don’t overlook this well priced, stylishly set lunch spot with a reputation for fine French dining.
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.
As part of the Love Cereal4Brekkie team I was delighted this week to be part of the #mybrekkiebowl launch, a gorgeous event to kick start a flow of conversations about personalising brekkie cereal bowls.
All my foodie and dietitian passions were indulged as I….
…. enjoyed the fantastic Cafe Sydney early morning view over Sydney Harbour….
……marvelled at Cafe Sydney chefs’ delicate canapé creations using breakfast cereals….
Sanitarium Weetbix and vanilla yoghurt delice, strawberry, gold leaf
Freedom Gluten free Ancient Grain Flakes date and fig bliss ball
All bran corn and zucchini fritter, cured trout
Uncle Toby’s Plus range digestive, avocado, quail egg, crisp kale
Kellogg’s Five Grain Muesli coconut and apple Bircher
Sanitarium Granola Oat Clusters breakfast panna cotta, pineapple, passionfruit, mint
Uncle Toby’s Ancient Grains Porridge, sautéed mushrooms, onion, thyme
…was intrigued by Dr Cathy Gare’s insights (food sensory expert from the Australian Institute of Food Science & Technology), summed up in her quote from the chef, Heston Blumenthal, who is convinced that we need to “engage all of [the] senses if we want to create a truly memorable eating experience”
…..was inspired by Food stylist and founder of blog 84thand3rd.com, Jennifer Jenner who gave us great food styling tips like the strengths of iphones, they work best flat or straight up but start to fail at an angle…
….appreciated again the research that underpins breakfast cereal as an excellent choice for nutrition and a heathy weight as Leigh Reeve APD, Director of the Australian Breakfast Cereal Manufacturers Forum reminded us of the secondary analysis of the Australian Health Survey
….and the recent Galaxy research that research that showed that one of the biggest motivations for people in choosing a bowl of breakfast cereal is to create something healthy
…..but that also looked for little known and quirky facts about Aussie breakfast bowls like…
…….just over half a million Australians added vegetables to their brekkie cereal
….almost a million added herbs and spices
…….half a million added spreads like peanut butter
……but fruit and nuts were the most popular toppings
……more than 300,000 Aussies ate cereal with a fork and more than 1 million had a special spoon they always use for cereal
…..nearly half a million Australians used a mason jar and nearly one million a plate, for their bowl
……almost half a million Australians post a photo of their breakfast bowl to social media every day
…….Aussie men are three times as likely as women to post a photo of their cereal on social media
…..and celebrated as the humble breakfast cereal, an everyday core grain food, took to the stage as an actor with so many new personalities and roles
…and burst with pride as the team’s efforts and hard work all came together…
…to create the arena for social and mainstream media writers to explore new possibilities in their own cereal bowls and inspire their readers to new breakie bowl creations.
As Jennifer Jenner said…
“A simple, beautifully styled bowl of brekkie cereal can look gorgeous and taste great in itself, however with the opportunity for people to get adventurous with their flavour and styling combos, the brekkie bowl can be a real social media star.”
This was my creative brekkie bowl, to tantalise all the senses!
….with passionfruit yogurt, Bran cereal, pumpkin purée, peanut butter, raspberry, blue berry, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, mint, macadamias, zucchini ribbons with marinated figs, cinnamon and honey.
It was actually surprisingly excellent, even rivalling the canapés! I think I’m a convert to veg and spreads on cereal!
What’s your personalised brekkie bowl? Post it with the #mybrekkiebowl hashtag and join the conversation!
Google ‘best brunch in Melbourne’ and The Kettle Black will be there!
The Melbourne Girl and Not Quite Nigella are both fans!
Read ‘picture perfect’ and I’m in!
And not disappointed…the food is gorgeous! To admire and to savour!
Very, difficult to choose…fortunately, there’s time while you wait for a table to peruse both the menu and Instagram!
Other diners also offer helpful tips…what they’ve loved on previous visits.
The mushrooms came highly recommended, but wanting something both sweet and very beautiful, I trusted Instagram and went for the SOAKED MUESLI WITH AUSTRALIAN GRAINS, HOUSE-MADE YOGHURT, SEASONAL FRUITS & FLOWERS
– great value at $14
It was everything I’d hoped it would be, satisfying, great balance of crunch with nuts and some biscuit crumb, creamy, sweet from the berries, but not too sweet and the fruits and edible flowers at real treat! Loved it.
My friend enjoyed her TATAKI OCEAN TROUT WITH A RAW KALE & PICKLED VEGETABLE SALAD, SEAWEED, ALMONDS & POACHED EGGS
– $21 also beautiful and delicious.
Other people’s dishes looked excellent too like the…
CONFIT FREE RANGE PORK, COMPRESSED PEAR, POACHED EGGS, BUTTER EMULSION
– $19
CAPE GRIM BEEF
WITH HOUSE-MADE MUSTARD, SEASONAL FRUIT RELISH & LEAVES ON THE KETTLE BLACK BUN – $23
And a very substantial HOTCAKE WITH RICOTTA, BLUEBERRIES, PURE MAPLE, DOUBLE CREAM, SEEDS & NUTS – $20
Once seated service is quick, but there’s no need to rush. Plenty of time to appreciate the artistry and take wonderful photos!
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.
The absolute best value lunch offer in town must be at Santa Lucia @ Salatto, newly arrived to Kennedy Street Kingston.
$9.90 will buy you a large glass of wine (beer or soft drink), some crusty fresh bread, and a chicken salad, pasta, risotto, pizza, canneloni, veal parmigana or focaccia.
It was so amazing I just had to see if it was true!
The foccacia and the chicken salad were both excellent.
INSALATA DI POLLO – grilled chicken salad with orange pieces dressed with a balsamic reduction
FOCCACIA CON POLLO – chicken schnitzel, bacon, parmesan, lettuce, tomato & basil aioli
Service was quick, even though it was busy. And staff were happy to accommodate requests like dressing on the side and a take home container.
The decor is homely, stylish, but with a touch of club/pub.
The secret is out, so it’s popular, but easy to book.
Kusina at Coolemon Court Weston is Canberra’s first Filipino restaurant offering some truly fabulous dishes.
This wonderful, warm and friendly family run business is headed up by Leilani, ably assisted on the night we visited, by her son Bailey….
….and Leilani’s dad.
Leilani is a wonderful hostess and she helped us choose some delicious, unique dishes that are already on my Wishlist to go back for again.
The most memorable were the Kare Kare $23.80 – a traditional Filipino stew of braised beef cheek, bok choy, eggplant and snake beans in a peanut sauce. Fantastic already, it was made perfect by a shrimp paste condiment ( a little like vegemite).
I also loved the Chicken Inasal – half a grilled chicken marinated in lemon grass, ginger, garlic and soy sauce $22.
As for sides, my favourite was Pinakbet $8.80, snake beans, pumpkin, okra, bitter gourd and eggplant with shrimp paste.
These dishes went perfectly with plain rice $3.30 per person (we had two serves)…
….but we also tried the more buttery Java rice at $4.40 per person (two serves).
As there were five of us we ordered the green papaya salad $8.80 as a side …
…and five pork and prawn spring rolls for $9.80 which were perfect for a small starter.
And we couldn’t resist the desserts so we shared a Brazo Mercedez, soft meringue with a custard centre, a great choice at $8.
Corkage was $4.80 per bottle.
As we were using the Canberra Entertainment Card, we also were offered a 25% discount, so the meal was also terrific value at about $16.50 per person.
Kusina has big plans to build on its booming popularity.
It’s branching out to the Northside, starting in the Hamlet by the end of the year before settling into one of the new Braddon developments.
Great news for northsiders!
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!
If I’m ever asked what my very favourite food is… icecream has to be on my short list!
So, of course I couldn’t help but notice everyone walking near Sydney Town Hall with exotic soft serve ice cream colours and cones.
I tracked down the source nearby at Regent Place a small arcade off George Street near St Andrews Cathedral and found not one, but two very different spots.
Chanoma Cafe specialises in a Japanese style Soft Cream in Matcha or Azuki flavours or a mix in a plain, pink or green cone.
At just $3.90 you have change to go next door and also try Aqua S sea salt and maple syrup mix in an equally exotic cone for a competitive $4.
Truly icecream lovers’ heaven!
Fine Eating 