Meccabah, Manuka – excellent for solo dining!

While it’s always fun to bring people together over good food, it’s also good to know places to head if you need a quick meal on our own where you can order a meal but still leave feeling comfortable.

Meccabah in Manuka, offering Middle Eastern & North African cuisine, is such a spot.

Staff are very helpful and accommodating. They are quick to offer a container to take with you what you would enjoy more later, so it’s easy to order what you’d love to try.

The Harira Soup with lamb, chickpeas and vegetables $16 is steaming, comfort food full of flavour and comes quickly to your table. It is also huge!!! and could easily be enough for two people if you ask for some small bowls for sharing.

It’s a good idea to accept the take-away container so that you can also enjoy a scoop of the delicious ice-cream, especially the Halva, Date and Vanilla or Turkish Delight ($4 a scoop).

Staff happily offer a 25% discount for holders of the Canbera Entertainment Book.

No BYO but wine by the glass starts at $8.

If you do head there with a group try a shared tasting menu for each 4 people with modest appetites of:

1x Harira Soup with lamb (by enough share as a small starter if you ask for extra bowls) (do ask for it to not be too oily) $16

1 x Pide – try a mix of lamb meatballs with egg and spicy tomato sauce $25 and Spiced chicken with mnt yogurt drizzle and snow pea shoot salad $24

1 x Tangine – Beef with ras el hanout spices, sweet potatoes, carrot and preserved figs $25 (share this using the soup bowls)

1 x scoop ice-cream each

$20 per person ($15 with the 25% discount for holders of the Canberra Enertainment Book.)

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Metro, Central Plaza, Woden

The Metro in the Central Plaza in Woden, has a key location for lunch for workers in nearby buildings.

The menu offers a wide range of dishes including Malaysian, gourmet burgers, fish and chips, salads, soups, and specials.

Prices are reasonable for large serves which could easily be shared.

Possibly the gourmet burgers are the best choices.

Vegetable Laksa $11.80

Chicken Laksa $11.80

Nasi Lemak with Chicken Sambal $12.80

Thai fish cakes with salad $11.20

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A $20 banquet idea for a large group Christmas Party

If you are planning a Christmas Party for a large group (like a work team or Branch) but need to stick to a budget so that everyone can afford to come, then a $20 three course Bangladeshi Banquet including corkage, may be your answer.

Taste of Bangladesh offers food that is a hit with everyone who visits. It’s great value with large sharable serves, there’s no corkage charge on beer or wine and Shafique, your host is very keen to be flexible to meet your needs.

Special dietary requirements can be met easily. Most options are gluten free, some also dairy free and the spiciness of dishes can be easily varied.

A $20 per person plan could include:

Complimentary pappadoms to start

Entree:

1 onion Bhaji per person $1.75 (4 pieces for $7 and $1.75 each for extras) with tamarind chutney and mint chutney

Mains:

1/2 Cheese and spinach naan per person ($1.75)

4 Dishes per 5 people $12.30 per person

Good choices are:

Dum Murgh (chicken)

Fish Bengali

Palak Paneer (vegetarian)

Chicken Biriyani

2 serves plain rice per 6 people (this enough if also getting a Biriyani) $1 each

1 Raita per 7 people $0.50 each

Dessert

1 serve Gulab Jaman (halved pieces) and 1 serve Mango Kulfi per four people ($2.25 per person)

Free corkage on wine and beer

And for those who would prefer something different, there’s also a range of good pizza for $12 like the Tikka Pizza (may also be an alternate entree).

Urban Bean, Woden – good lunch options

Urban Bean , Scarborough House has a very convenient location for many Woden office workers and can be a great choice for lunch weekdays.

Menu options are interesting, well priced and generously sized for sharing.

The Warm Chicken Salad $14.90 is a good light option..

or with extra bread on the side could easily be shared.

…and the Char-grilled Lamb Wrap $13.90 also excellent…and shareable.

Take with you containers are cheerfully provided.

Gryphons Caffe Bar, Griffith – good for a casual weekend winter lunch

When it’s cold or rainy, but you’d still like to head out for brunch or lunch, it can be good to know somewhere where you can park very close, nip inside quickly for a casual meal and stay warm.

Gryphon’s Caffe Bar at the Griffith shops is like that. It’s open 7 days, early (food from 8am ) until late, and while it can get busy, there is usually room for a couple more, even if you don’t book ahead.

There’s a range of tapas, gourmet burgers, pizzas, salads and mains, as well as plenty of popular breakfast dishes and some changing specials.

If you are an Entertainment Book holder, you can get two meals for the price of one.

A pizza and a burger make a good combination to share for a winter lunch.

Hickory Dickory Dock Pizza (special) $20 (nice with the prawns)

Soft-shelled Crab Burger $20 (with a good sourdough roll)

No BYO but wine by the glass starts at $7.

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Zen Yai, Canberra City – Thai dinner for a group of ten

Zen Yai Thai Restaurant, on London Circuit in the City, is a good place for a group to catch up, being very centrally located, near the bus stations and with easy parking on the other side of Northbourne in front of the Supreme Court. (The car park directly across the road fills quickly).

It has a lovely decor and a great round table that seats ten people comfortably and is ideal for including everyone in a group. (Can get pretty noisy though, so it can still be tricky to chat to anyone across the table if the restaurant is busy).

For a mixed group of ten, with a range of appetites, ordering two serves of five mains to share, and rice for all, is perfect.

All these dishes are excellent but possibly the favourites might be:

Gang Ga Ree Gai – Yellow curry chicken with potatoes, pineapples and tomatoes $16.80

Phad Ka Pow – stir-fried roast duck with fresh chilli and basil $18.50 ($16.50 with beef or chicken, but the roast duck is the pick)

Pla Nung Ma Now – Steamed fish fillets with spicy chilli and fresh lemon grass $19.80

Larb – pork mince spicy salad (also available with chicken or beef) $17.50

Keow Warn- Fresh green curry king prawns with vegetables $19.80 (can also have fish instead)

Rice is $2.50 per person (but it’s worth getting the coconut rice for $3.50 which is delicious)

By choosing a range of different dishes, this becomes a complete dining experience and there’s no need (or room) to also order other courses.

The dishes mentioned are all quite spicy, so ask for milder versions if you need them.

Service is gracious, warm and efficient.

Prices are good value and serve sizes are large enough to share between up to six people.

Corkage is also very reasonable at $3 per bottle of wine and $1 per bottle of beer.

It all makes for a great night out for $20- $25 per person.

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Can you have your cake and eat it too? – or where do the extras fit in a healthy diet?

Foods like cake that are low on the essentials we need in food to stay healthy, are called ‘discretionary foods’ in the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.

This is because some of us (not many!), who aren’t overweight and a bit taller or more active actually have a few spare kilojoules in their day over and above what they need for just the core foods. Ideally one would spend the extra kilojoules on more core foods full of goodies like fibre and antioxidants, but there’s no problem in spending at least some of them on extra ‘empty’ kilojoules, as long as you pay attention to serve sizes.

When the ADTHE is thinking about ‘discretionary foods’ it’s thinking 1 or 2 ‘small’ serves…surprisingly small serves.

One ‘discretionary’ serve only has about 600 kilojoules so that’s

….. ¼ of a caramel slice from the bakery……

….2 large squares of chocolate…

… 1 mini-muffin……

…or two medium apples….

…so yes, some people can have their cake and eat it too….but only a small slice.

Taste of Bangladesh and India, Manuka – perfect for a large group

Taste of Bangladesh, in the Style Arcade Manuka is a good spot for a larger group lunch or dinner, such as a work Christmas breakup.

The food is excellent, value is outstanding and the hosts Shafique and Fahana happily accommodating, as they just want you to enjoy their food and hospitality.

There are tables in a more private area, that is quiet, well carpeted and great for chatting. The lighting and music can be adjusted to suit you.

Suggested shared menu for a group of 20 ($20 per person including free corkage)

(Order medium spice level to cater for most people).

To start:

Pappadoms

Mains:

5 x Dum Murgh – boneless chicken marinated in special herbs and spices and cooked on a slow fire

5 x Fish Bengali – Snapper fillet cooked with eggplant in Bangladeshi spices

5 x Palak Paneer – Cubes of cottage cheese with spinach in a mildly-spiced curry

10 x Plain Naan

10 x Rice

Dessert:

Tasting plate of Mango Kulfi x 5 & Gulab Jaman x 10

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Alegra Cafe, Waldorf Arcade – Canberra City

The Alegra Cafe is the new beaut V Spot Cafe, that has moved and re-invented itself.

It’s easy to find in the Waldorf Arcade, off Akuna Street.

Still offering it’s trademark hits like Raw Cakes (vegan, gluten free, sugar free) Alegra also now offers some meat containing dishes.

Cozy and friendly Alegra’s greatest strengths are Chrissie’s warm hospitality that makes you feel right at home, the ‘home-cooked’ style and daily specials, the great value prices and the light and wholesome approach to both serving sizes and use of heavy ingredients.

It’s just the ideal spot to head it you need a little lift in your day. Chrissie will make you feel welcome and wonderful. Your choice of lunch will be warm and homely without weighing you down (or perhaps a delicious light and wholesome sweet treat with coffee.)

If you own a Canberra Entertainment Book you can even get a 25% discount.

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Monster Kitchen and Bar, New Acton – great for a post movie supper

Dining at Monster is a true experience! Perhaps the most stunning is the decor. Eclectic but elegant and full of fun.

Monster is a great choice for a light supper after a movie at the Palace Cinema.

Co-located in the same building, you don’t even need to brave the cold Canberra weather.

The Bar Menu (12pm-1am) includes the 38-hour pork neck boa with cucumber and kimchi for $9 per piece. These are tasty with a nice crunchy texture inside the soft bun, but quite small.

Very delicious is the Cecina (wonderful cured beef), manchego (sheep’s cheese), pickles and toast ($6 per piece). Again, a small serve, but definitely worth it.

The Shared Plates (12pm-10pm) include a very flavoursome eggplant, smoked goat’s curd, katsuobushi, sesame seed ($18) which is larger and easier to share.