Thirst – still a top pick in Canberra

Thirst on West Row, Canberra City, has always had great style and good food. But a couple of newer additions to the menu are outstanding and along with some old favourites, make Thirst the best local spot for Thai food.

Penang Curry with Chicken (outstanding) $25.90

Stir-fry chicken with chilli jam, basil, seasonal vegetables and cashews $23.90

Crispy fish salad $24.90 (an old time favourite)

Chicken and Coconut Salad with peanuts and mint $24.90 (a regular favourite on the specials board)

The new Lemon and basil sorbet ($2.90 per scoop), is light and tangy like lemon delicious pudding, the best flavour on the menu and a wonderful way to finish the meal.

Add a piece of homemade salted caramel with or with peanuts, for extra sweetness.

$5 for a pack of six.

Serve sizes are very generous and great for sharing, even between six people. On Mondays and Tuesdays Thirst offers two mains or two entrees for the price of one making it exceptional value for very good food.

No BYO option is available on Mondays and Tuesdays, however wine starts at around $38 per bottle, and from $8 per glass.
BYO is available other nights of the week for around $10 a bottle.

Four dishes with three rice ($3.50 per serve) between six modest appetites is a satisfying and comfortable ordering plan especially if including ice-cream/sorbet and salted caramel.

If your group includes larger appetites you may need up to one dish per person.

Cork Street Cafe, Gundaroo – a great lunch spot with kids

Cork Street Cafe is worth the 40 min country drive. It has a lovely sunny setting that is also cosy in winter, friendly relaxed staff, great food and good prices.

Set back from the road, the space and casual environment is great for kids.

The menu great for young kids with finger foods like homemade baba gnash and hummus dips with focaccia and veggie sticks, gourmet pizza and some delicious potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce $9.

Half Tiger Wazza, half Columbian $31 Family sized

Tomato and bocconcini salad $16

Team this with a salad to cater for adults as well and everyone can help themselves from these shared dishes.

BYO is $2 per person and cakeage is $1 per person making Cork Street a good spot for celebrating.

Canberra Entertainment book holders are offered a 25% discount.

Claypot Chef, Farrer – a hidden Sri Lankan gem

Like the Burmese Curry Place and the Global Café (Ethiopian), the Claypot Chef in Farrer offers an exceptionally good, lesser known cuisine, at an unbelievably good price

The Claypot captures authentic South Asian flavours and is a great place to try many of the Sri Lankan classics like Chicken/lamb/prawn Curry $14/$15, Kottu Roti $10-$13 (a little like a fried rice made with diced roti breads served with curry), Biriyani $13.50, Watalappam $4 (like a baked coconut milk and cardamom custard) , String Hoppers $8 (great with curry), Coconut Sambol side dish $5…..and if pre-ordered, or usually on weekends, also Egg Hoppers $2.50 each, Pittu (rice flour and grated coconut cooked in a cylinder shape and served with coconut milk and sambol $4 (minimum of 5), Goat or Black Pork Curry $15 and Lamprais (a Dutch influenced dish) $18.

Serve sizes are generous and ideal for sharing a few dishes up to six people.

Kottu Lamb $13 Devilled Chicken (a favourite) $15

Prawn Curry $15 Large rice $3

Green Beans Curry $10 Delicious plain roti $2 each

Seeni Sambol $5 (quite spicy) Pappadoms 2 for $1.50

Four dishes with a large basmati rice $3 and roti $2 each (so delicious that you will want one each) is plenty for 6 people (especially because Claypot is so lovely and may offer complimentary extras like rice re-fills, pappadums (usually 2 for $1.50) and cooked milk, palm sugar, cardamom and ginger sweets.

Cardamon & ginger sweets Watalappam $4

At around $12 per person, this is a delicious feast,cooked by people who genuinely want to share their love of Sri Lankan food with Canberrans.

As the Claypot is primarily caters for takeaway customers, inside seating is limited. However groups of up to 10 can be comfortably accommodated indoors and up to 30 can eat al fresco, which is very pleasant on a warm summer evening.

It’s good to phone ahead and book, especially if you’d like to try the dishes that take much time to prepare.

So don’t let the casual nature of Claypot distract you from trying the great food, it’s well worth the visit to Farrer shops (next to IGA) and a worthy suburban dining opportunity to support.

Open Tuesday to Thursday 4-8pm and Friday to Sunday 10am-8pm.

Closed Mondays.

Phone 02 62868081

Belluci’s Woden – a group lunch from the a la carte menu

Belluci’s in Woden, like Belluci’s in Manka, has a great lunch special than includes a range of Italian dishes and a drink (house wine/beer/soft drink).

But it can also be more interesting, varied and allow you to vary your portion size more easily, if you share dishes from the main menu.

This can be especially handy if you have already treied many of the dishes on the lunch specials menu and are looking for something new.

Ordering 4 dishes for a group of 6, or 6 dishes for a group of 9 gives a good range of different dishes to share while leaving you feeling comfortable at the end of the meal.

Choose 1-2 pizzas, 1-2 pastas, 2 side salads and perhaps a risotto, to share. This works out at around $16 per person.

The Bombay pizza $23 is excellent (as is the Verdura and Bellucis Special also on the lunch specials menu).

The Gnocchi Di Agnello (gnocchi with lamb shank ragu, citrus gremolata and aged parmesan $27) is especially good. The gnocchi is light and the ragu rich and flavoursome.

The Linguine Affumicato $25 (with smoked chicken, tiger prawns, pumpkin and avocado $25) is a good dish, but very rich creamy and best shared.

The Insalata Di Verdura (roquette, Israeli couscous, roasted vegetables,feta and sultanas $21) is a better choice than the Insala Di Bietola (roasted beetroot, lentils, fresh basil, goats cheese & blasmic glaze $21) however, both have a lot of roquette and are only side salad sized. A better choice may be two of the Insala Di Rucola (roquette, gorgonzola dolce, roasted walnuts and balsamic reduction $12) or the chicken cesar salad (also on the lunch specials menu) $22.

The Risotto Di Zucca (caramelised pumpkin, baby spinach, gorgonzola dolce and toasted walnuts $23) is larger than that on the lunch specials menu, but perhaps not as tasty.

Belluci’s also offers Entertainment Book holders a 25% discount.

Trev’s, Dickson, Canberra

Trevs has lots going for it. Staff are knowledgeable and very professional.

Entree sharing platter for 3 (3x$11.50 (3 items))

Sharing entree platters offer a selection to taste and the desserts are beautiful. Corkage is $9. The menu offers a good range of dishes and the specials of the day are interesting.

Silver Dory Lemon risotto cake, whilted spinach, garlic herb lemon butter $27

Duck confit Blood orange glaze, vanilla bean potato puree, green beans $29

Chicken Scallopini prosciutto, cherry tomatoes, xv olive oil, pesto potato puree $27

Pork Neck Confit, braised red cabbage, apple glaze, apple relish $28

Paapa Rich , Canberra City

Pappa Rich, ground floor in the Canberra Centre under Dendy, is a good spot for a very quick meal before the movies.

And for a sit down meal, it doesn’t get much quicker than this. Even with a short wait for a table (no bookings accepted) you can easily be in and out in under half an hour.
Plenty of well known Malaysian dishes are on offer, well-priced and well sized.

Nasi Lemak with Curry Chicken & Prawn Sambal $15.90 Biryani Rice with Red Chicken and Prawn Sambal $14.90

It’s good to know though, that the chicken dishes tend to be ‘on the bone’ rather than boneless.
And without a glass of wine to slow you down (no licence or BYO option), and being a little too noisy for conversation, the main focus is on the quick meal. (Service seems instant!)
Pappa Rich also offers a complimentary main meal for holders of the Canberra Entertainment book.

Mango Mania $6.90

Seasalt Dining, Bruce ACT

Seasalt Dining in Bruce offers good service, but the ambiance is pretty midrange.

Dishes were are nicely presented and flavours excellent.

However, serves sizes varied greatly – the prawn risotto and rump steak are generous,

but the duck confit and barramundi are small.

The white chocolate cheesecake and lemon tart are lovely desserts and well priced at $7-$9.
BYO corkage is $3.50 per glass.

Blue Olive Catering, Canberra City

Blue Olive Catering is always busy weekdays at lunch. It’s not hard to see why with tables on the sunny sidewalk outside and inside tables attractively opening to the outdoors.