wine special

Beef dog with chilli beans (quite good) Haloumi dog with basil and Hummous (even better).

The Treehouse Bar has great lunch and mid week evening specials. Recently the Wednesday night special changed from a $10 roller and beer/cider special to a $10 gourmet hotdog and beer/cider (wine if you’re lucky) special.

Not quite as good as the rollers, but the hand cut chips and aioli are still there and the chilli bean, pork, chicken and haloumi options still feature.

Booking the booth upstairs overlooking the bar, is a great spot for a group.

Love Travel Guides – a handy tool for a foodie trip to India

Love Travel Guides truly are beautiful and it is like being shown around by a good friend who introduces you to all the best spots.

However, while all inclusions are high quality experiences, some can be quite expensive, so it’s good for the travel toolkit, but best used in conjunction with other guides and tips.

Sharrell Cook does a good job of describing and appreciating the Love Travel guides. In fact her GoIndia website is very useful in lots of ways.

Festival Indonesia – A Canberra spring food festival

The annual Festival Indonesia is another of the many interesting Canberra spring opportunities to explore other cultures through food.

Sticky rice and pandanas pudding, Vegetarian snack foods and non-veg spring rolls

Durian Icecream Steamed chicken bun

Go early to make the most of the food stalls that run out later in the day and spend time chatting about the regional cuisine with locals who prepare and sell Indonesian favourites.

While the foods are fun to explore, there is also other entertainment and cultural exhibitions to enjoy.

iPho Vietnamese Cafe – Garema Place,Canberra City

iPho is has a central location in the city and is helpfully open late and 7 days. It’s a great spot to get a Vietnamese street food ‘fix’ if you’re missing Vietnamese style coffee with condensed milk, Vietnamese rolls or pho.
Corkage is only $3 per bottle, there’s indoor and outdoor seating (cosy with gas burners in the cold weather).

Chicken & prawn fresh spring rolls (the best pick) Vegetarian spring rolls ( second best pick)

Staff are very relaxed and obliging, making it a great spot to start a city street food progressive meal with an entree of fresh spring rolls with a glass or two of BYO wine.
Two large fresh spring rolls are $5 with a very tasty satay style dipping sauce. The chicken and prawn rolls are the best, followed by the vegetarian rolls and lastly the pork and prawn rolls.

If what you need isn’t ready to go, it can be quickly created in a few minutes.

A Tale of Samurai Cooking

A Tale of Samurai Cooking – A True Love Story, was a fitting finale to Canberra’s Japanese Film Festival, 15-19 October 2014.

Set in feudal Japan, the attention and appreciation of beautiful food is matched by the exquisite costuming, the delicate and gracious interactions and movement, the engaging characters and story and the mountain back drop.
Well worth watching if you have the opportunity.

Penny University Coffee Roasters, Kingston – a quick look

Penny University on Kennedy St Kingston is hugely popular and buzzing with life and style. A great spot for coffee with generous breakfast servings of interesting dishes that can easily be shared for breakfast or brunch.

A new, one off Intrepid Real Food Adventure to Burma – makes interesting reading

Intrepid are running a one off, comfort (top) level Real food adventure to Burma next February 2015.
Approximately $3000 for 11 days, includes breakfast and around half the lunches and dinners.
A good opportunity to explore the food of Burma (but not necessarily the best), even the promotional material makes interesting reading.

Diwali in Canberra – another spring festival with food!

Diwali, the festival of lights held each October/November is such a special time to be in India.
Lights are strung up across streets, traditional Indian sweets are everywhere, families visit and exchange gifts, new clothes are worn and there are plenty of fireworks!!
So it’s a great annual spring opportunity to join with the local Canberra Indian community to help capture a little of the excitement.
And what better way to share celebrations across cultures and engage in warm conversations, than through food.

At the Albert Hall last Sunday there was a full program that included a cooking competition, a concert of dance, fashion, music and a quiz and some enticing food stalls.

Samosas Marsala Dosa

Cooking competition

Burfi Rasa malai

Carrot Halwa Vegetarian biryani

Double ka Meetha Dessert

Beautifully dressed families enjoyed the fair like atmosphere and the joy of celebrating their shared heritage together. It’s a pleasure to be included and to experience a little of India right on our door step.

Food Stalls

I Love Thai – Manuka ACT

I Love Thai in Manuka specialises in takeaway Thai food. However, it frequently offers special deals and has a small indoor seating area, if you’d like to eat in.

Service is friendly and helpful, and corkage is free, but still, there definitely is a ‘takeaway’ feel to the ambiance.

Chicken Meang entree $7.50 Black Sticky Rice with Coconut Cream $7.50
However, the Chicken Meang entree is delicious and good value at $7.50 for two large serves. Likewise the Black Sticky Rice with Coconut Cream is a delicious and generous dessert at the other end of the meal.

Stir fry Chicken in Peanut Sauce ($15.50)

Stir fry Chicken with Cashew Nuts ($15.50)

In between, the Stir fry Chicken in Peanut Sauce ($15.50) has a nice flavour and is a better pick than the Stir fry Chicken with Cashew Nuts ($15.50).

Thai Coconut Gelati $7.50 (not as good as the Black Sticky Rice)

Noodle and Fried Rice dishes, like Stir fries, are $15.50, but other dishes like Thai salads, Seafood, Curries and Chef’s Specials range from $17.50 to $19.50 making them similarly priced to other Thai restaurants better designed for ‘eating in’.