Asian Noodle House

A couple of weeks ago, the grads organised a lunch at the Asian Noodle House in Woden. I ordered a Pad Siew. I love Pad Siew as it’s not as sweet as Pad Thai and behind its layered taste, it has a subtle reminder of something like oyster sauce. I was pretty happy with the one here. The dish was also MASSIVE – I brought it home in a doggy bag and it lasted three separate meals! Crazy.

My only complaint would be the excessive oiliness of the dish. If I didn’t add extra vegetables to the leftovers, I would feel disgustingly groggy. I should learn to expect that from takeaway Asian food. Still good nevertheless.

Asian Noodle House
6 Launceston Street

Phillip ACT 2606 

www.noodlehouse.net.au/

dobinsons: chocolate ganache tart

One benefit of being with my family is I know I can pick whatever I want to eat and if it’s too big, they will share it with me. I guess I struggle to live up to the large standard portion sizes as a petite female!

So far, I have loved every tart that I’ve eaten from Dobinsons. But I wanted to try something else: the chocolate ganache tart. I am a bit of a chocoholic, but this tart was way over the top. It would be a girl’s edible best friend if she had severe PMS. Just imagine your whole mouth filled with the icing of a chocolate mudcake – this tart was just like this. I should have expected it, given it was a ‘ganache’ tart – I just thought it’d be more palatable. Still good for die hard fans of chocolate.

Turkish Pide House

One day recently, I was pretty upset and in desperate need of company and comfort food. My friend and I went to the Turkish Pide House in Woden, and this acted as the perfect distraction.

We enjoyed a Turkish Pide Pizza – ‘Turkish Deelite’. Basically, it was a turkish pide with an inside like a pizza with roasted chicken pieces, spring onions, tomato, capsicum, cheese topped with chilli aioli and yoghurt dill dressing ($17.50). The red plastic plate and the pide concept brought me back to memories drunken nights and working in a bar in Sydney. But the pide pizza in this restaurant wasn’t of the same quality as those you get in takeaway shops – there was more meat and more complex, complementary and thoughtful flavours.

Turkish Pide House

Shop G99 Corinna Street

Westfield Woden, ACT

http://www.turkishpidehouse.com.au/

big weekend

I love seeing how people’s choice of food reflects what’s going on in their lives.

On the weekend, I graduated from my work grad program, drinks with colleagues, partied and debriefed.

National Portrait Gallery: Graduation

The weekend kicked off with our graduation at the National Portrait Gallery. The ceremony was boring and I grumpy due to lack of sleep. However, the food was a highlight! We had crustfree sandwiches (either with smoked salmon, cream cheese etc or roasted veges etc) and cakes, such as orange and almond meal or chocolate brownies. It was a work event but the socialising aspect of it blurred work into the weekend.

Kingston Hotel: Work drinks/dinner

The grads went to the Kingston Hotel for drinks and a pub dinner after the graduation. As much as I love having dinner with the grads, I hate talking about my work outside of hours. Luckily the topic of food and the psychology of birth order came up. Love it! At Kingos, you’ve got the option of an a-la-carte menu or DIY menu (where you pick some raw meat and BBQ it).

I had a roasted pumpkin and pine nut salad. It was good overall, but it was covered in some heavy oil or dressing which made me feel a bit gluggy afterwards. My friends had a parma, chargrilled vege skewers, goat etc. Typical pub meals - laid back and no fuss.

Kingston Hotel

73 Canberra Avenue  

Griffith ACT 2603

Civic: a drunken night
Some of us headed out to Civic for a Graduate party. Everytime I go out, a person must have a greasy slice of pizza. Comforting convenient food when drunk is needed to soak up the immense amount of liquids consumed.

Pizzazz Cafe: farewell

One of my closest friends was leaving Canberra, so we caught up for brunch as kinda 'the last meal' she'd have in Canberra. She had eggs Benedict with bacon and I had muesli with rhubarb compote, and natural yoghurt. It was presented as a trifle in a clear glass - sophisticated. However, I thought the meal was okay - there was a bit too much yoghurt for my liking and could have done with more muesli. But maybe that's just because I am a cereal/muesli addict. I probably wouldn't order it again.

Pizzazz Cafe

41 Kennedy Street, Kingston 
Kingston, ACT 2604

Tosung Korean BBQ: debrief

A chilled out debrief meal needs to follow every big night out. I went with a close friend to the new Korean BBQ in Manuka. I needed to vent and was drunk (again, whoops) so thankfully, my friend did all the cooking. I probably wasn't craving meat at this stage but apparently one craves meat if they need a boost of energy.

Compared to the Korean BBQs that I would have in Sydney, it was bit small. But the meat was of good quality – what I mean by this is that there was not too much excess fat. The venue was good as the exhaust pipes were moveable, so we could place it near the smelly stove, minimising the heat from scorching our faces and the smokiness penetrating our clothes.

Tosung Korean BBQ

Manuka (old Zeffirellis)

potluck dinner party

Potluck dinner parties are great. It gives me a chance to cook something that I don’t normally and to eat food that I would never cook (because I get idea-lazy). For one dinner party, I made chocolate cupcakes filled with vanilla icecream. They were a hit! Everyone asked how the icecream ‘got into’ in the cupcake. Well here is my secret: dig a hole in the cupcake, as if you’re digging a hole in a beach, and keep the excess cake in one piece. Place a small ball of icecream in the hole then cover it with a ‘lid’ namely the top part of the excess cake. And another tip: defrost the cupcakes before you serve them.

Other people brought things like: polish beetroot soup, salads, Mexican wraps, a tofu/tomato casserole. I really appreciated the home-cooked meal as I haven’t had one in a while – thank you!

Adore Tea cafe

Coming to Canberra through a grad program, I enjoy the ease of being able to pull up a group of friends at almost any time and trying out something new. I heard a lot about the Adore Tea Café as an oasis from the city and urban life. The café is situated in Gold Creek, a bit of a drive from where I live in the South. But the drive is worth it if you enjoy a tea/cake in a country-like relaxed environment.

I had the Dutch Profiteroles and some sort of Green Tea. When my dish came out, I freaked out how much was on the place and the challenge that lay ahead. However, the profiteroles were as light as marshmallows and had a subtle taste like water crackers – it wasn’t a problem to finish the whole plate.

One of my mates ordered a Crysthanamum tea (I think) – there was a beautiful Crysthanamum flower in the water. A ribbon-like red colour seeped from the flower as the fragrance of the tea was being released.

My friends also had a sticky date pudding and scones with jam infused with tea leaves. I had some of the pudding and icecream side and was impressed with the thoughtful and delicate balance of sweetness and stickiness. Simple elegance.

Adore Tea Cafe

Gold Creek retail store & tea house

Federation Square 1
O'Hanlon Place
NICHOLLS  ACT  2913

http://www.adoretea.com.au/

macarons

I heart macarons for their crispy, chewy, sweet and light goodness. I have yet to locate good macarons in Canberra, but in the meantime, I'll daydream about those in Sydney and overseas. Almost everytime I visit Sydney, I insist on a trip to the Lindt Cafe. Below you can see the flavours Strawberry, Vanilla (or Champagne), Chocolate Delice and Passionfruit.

  

I went to London at the end of last year and came across Paul Patisserie. I was amazed at the size of this Pistachio macaron - it was as large as my palm!!! AMAZING

  

To be p/c these French biscuit-like sweets are 'macarons'. The sweets with shredded coconut in them are 'macaroons' :)

sydney takeaway sushi

The quality of take away sushi in Sydney is remarkably different from Canberra. I'm not sure if the franchise 'Asagao' is in Canb, but their sushi has a proportionally high amount of meat or veges (as you can see below). There is a high turnover of food so the fresh and not crisping on the sides.



lazy food

Ah, im tired but feel like i should update this blog with visual prettiness. Below, you can see soft cheesy polenta topped with sliced zuchinni and mushrooms. Yum lazy food. Inspired by the book 'Lighten Up' by Jill Dupleix.

Chicken, chickpeas and carrots cooked in a homemade madras curry paste and tomato paste etc

thirst wine bar & eatery. canberra friends

In the past year, on the last Friday of every month, my friends and I would go to the National Portrait Gallery for drinks. This would be often followed by a civilised dinner in the city. This time, we went to Thirst, a Thai restaurant in Civic.

We enjoyed:

Bean curd & basil stirfry/ Dtao huu pad pet bai gra phao 18.90

Bean curd, baby corn, morning glory, chilli, basil, ginger, garlic, kaffir lime, oyster sauce

Green curry with trout dumplings/ Gaeng kiao warn luuk chin plaa 22.90

Classic Thai curry with fresh basil, bamboo shoots and dumplings made from ocean trout fillets, ginger, garlic & coriander root

Vegetarian spring rolls (4 per serve) 10.90

Grated carrot, bean sprouts, rice noodles & coriander, served with cucumber relish

Plus some other curry dish which had banana throughout it – what, banana in a savoury dish? Yes! We also had a Thai Sangria – essentially traditional Sangria with Thai Basil.

This is one of the better Thai restaurants, as the dishes were flavoured with herbs, spices etc rather than pre-manufactured pastes etc.

Thirst Wine Bar & Eatery
20 West Row  
Canberra ACT
http://www.thirstwinebar.com/