Lunch at The Boathouse by the Lake

The Boathouse by the Lake menu for Eat Drink Blog 6
The Boathouse by the Lake menu for Eat Drink Blog 6

It’s been a bit over a week since Eat Drink Blog 6 has finished. In my roundup of my 15 favourite things about Eat Drink Blog 6 I mentioned I wanted to do a separate post about the experience at The Boathouse by the Lake.

The Boathouse is one of my favourite Canberra restaurants for fine dining. The Boathouse was an option for the final session of the conference and we had to provide our preferences well in advance. Given I don’t drink alcohol I wasn’t that interested in the brewery or the winery visits. I would have been happy with coffee, but really I had my heart set on The Boathouse. It seems I wasn’t alone, Amanda Whitley said The Boathouse was the popular choice amongst all the delegates. I’m just so grateful I got my first choice.

As we arrived on the bus with Amanda as our leader we were escorted to the main verandah for a drink and some canapes. The view of Lake Burley Griffin was pretty good for an overcast day.

This is a photograph of Lake Burley Griffin from The Boathouse by the Lake
Lake Burley Griffin from The Boathouse by the Lake

The session would consist of lunch during which we would enjoy a cooking demonstration. We met the owner, James Souter, two chefs John Leverink and Alex O’Brien and the sommelier Kate Hibberson. James explained how he and his wife came to own The Boathouse purchasing the restaurant from James’ father.

The first dish was a raw tuna, avocado and wasabi jelly entrée. We were treated to a new ingredient in wasabi sesame seeds which John explained he sourced from the Good Grub Hub. This stuff is dynamite. They’re on twitter too.

A slight digression, Simone from Play with food found out how to mail order the wasabi sesame seeds and shared the information with me through twitter. The Hungry Mum aka Belinda also got into the twitter conversation and ‘threatened’ to buy up all the wasabi sesame seeds. I felt my happiness was at risk so I immediately placed an order for three bottles. I’ll keep two and give one to a friend.

 

I suggest you follow Simone, Belinda and me on twitter and you can see how the conversation has developed over a week.

Back to The Boathouse. The entrée was fabulous.

This is a photograph of the final plating up of Yellow fin tuna, avocado, chicken skin crackling and wasabi jelly with wasabi sesame seeds
Yellow fin tuna, avocado, chicken skin crackling and wasabi jelly with wasabi sesame seeds. Sorry about the blur associated with the tips of the forceps, chicken skin crackling and herbs.
This is a black and white photograph of The Boathouse by the Lake chefs JOHN LEVERINK and ALEX O'BRIEN
The Boathouse by the Lake chefs JOHN LEVERINK and ALEX O’BRIEN

The main course was a lovely duck breast.

The photograph is of a main meal of Duck breast, almond tofu, mustard and legumes
Duck breast, almond tofu, mustard and legumes

I think everyone was taken by the dessert. This is an Alex O’Brien creation which he and John said is a controversial element of the menu. Apparently people love it or hate it. The chefs love it so it stays on the menu. I loved it too.

The photograph is of a dessert made up of Smoked chocolate ice cream, beetroots, speculaas, and baby coriander
Smoked chocolate ice cream, beetroots, speculaas, and baby coriander

I’d highly recommend The Boathouse by the Lake to any food lover living in or visiting Canberra.

Tonight I used some of the wasabi sesame seeds on my baked salmon with wilted kale, peas, corn, almonds, shallots, spring onions, lemon zest, chilli flakes and wasabi sesame seeds

Baked salmon with wilted kale, peas, corn, almonds, shallots, spring onions, lemon zest, chilli flakes and wasabi sesame seeds
Baked salmon with wilted kale, peas, corn, almonds, shallots, spring onions, lemon zest, chilli flakes and wasabi sesame seeds

I received my wasabi sesame seeds today. Thanks to John Leverink and Simone Emery.

The Good Grub Hub Wasabi Sesame seed package
The Good Grub Hub Wasabi Sesame seed package
The Good Grub Hub Wasabi Sesame seed package
The Good Grub Hub Wasabi Sesame seed package
The Good Grub Hub Wasabi Sesame seed package
The Good Grub Hub Wasabi Sesame seed package
Wasabi sesame seeds
Wasabi sesame seeds

14 Responses

  1. what a great trip down memory lane! Shouldn’t have read this on a fasting day- tummy is now rumbling 😉 Fab photos, amazing food and great company – what a tops day.

  2. Great post Gary! It was a brilliant experience. I need to get me some of those wasabi sesame seeds too. Your baked salmon looks delicious! Omnom

  3. Great Post 🙂 Especially for those who took cupping instead… I would have loved to be there. I will one day.
    Thanks so much for this great address: The Good Grub Hub. I soooo want those sesame seeds now. I just bought miso coated wasabi in a store in Sydney 🙂 But those…. Oh my!

    1. Flore, these wasabi sesame seeds really have a nice heat to them. A great condiment for so many dishes I reckon especially fish like salmon and tuna.

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