Tag Archives: Chips

Food glorious food; since Wednesday; this has included dining out and home cooked happiness

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On Wednesday I spent the day in Sydney for a meeting. I flew back to Canberra on Virgin Australia. I was able to enjoy an afternoon snack of cheese and ice cream plus some quince paste.

A snack on a Virgin Australia flight. Cheese, quince paste and an ice cream sandwich.

On Thursday morning inspired by the Ranting Chef and a post on 09 August I made baked beans on toast. I added a little Holbrooks Worcestershire sauce and some chili flakes plus Tabasco sauce for spice. I would have added an egg but it was already going to be enough.

Baked beans on toast with coffee

On Thursday evening we went to celebrate the birthday of a friend. We went to Sanur’s Balinese Restaurant in Belconnen. We’ve been there a few times before and I’ve blogged about the experience. Bron and I shared an entrée (Sanur’s Deluxe Platter for Two $18.9 A platter of mixed spring roll, chicken or beef satay, sweet corn patties and battered prawns) and I asked for fried chicken (“Chicken” Char Grilled or Fried ½ Chicken $18.9 Sanur Style Chicken marinated in house special ingredients and served with sambal bajak). I was a little disappointed it was dry and not that flavoursome. Bron had the Crispy Ayam ($18.9 Battered marinated chicken thigh tossed with garlic and aromatic salt) which was delicious. The chicken was moist, tender and tasty. For dessert we both enjoyed the Coconut Delusion ($8.90 Coconut pancake filled with unti (shredded coconut) with pandan anglaise, ice cream & toasted almonds).

Entrée platter

Entrée platter

Fried chicken

Bron’s chicken

Coconut dessert

The evening was punctuated with hilarious stories of menstrual period iPhone apps and videos of a bloke called Merv who is good at sucking. The flow of the conversation had periods of tension and hilarity. There was lots of talk about the ladies cycling together. I didn’t know they all had bicycles. :-)

This is Merv

On Friday morning Bron and I enjoyed our regular Mavi Breakfast wrap.

Mavi breakfast wrap

For lunch on Friday I felt like some hot chips from Urban Bean in my work building. These chips are delicious. A small container costs $4 which sounds expensive (and it is) but the container is quite large. It also comes with some aioli.

Great hot chips

On Friday night Bron made a light dinner. We had a baked egg in a creamy Italian style risotto. It was delicious. This is a split photograph edited before and after the egg was cracked.

Baked egg and risotto

For breakfast on Saturday we had poached eggs and ham. I wanted a little cranberry sauce too.

Poached egg with ham and cranberry

After doing some washing  and house work we went out to Ricardo’s café in Jamison for afternoon tea. Bron had a golden mousse and I ate a swan.

Golden mousse

Swan

For dinner on Saturday we celebrated another friend’s birthday and went to Chairman and Yip after drinks at Benchmark wine bar. I was a little disappointed by the Benchmark wine bar. The drinks were really expensive and I got the feeling they were trying to get us out yet the restaurant was only about a third full. There was a huge hens party going on and we had wait staff asking us if we wanted more drinks every five minutes. My greatest disappointment as someone who cannot drink alcohol though is the absence of pineapple juice. That’s what I wanted. In the end I settled for a lemon lime and bitters. To be fair it was our waiter’s first shift. A friend asked for a Chardonnay and he received Chandon sparkling wine. Our waiter was very apologetic and smiled a lot.

At Chairman and Yip it was very different. The wait staff were efficient yet unobtrusive and allowed us to enjoy our meal. This was one of the nicest meals I’ve eaten in Canberra. For en entrée I asked for duck pancakes and ended up sharing with Bron who had pan fried Kurobuta Rich River (Victoria) pork cake with red wine vinaigrette. Both entrées come for $16.50. Both were delicious although the pork cakes were more filling.

Duck pancakes

char-grilled fillet of beef with shallot and spring onion sauce

For a main course I asked for a char-grilled fillet of beef with shallot and spring onion sauce. Bron asked for beef and scallop ground pepper hot pot, M asked for chairman’s red curry chicken and L asked for pumpkin and cucumber with caramelised chili and kaffir lime.

pumpkin and cucumber with caramelised chili and kaffir lime

My first plate, in the end we shared everything amongst each other.

For dessert I asked for a panna cotta with a passionfruit sauce. Bron asked for Pyramid of chocolate mousse over white chocolate mousse that sounded like chocolate fellatio which created uproar at our table. :-)

Panna cotta with passionfruit sauce

This morning we had breakfast at Ellacure in Bruce. We’ve been meaning to do this for a long time. It didn’t disappoint. I asked for poached eggs on toast with a side of hollandaise and avocado while Bron asked for Eggs Benedict with bacon (this is Bron’s instagram image). Breakfast at Ellacure is very worthwhile. The service is very good and the food is delicious. The service verged on trying to get us out, but really, it was 0900 in the morning and they would be very busy after 0930. They were very efficient. I would rank this a great place in Canberra for breakfast or brunch.

Look I got pineapple juice :-)

The best thing was I got pineapple juice :-)

Poached eggs, hollandaise and avocado. This is one of the best photographs I’ve taken.

Don’t forget coffee :-)

Tonight I was inspired by another blogger I follow, viz., Live2EatEat2Live aka The Mouse. He recently posted a picture that I have fond memories of as a boy. This is my version.

Rice with egg, lup chong and soy plus some spring onions

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My happy place

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Today I spent most of the day in work related meetings. I also spent some of the day out doors with work mates looking at things. That meant I was exposed to the best parts of Darwin. Warm but not hot. Moist, and by moist I mean soaking warm rain going in all directions including horizontal and wind gusts up to 100 kilometres per hour.

After work this afternoon I ambled up to Stokes Hill Wharf for dinner. Ever since learning I was coming to Darwin for these meetings I have been craving a solo walk to the wharf and sitting down to a plate of battered barramundi and chips. For those not familiar with the barramundi, it is a premier fighting fish which also happens to be a very fine eating fish. Firm white flaky flesh. It is only better when you catch it, kill it, fillet it and cook it in a pan with butter and some lemon. You can then throw the skins in the air for the eagles or into the water for the crocodiles.

On the Stokes Hill Wharf there is an eatery and an open seating area with tables and chairs. Tonight Darwin was in a post Tropical Cyclone waring phase and with a tropical low we had heavy rain and wind gusts up to 100 kilometres per hour. I didn’t want to get my iPhone wet so the images are fairly timid.

Tonight’s chips were so crispy and the barramundi so good. I was in a very happy place. My skin was warm and moist. My tongue, mouth and belly were happy. I’d had a great day and I was happy. I wish Bron had been here too.

I love the sound of heavy rain on a metal roof. Most houses in Darwin do not have roof gutters. There is no point. Listen to the power.

Normally you can see the land across the harbour. This isn’t even heavy. Later in the evening it got stronger in terms of wind and rain.

It looked ominous across the harbour.

An ominous looking scene across the water

Battered barramundi and chips

After finishing the fish and chips I sat around and tweeted and watched the weather. I knew I had to come back and do some work so I decided to walk briskly back to the hotel. It’s just under a one kilometre walk so I knew it wouldn’t be too bad. The wind was strong and the rain heavy. It. Was. So. Much. FUN.

Before I forget, did you see those chips? They were so crispy. They were the best. THE BEST!!!

When I got back to the hotel I knew I wanted dessert. I rang room service and asked for Coconut panna cotta with kaffir lime fruit salad.

Coconut panna cotta with kaffir lime fruit salad

And before I forget we had lunch at one of the best restaurants in Darwin. The Hanuman Thai.

Fish and lamb curries at The Hanuman Thai

All in all it’s been a happy day.

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Chalk and cheese | Onred and Central Cafe | Canberra and Queanbeyan

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Regular readers will know that I have a liking for all sorts of food. Fine dining and bulked up comfort and truck stop food. One day I will write about my grand parents and their Chinese restaurant at one of the biggest truck stops in Australia.

On Wednesday night Bron and I went to Onred Restaurant. This is regarded as one of the finest eating places in Canberra. Today we had lunch at Central Cafe in Queanbeyan. This is regarded more broadly as the place with the amazing mixed grill challenge. I don’t think it’s in the league of Man v Food but it’s pretty sizable and it certainly takes a good attitude to eating to finish the plate, or at least in my case, complete the meat eating.

The philosophy at Onred is many small serves to enjoy the flavours. At Onred they recommend choosing three or four entrée sized dishes from their menu and then enjoying a dessert each. The way the meals are served, sharing between diners is encouraged.

Onred Restaurant on Red Hill

I think many readers will be surprised that I did not capture any images of food. The ambience of the restaurant was not conducive to me pulling out my iPhone with each course. Given we had seven dishes and then two desserts I would have spent the whole night with my iPhone out. I can describe what we ate.

Polenta fried calamari w cauliflower and almond puree and eggplant chips [8/10]
Pan fried sweetbreads w bread sauce, celery, parsley, hazelnut and sultanas [9/10, I really enjoyed the sweetbreads]
Baked parmesan scallops and scallop ceviche [10/10]
Chicken, sage and bacon crepinette w parsley puree, roast cherry tomato and fried capers [7.5/10, it was okay but a little bland compared with everything else]
Salted pork belly w bacon dusted grapes and radish salad [8/10, pork belly is now ubiquitous and it's not as special as it once was]
Char grilled sirloin w black pudding, smoked onion puree and pickled onion rings [8.5/10, the sirloin was a little tough, the black pudding was spectacular with the onion]
Szechuan glazed duck breast w confit duck, confit orange and lemon and coriander buckwheat [9/10, the duck was superb, I'm not a fan of the buckwheat]

Caramelised pineapple w ginger cream, sable crumbs and lemon myrtle ice cream [9/10, the flavours were fresh and tropically sweet. I loved it]
Crushed flourless chocolate cake w liquid chocolate, orange and mandarin puree, honeycomb and orange ice cream [Bron had this. It was a generous dessert and it look luxurious and comforting. It looked like a loving hug on a plate]

The restaurant is on the second story in a building on top of Red Hill. The views of Canberra are very good and the room itself was relatively quiet given the harshness of the glass surfaces. The service was good. It was attentive but unobtrusive. It was a very nice evening. I would definitely return for another meal. My favourite dish was the scallops. They were near perfect and the one dish I’d want to come back for for a larger serving to enjoy myself.

Today we had lunch at Central Cafe in Queanbeyan. This is an institution in Queanbeyan and well known in Canberra. When I first started working in Canberra a work colleague mentioned the place to me and the mixed grill challenge. He was a power lifter and said it was one of the few substantial meals for a reasonable price anywhere in the Canberra/Queanbeyan district. So after four years of thinking about it I finally tried it.

It’s situated on the main drag in Queanbeyan and pretty obvious as you drive down the street.

Central Cafe from the street

Okay, so no surprise I went with the mixed grill. If you read the menu you will see Mixed Grill – A serious Challenge for $29.50. Famous around Australia for its size, weight and quality, our Mixed Grill is NOT FOR THE FEINT HEARTED! Have you got what it takes?

The famous Central Cafe Mixed grill. Pork chop, steaks, snags, ham, bacon, lambs fry (liver), crumbed veal, roast potato, chips, cauliflower and broccoli cheese and carrots

The plate is a full dinner plate and it is covered in food. I was disappointed there wasn’t a lamb chop or cutlet. There were two steaks, two sausages, two pieces of ham, a bacon rasher, four pieces of liver, and a piece of crumbed veal. I started well and felt confident I’d finish the meat in terms of a high protein low carbohydrate challenge. I ate a few chips and all the cauliflower and broccoli.

Me eating the Cantral Cafe mixed grill. The pepper sauce was pretty good too.

It wasn’t until the end, towards the piece of veal which I was keeping for last that I started feeling full and my brain was giving me signals to think about slowing down.

Only about a third of the way through

I didn’t eat all the chips and carrots. I was feeling a little full. Rather than make myself feel full or force myself to eat I felt comfortable stopping after eating all the meat.

All the meat is gone.

This was a good meal. It was worth going to Central Cafe and enjoying lunch. It’s another milestone in my Canberra bucket list.

Well I wouldn’t think of Onred and Central Cafe as chalk and cheese. That suggests one is bad while the other better. Both of these places is good. Both of these places serves a purpose. I’d return to both places. If you’re new to Canberra and want to take someone out to a nice dinner in a pleasant environment with a good view, Onred is a good start. If you’re new and you like big hearty meals, try Central Cafe, you won’t be disappointed.

Central Cafe menu

My day in food

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Breakfast was a simple fried egg with bacon and some spinach.

Bacon, egg and spinach

I was at Old Parliament House for a meeting and this is what we got for morning tea.

Morning tea

Tonight I was late and felt lazy. I wanted steak, sauce and chips. So that’s what I made myself.

Dinner