Kingston

Morks Restaurant Review

Posted by Gary

It’s been a while since Bron and I have eaten at Morks. The last time was on a very warm night in January this year. Bron suggested we have a meal there soon. I didn’t need much convincing to take action.

Booking a reservation is easy through the Morks contact page. I received an e-mail from Benn confirming our table and then on the day Benn called just to make sure. It’s a nice touch and I know it helps the restaurant ensure they minimise “no shows” which must be so frustrating not to mention rude.

As we enter we can see the place is buzzing. Almost all the tables are taken and we have to wait a few minutes for ours to be ready. We are shown to a really nice table for two in the front corner. It’s next to the main window (and away from the front door) with a view of the water and passers by (thanks Benn).

The menu has changed but some old favourites were still there. That said, we ventured into new territory in our selections. For entrées Bron chose the Australian Wagyu ‘Crying tiger’ which consisted of thinly cut slices of medium-rare Wagyu steak with some salad greens and a refreshing dipping sauce. I chose the pork crackling with chili jam salad. OMG I loved this entrée. It really sang in my mouth. The crunch of the crackling and cashews went beautifully with the zing and sweetness of the chili. This is a new favourite entrée for me.

Dinner at Morks. Pork crackling and chilli jam salad. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 12800
Dinner at Morks. Pork crackling and chili jam salad. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 12800

For mains Bron chose the Morks duck red curry with a crispy rice cake which I reckon looks fabulous when it’s served. I was drooling looking at the duck and the crispy rice cake. It’s that thing you know when you see something that looks like fried carbs…Mmm…

Morks duck red curry, crispy rice cake. Photograph courtesy of Bron and her iPhone
Morks duck red curry, crispy rice cake. Photograph courtesy of Bron and her iPhone

I chose the pork belly, caramel, kapi rice and apple salad. Yep, that’s right, double pork for me that night. This was delicious and if I had not had such a fabulous entrée I think I would have enjoyed it more but that entrée was the star of the night for me.

That's me enjoying my pork belly, caramel, kapi rice and apple salad. Photograph courtesy of Bron and her iPhone
That’s me enjoying my pork belly, caramel, kapi rice and apple salad. Photograph courtesy of Bron and her iPhone
Dinner at Morks. Pork belly, caramel, kapi rice and apple salad. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 12800
Dinner at Morks. Pork belly, caramel, kapi rice and apple salad. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 12800
Dinner at Morks. Pork belly, caramel, kapi rice and apple salad. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 12800
Dinner at Morks. Kapi rice and apple salad. | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 12800

For dessert we both chose the Black Sirius which is chocolate mousse, salty caramel, peanut soil and whipped cream. This was really rich. The salty caramel was good and the whole thing just worked nicely together. A great way to end a lovely meal.

Dessert at Morks. Sirius Black - Chocolate mousse, salty caramel, peanut soil and whipped cream | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 12800
Dessert at Morks. Sirius Black – Chocolate mousse, salty caramel, peanut soil and whipped cream | SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 12800

Okay, so how did we enjoy the overall experience? To date, and this includes our experiences of Morks in Florey, we’ve been knocked off our feet with the dining experiences. In my mind the food is still fabulous. I love the dishes Mork creates. On this night though we noticed just how busy the restaurant is. The wait staff looked busy and in addition to Benn, who is a star maître d’, we found that night the service was a little patchy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still ultra friendly and buoyant. At least that’s how I felt this night. I will be back. I want that entrée again.

Okay, so what do you think? Have you been to Morks? I still rate it as a great place and it’s one of my favourite restaurants in Canberra if not anywhere.

This is the photograph I posted last night on Instagram 

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Morks Restaurant on Urbanspoon

 

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Wild Duck Restaurant Review

Posted by Gary

There was one requirement, at Wild Duck we needed to eat duck

It’s been a busy week and Bron and I had a reservation at Wild Duck on a Thursday night. The reservation process was dead easy with Dimmi (electronic reservation). What I like about Dimmi is the reservation gets locked in and confirmation/reminder e-mails are sent which gives me reassurance.

We had agreed beforehand like we did at Olive at Mawson, that since it’s Wild Duck we need to eat duck (at Olive at Mawson we agreed someone had to eat an olive dish).

Wild Duck describes itself as fine Asian cuisine. The menu however is not your typical Chinese restaurant. It’s more of an abstract of traditional dishes cooked beautifully with flavour as a priority.

We decided on mains before we settled on entrées. We chose the pork belly and lamb ribs for mains after thinking about the ocean trout and spatchcock. To begin dinner we agreed on duck in rice wrappers and king prawns.

Roast duck rice paper rolls. Chinese roast duck, cucumber, spring onion in Vietnamese style rice paper roll served with Hoi Sin sauce.
Roast duck rice paper rolls. Chinese roast duck, cucumber, spring onion in Vietnamese style rice paper roll served with Hoi Sin sauce.

These wraps were served on a cute duck plate

Wild duck

King prawns and green pawpaw. Pan fried King Prawns with Cajun spice, served with a Thai style Green Pawpaw and Granny Smith apple salad.
King prawns and green pawpaw. Pan fried King Prawns with Cajun spice, served with a Thai style Green Pawpaw and Granny Smith apple salad.

The duck rolls were pretty good. The sauce that came with it was superb. I found the pieces of duck meat were quite large and rather than being a negative, I loved having a nice big piece of tender duck meat with skin on it. The prawns were nicely cooked. They were coated in a lovely spicy mix which was complemented nicely with the refreshing shredded green pawpaw and green apple.

 

Pork belly in lotus leaf. Slowly cooked pork belly with 3 kinds of soy sauce, rock sugar and mixed spices, wrapped in Lotus leaves with sticky rice.
Pork belly in lotus leaf. Slowly cooked pork belly with 3 kinds of soy sauce, rock sugar and mixed spices, wrapped in Lotus leaves with sticky rice.
Manhan lamb ribs. Slow cooked Lamb Ribs in ‘One Hundred’ spices, finished on the grill, served with aged Chinese vinegar caramelised Banana chillies and soy caramelised Leeks.
Manhan lamb ribs. Slow cooked Lamb Ribs in ‘One Hundred’ spices, finished on the grill, served with aged Chinese vinegar caramelised Banana chillies and soy caramelised leeks.

Both these dishes were fantastic. The pork belly was tender and sweet and accompanied with some lovely sticky rice that had soaked up all the lovely pork juices. The lamb ribs had the most tender meat ever. A spoon would have separated the meat from the bones. The flavour was amazing. The fat had been rendered out and gave the meat a lovely unctuous texture. The nice thing about sharing the meal was that we could eat a small amount from each dish and go back for more. I started with the pork then had some lamb and then pork and finished with lamb. I commented that I wish I had finished on the pork because the sweetness would have been perfect for me. Bron loved the lamb and said she was happy to finish with the lamb because it was a dish she wasn’t expecting in that she’d eaten pork belly many times before but this was the first time she’d eaten lamb ribs. Both dishes were fabulous and I’d happily go back and eat them again.

 

Black sticky rice. Cinnamon infused black sticky rice with salted coconut custard on top. Vanilla meringue and Persian candy floss.
Black sticky rice. Cinnamon infused black sticky rice with salted coconut custard on top. Vanilla meringue and Persian candy floss. Thanks Bron for shooting this photograph.
Banana split with a twist. Bitter chocolate glaze, lotus seeds on rum and almond crumble, served with coconut ice cream.
Banana split with a twist. Bitter chocolate glaze, lotus seeds on rum and almond crumble, served with coconut ice cream.

Bron chose the sticky rice and I said I’d probably go with the five texture mousse and summer berries. As our requests were being taken I quickly changed my mind and asked for the banana split. Bron just stared at me (death stare). She had (been hoping) hoped to check out some of the mousse and berries. There was a bit of face palming lol

All in all it was a good night. The setting is very pleasant and not too noisy. The service was great, it was friendly and attentive but not too in your face. We both commented on the timing of the dishes. We were not left waiting long between courses and if I had one reservation it would be to leave a few more minutes between courses.

I’m happy to recommend Wild Duck to anyone living in or visiting Canberra. 

So now for a rating. 4.5 out of 5 colonies 🙂 Fantastic. I’ll be back.

 

Wild duck | Wild duck menu | Wild duck entrées | Wild duck mains | Wild duck desserts

 

Wild Duck on Urbanspoon

Address: Shop 77-78/71 Giles Street, Kingston ACT 2604

Telephone: 02 6232 7997

Hours: Sunday Closed; Monday 12-2.30 pm, 5.30–10.30 pm; Tuesday 12-2.30 pm, 5.30–10.30 pm; Wednesday 12-2.30 pm, 5.30–10.30 pm; Thursday 12-2.30 pm, 5.30–10.30 pm; Friday 12-2.30 pm, 5.30–10.30 pm; Saturday 5.30–10.30 pm

Reservations: http://dimmi.com.au

 
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