Mediterranean Sea | Yummy Lummy

Taze in Civic boasts exquisite tastes from around the Mediterranean.

It’s located at Shop 4 in the ATO Building at 21 Genge Street, Canberra City ACT 2601. Google map http://goo.gl/maps/K0a1G

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Last night (ACT election night) we went there with friends for a meal. All in all it was an okay night. The place is packed with tables and it was a little like being in a sardine can. The table we had had a chair combo with two seats being a lounge cushion thing and the other four seats stand alone units. It wasn’t great and our friends who ended up with the lounge cushion thing weren’t that happy. The place has two levels with the mezzanine being largely out of sight. Because of my deafness and tinnitus I like to sit with my good ear in the best position. That doesn’t always help if the place is noisy. This place is pretty noisy. Not their fault I know, but some sound baffling can help people with a hearing disability.

While I enjoyed my meal, one of our friends asked for the seafood risotto and it came with whole crab pieces rather than crab meat incorporated into the risotto. This made it pretty messy and unappetising. In addition, it didn’t taste too good. Bron and I both noticed the snapper a couple of friends asked for smelt pretty fishy which is something that would put us off asking for it.

Onto the good things. I had an entrée of lamb sausages which were delightfully spicy. I could eat much more of these sausages. The serving size was pretty good for an entrée. I also had a fillet steak cooked rare on a bed of mash. For $36 I expected some greens too. Oh well, not a big deal. The steak was well cooked and very enjoyable. If I compared it to Tommy’s Bistro from last week though, I’d go for Tommy’s. I finished off with the Crème brûlée which contained white chocolate and raspberries. It was pretty good.

Taze lamb sausages

Taze fillet steak [rare]

Taze white chocolate and raspberry Crème brûlée

We had a good night out. Civic is the place to be on a Saturday night if you’re young and want a good time. With Spring developing everyone seemed to be wearing suitable bright coloured clothes and revealing a heap of pale skin.

On paying the bill, the manager removed the price of the risotto which was very nice of him and for me would be a positive to come back and try some different dishes from the menu.

I’d say Taze is worth a go. Their website has all their menus. I’ve listed the two main ones here. Ala carte menu http://taze.com.au/assets/alacartemenu.pdf | Dessert menu http://taze.com.au/assets/dessertmenu.pdf

After a good night’s sleep we went to Ricardo’s Café for breakfast.

I enjoyed my poached eggs with a side of Hollandaise sauce.

Ricardo’s Cafe Poached eggs

Milne disappointed by swing against ACT Greens (abc.net.au)
Five years living in Canberra (garydavidlum.com)

On Thursday evening we met with friends and enjoyed dinner at Maestral Mediterranean and Seafood Restaurant in Cooleman Court in Weston. Our friends had not been there before, however, as thorough seafood lovers we couldn’t get past the Maestral seafood platter for two. Given there were four of us we also asked for the Stubica (Pan fried pork fillet stuffed with sweet dried prunes and served with a plum brandy cream sauce) and Cevapcici (Mixture of minced meats and Adriatic spices served with feta cheese/onions). The menu from my Evernote notebook can be found here.

After the main course we persuaded our dinner companions to have dessert at Max Brenner in Belconnen.

The service at Maestral is good. It’s warm and friendly. This is very popular restaurant in Canberra and so at times, the wait staff are run off their feet. It’s a smallish restaurant so the bathroom facilities are separate and you need to ask for a key. I would highly recommend Maestral to anyone living in or visiting Canberra.

The service at Max Brenner is variable and a lot depends on your timing. The local Hoyts cinema complex is situated close by. If a movie ends as you arrive finding a table can be a challenge. The service on Thursday night was mediocre. The person taking my requests was fine, she was happy and cheerful. The problem was the delivery of the four dishes. They came out one by one so that by the time the last dish arrived three of us had finished our dessert. That does not make for an enjoyable experience.