Tag Archives: Squid

Maestral Mediterranean and Seafood restaurant in Weston

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Yesterday was a slow kind of day. We started with brunch at Black Pepper in Belconnen. This is a local café that does a good breakfast and brunch on weekends. It is very popular amongst locals and especially cyclists and walkers who exercise around Lake Ginninderra.

Bron asked for Eggs Benedict on Turkish bread and I asked for the Black Pepper big breakfast with Turkish bead. Black Pepper Menu July 2012

When our meals arrived, the Eggs Benedict were sitting on a muffin. Rather than waste time and send the dish back, I shared my Turkish bread.

Beautiful eggs Benedict

The plates were cold and the bacon was also cold. The eggs were slightly over cooked. The yolks were still soft but they weren’t really runny like we like them. Otherwise, the Eggs Benedict and Black Pepper Breakfast were very nice. As you can see I also asked for a bowl of hollandaise sauce to go with my breakfast. Along with our coffees, it was a good start to the day.

The day got better with a visit to Costco. I wanted to see the optometrist, although I didn’t realise I needed an appointment. I’ll be returning next Saturday. To compensate my disappointment we went to look at the meat section. There is a whole cold section dedicated to Australian produced Wagyu beef.

Costco's Wagyu cabinet

I will blog soon about cooking Wagyu beef.

The Maestral Mediterranean and Seafood restaurant is on 13 Trenerry Street in Weston. The menu is a combination of Croatian, seafood and beef. The surf and turf/reef and beef options look amazing.

We started with baby fried calamari and then went onto a Maestral seafood platter.

Baby fried calamari

The calamari was perfectly fried. It was juicy and tender.

The Maestral seafood platter. The soft shell crab was the highlight.

The platter had a combination of oysters (natural and oysters Maestral [see menu]), scampi, prawns, fish, soft shell crab and fried potatoes.

Me smiling because I love seafood platters

I would definitely go back and try other dishes on the menu. It’s a very popular restaurant. We saw a number of familiar faces and friends there last night.

After the Maestral we thought we’d enjoy dessert at Max Brenner in Belconnen. I chose the waffle with strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

Max Brenner waffle with strawberries and vanilla ice cream

And so finished a pretty good day.

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Rain. I love it (and food)

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This is the sort of rain I like. Warm and heavy. It’s not as heavy as I’ve seen it, but it is really good.

I also like eating and while here in Darwin I’m staying at the Vibe Hotel on the Darwin Waterfront.

Tonight I had salt and pepper squid with palm sugar, mango and mint followed by a lemon curd meringue. The squid was really nice. Not at all chewing and the salt and pepper coating was just right. The meringue was remarkably good given it’s room service food. I feel good now. :-)

Salt and pepper squid with palm sugar, mango and mint

Lemon curd meringue with passion fruit and mango

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A couple of repeats and some squid

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Tonight we repeated Yorkshire puddings with the ocean trout, horseradish and cream cheese, plus we had calamari and then cheesecake. The Jamie Oliver recipe is really good.

Sizzling in the oven

Getting bigger

This short video just shows how good they sizzle in the oven.

This is a great plate of puds.

Straight out of the oven, two different sizes.

Smoked ocean trout with horseradish and cream cheese

Smoked ocean trout with horseradish and cream cheese with yorkies

Smoked ocean trout with horseradish and cream cheese with yorkies

Smoked ocean trout with horseradish and cream cheese with yorkies

Squid is good You should check out dileeshus she loves squid

Sizzling squid

Resting squid

Lots of squid

Plated squid

The squid was amazingly tender and fresh and perfectly cooked. The dipping sauce Bron made was delicious.

Dessert is chocolate and peanut paste cheesecake with Queensland nut brittle

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Friday night Chinese at the Dumpling Inn

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Tonight we went to the Dumpling Inn in Macquarie. This is a really good small suburban Chinese restaurant. It is a Peking style cuisine with a good variety. It is one of my favourite local restaurants. I recommend the restaurant to anyone who enjoys Chinese food at reasonable prices.

Tonight we started with some spring rolls and then got stuck into a fried flounder in rock salt, fried squid in rock salt and shredded beef Peking style. This was a great combination. There was quite a bit of salt and sugar in this meal.

The first dish out was the fried flounder. This is the first time we’d tried this. The dish was huge and the fish was held in a basket fashioned from half of the flounder which was also deep friend. This had a great look to it. The chillies were mild but very nice along with the spring onions and pepper.

Fried flounder in rock salt

The next dish out was the fried squid in rock salt. This is an all time favourite.

Fried squid in rock salt

The final dish was the shredded beef Peking style. This has a salty sweetness that is so Moorish.

Shredded beef Peking style

There was no way I wasn’t going to eat the flounder dish. In the end I also bit the head off and enjoyed an eye. It reminded me of my childhood when Mum would cook a whole fish in a wok and we’d fight over the eyes to eat and the cheek flesh. Good times.

Empty flouder dish

Gary eating flounder

It was a big day for food. For lunch we went to Grill’d for the first time at Grill’d Belconnen. I had an Almighty burger. The only thing I would have added is a pineapple ring. Grill’d is a nice chain and serves good food. I would recommend the burgers.

Grill'd Almighty burger

Tonight was the end of the food indulgence. Come Sunday morning I need to be back in the zone of eating to maintain a healthful weight. It’s been an enjoyable week of feasting. I look forward to doing it again next year.

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Steak at Kingsleys steak and crab house in Canberra

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On Friday night we went to Kingsleys steak and crab house. It was my first time. I recall a post from Jen when she took Mr J out for his birthday dinner there recently. It didn’t dawn on me until I was seated and reading the menu.

In a strange coincidence, it seems I have chosen a meal that is very popular, viz., the Angus beef eye fillet (300 g) and caramel cheesecake with peanut brittle.

For a starter we had the Chilli squid with aioli and crisp chickpeas which was really nice. The squid was tender and the chilli crumb coating was a nice balance. I’d never had crisp chickpeas before. They were a nice texture. The other nice touch was the squid was not swimming in aioli. It was the right amount.

Chilli squid with aioli and crisp chickpeas

For a main meal I went with the Angus beef eye fillet. It was cooked rare and 300 g of goodness (and happiness). It was served with a creamy potato mash and béarnaise sauce.

Angus eye fillet, mash potato and béarnaise sauce

Angus beef eye fillet cooked rare

For dessert we had the caramel cheesecake with peanut brittle. It was delicious.

Caramel cheesecake with peanut brittle

I can highly recommend Kingsleys steak and crab house. Next time I’m going for Alaskan King Crab and think about The Deadliest Catch.

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