L'Unico Restaurant Wednesday 21 November

Pizza Marinara

Pizza L'Unico

Panna cotta

Mousse

Pork belly

Gnocchi

Pizza dessert (chocolate)

I’m not sure why we ended up in an Italian Restaurant.  I think it was because at the last dinner we couldn’t decide where to go and we happened to be walking past L’Unico in Kingston, looked at the menu and decided it looked good enough.

I’m never really sure about Italian restaurants.  To me,  Italian food is something you cook at home, and thus Italian restaurants are never all that exciting unless they are top of the range  such as Dieci e Mezzo, (closed) or Italian and Sons, (excellent except they won’t take bookings for groups, and anyway  they have two sittings a night, grrrrr).

So it was with some caution that I went along. 

All of us were present for a change, Karen, Jim, Megan, Kim, John, Andrew and Ron

Wine: 2011 Bella Riva King Valley. Pinot Grigio Vermentinl

Wooing Tree Pinot Noir 2008, Central Otago

Pasadena Zinfandel 2007 Pony Express.

Food:

Rocket and Parmesan Salad

Berkshire pork belly

Roasted pumpkin Ravioli

Gnocchi Sorrentino

Fettucine Carbonara

Pizze, Marinara and L’Unico.

We started with some bruschetta, which filled the hungry tums, then after a bit of a wait all the food came out at once.  The pumpkin and the pork seemed to be the pick of the bunch. The pumpkin was deemed “spectacular, outstanding” and the pork, lovely, “to die for” etc.

The rest of ordinary but okay, the gnocchi “not bad” the fettucini very nice to okay, light not too creamy, done well but not spectacular.  The gnocci was ordinary, not very light.

All in all the group liked the restaurant, said they would come again.  Maybe I’m a bit of a snob, but most of these dishes we could have cooked at home with little effort, even the pork.  If I’m going out I prefer something a bit different, even challenging.  This is probably best for families, people wanting something basic and filling.

We did find the service a bit too slow, which was surprising because the restaurant was nowhere near full.

Our next dinner will be a special one (Xmas) and we’re hoping for Aubergine, woohoo.

China Plate Wednesday 7 November 2013

Ko Po Chicken

Duck pancakes

Wasabi beef

3 kinds of mushrooms

Spicy Prawns

Scallops with egg white

Jim, Karen, Ron, John, Kim, Megan.

Andrew is still on holidays, and we are still trying to work out what he is having holidays from since he is retired and life is one big holiday for him.

New to Kingston, China Plate has moved from Civic where we had been once before, and liked.  It is associated also with Noble Palace in Woden, where we have also been.

It helps to have been here before and know what to order and what not to order as some dishes are somewhat better than others.

So we chose duck pancake to start with (as always) followed by

·         Three kinds of mushrooms with veges

·         Ko Po Chicken

·         Eggplant with spicy salt

·         Hot and spicy king prawns

·         Wasabi beef

·         Scallops and egg white

Wine: Ripost by Tim Knappstein, The Stilletto 2012 Pinot Gris

1994 Brokenwood Hermitage (which Jim was worried had gone off but it hadn’t)

The duck pancakes produced the usual “mmmmmm”, no complaints.

Scallops came with a delicate egg white base, which suited it very well.  I thought it had a sesame oil flavour but not everyone agreed, but the texture overall was beautiful.

The beef was a real winner, it was tender with lots of flavour, the wasabi was not over powering.  Ron said it went well with the red wine.

The prawns impressed some of us, not others, but I thought they were well presented, beautifully cooked.  The chicken was also thought to be very nice, but too much like the prawns in presentation.

The eggplant with spicy salt came as chips, entirely delectable, they disappeared very quickly.  They had that lovely salt and garlic flavour common with spicy salt dishes.

The mushrooms and vegetables were thought to be just “ho hum” but necessary as we needed some veges.

Their dessert chef is not due for a couple of weeks, so it was deep fried icecream all round (well nearly).  It would be worth coming back to see what they offer by way of Asian desserts.

Overall the meal was a good one, with a good selection of dishes, giving us lots of variety.  The best dishes for the night were agreed to be the beef and the eggplant.

Topics of conversation: travel to the USA, Daniels and Kims.

Thai Spice Wednesday 24 October

Chicken satay

Money bags

Vegetable fritters

Pork

Vegetable

Red Curry duck

Pad Thai

WINE

Cowra Estate Chardonay 2011

The Grapepickers: The Potts Family Bledsdale Cab Sav 2010 Langhorne Creek

Entrée:

Vegetable fritters

Money bags

Chicken satay skewers

Pepper garlic stir fry prok

Pad thai chicken and prawns

Stir fried tofu and mixed vegetables with cashews

Deep fried fish with sweet and sour ginger sauce

Red roast curry duck

Megan, Karen, Ron, John, Jim, joined by Lara, Jim and Karen’s daughter who had never eaten Thai before.  Kim had had to go to work (what, on a Wednesday evening?) and Andrew was overseas somewhere….

Thai Spice is an unpretentious little place, on the outside of the Woden Plaza,  in Corinna Street. We’ve been there before and liked it, so thought we would try again.

The chicken satays were well cooked with a peanut sauce, much like by Lara. Money bags were also delicious, with a the corn kernels, coconut and water chestnuts.  The vegtables in tempura were very delicate.  They had grated lots of veges and fried them all up together, yum.

Our only query was why are they giving us the same sweet sauce for all the entrees?

The mains: The duck was a real hit (how can you go wrong with duck red curry?) with a hint of chilli and basil.  The fish was gorgeous with shredded ginger.  It was freshly fried, not at all fatty.

 The pork was a bit ho- hum, not up to usual standared, as with the Pad Thai.  In Karen’s opinion they do the best Pad Thai in Canberra, but this was not up to their normal standard.

 And the pork needed extra flavour  was agreed by all.

BUT they didn’t even ask us if we wanted dessert, and by that time the restaurant was empty apart from us, so we didn’t bother.

Favourite?  The duck got the gong by far, but Lara liked the pad thai, and Ron liked the veges.

Overall it was a "great, let's come back here again"

Conversations?  Megan’s trip, Ron’s trip, and John’s long service leave.

Santa Lucia Wednesday 10 October

Santa Lucia Trattoria at Swinger Hill is a home style Italian restaurant which is particularly popular with older groups and families.  As a result, it can get crowded and noisy as we found out when we arrived for dinner on a cold Wednesday night.  Despite this, the service was reasonable and the staff friendly and helpful.

We decided to order a range of salads and pastas to share which was a good way of tasting a variety of dishes on the menu.  Surprisingly, it was the simple salads that were the biggest hit.  We ordered the Insalata di Arugala and the Insalata con funghi.   The first was a rocket salad with shaved parmesan and the second was a grilled mushroom salad with mixed lettuce.  Both were served with a beautiful caramelised balsamic vinegar dressing(yum!).  There were also heaps of mushrooms in the Insalata con funghi.  They were freshly grilled and served warm and just soaked up that lovely dressing –we were in heaven. 

We ordered mixed breads (Garlic, herb and anchovy) to arrive with the salads.  They were very basic but filling and good to have as an appetiser as the mains took some time to arrive.  For mains, we ordered 5 dishes - the PolopettiallaGriglia (chargrilled octopus), Spaghetti marina, Risotto con pollo, Gnocchi allaromagnola and Fusilli al Biondatevere.  The serves were large so the 5 dishes wereplenty enough for six.

The only main dish that was really disappointing was the chargrilled octopus which was both burnt and rubbery – a shame as the other salad dishes had been so nice.  The other pasta dishes were reasonable without being spectacular.  The two favourite dishes were the Fusilli al Biondatevere which had veal and prosciutto in a white wine and cream sauce and the Gnocchi alla romagnola which was homemade gnocchi in a napoletana sauce.

After all the mains, some of us still had room for dessert.   The dessert menu isn’t extensive and by the time we ordered dessert, the more popularchoices had already sold out.  In the end, we tried three dishes – a simple chocolate gelato, a baked custard and chilled pears in wine.  The best of these was easily the baked custard which was divine – well worth ordering again. 

We enjoyed our meal and there was plenty of it.  The cost also worked out as a fairly reasonable $32 each.  It isn’t the best Italian food in Canberra and it isn’t the place for a romantic dinner for 2.  But for families and small groups wanting a tasty home style (plain) Italian meal, it was not bad value and a nice night out. 

Banana Leaf 26 September 2012

Ron's report on Banana Leaf (while I was in Europe)

·         Diced lamb with black spices, chick pea and coconut milk. Everyone liked this. 

·         Tiger prawns and scallops with Sri Lankan spices. Seafood curry. Really good.

·         Vegetarian delight – potato and green pea with Sri Lankan spices wrapped in triangles. Sauce was very hot. Basically vegetable samosas. Everyone liked them. Just the sauce was too hot. 

·         Chicken biryani with ginger and turmeric with Sri Lankan spices. 

·         Lomprisht – basmati rice with chicken, fish fricadel and vegetable curries wrapped in banana leaves and baked. Everyone liked this as well. 

·         Kottu rotti tossed with onions, chillies, leeks, carrot, egg and beef. Sri Lankan pub food. Spicy. Everyone liked this. 

·         Watalapam – Coconut and treacle. Described as like a crème brulee – also like brown custard. Very nice.

·         Curd and treacle – like yoghurt. Kim said it’s good for you. The yoghurt was quite sour and the treacle was very sweet. Very enjoyable contrast. Lovely.

Hoang Hoa 13th September 2012

Present; Jim, Karen, Kim, Megan, Ron, John

Wine: Redgate Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2012 Margaret River
Stanton & Killeen Moodemere Red Durif 1992
Taylors Merlot 2008

Food;
Spicy Duck with pancakes
Mermaid Tresses

Silver fish
Home style pork ribs
Ma Po bean curd
three treasures chicken
Five spice crispy lamb

The mermaids tresses were very fine, cooked in sugar, crispy, cold with what we think was blachan.  The duck pancakes crispy, spicy, delicious with a hoisin sauce that had a hint of cinamon.  Ron was up to his elbows in duck grease, face full of duck and said in characteristic style that he didn't like it.  the rest of us just said that we loved it.

The silver fish (I think they mean whitebait) was not universally liked, Ron said he was not fussed, it was like cardboard.  Karen and I liked it, there were big chunks of garlic and chilli, the batter was crispy and altogether, it worked.

The pork was boneless, just fell apart, mouthwatering, magnificent..

Mapo bean curd, silken tofu with the addition (not usual) of corn kerals.  The chilli was hot, the flavour nice.
3 treasures chicken, with mushrooms, eggplant and tofu and ginger, brilliant!

Conversation:

• medical centres on Canberra (?!!!)
• Johns latest trip to Canada
• how to manage underperforming staff
• phones (i-phones)
• travelling and Disneyland (who wants to go?)
• kids swimming lessons

The bill for the 6 of us was $243.  It was not as good as it has been, the service was a bit slow  Everyone enjoyed it all, though some complained that the ma po bean curd was a bit hot, but that's just how the rest of us like it

Barbeque Nation, Erindale Shops Wednesday 29 August

Present: Jim, Karen, Kim, Ron, Megan
Main discussion points: Cooking night by Jim and Karen's son Daniel: computers (as always); Megan's son Julian's French club fondue night: ASIO: idiocy of some federal government bureaucracies, the likelihood that Ron was a dachshund in a previous life.

Wine: forgotten what, but nothing from the 1990's (unusual).

Food:
Entrees:  The girls had the vegetarian selection, the boys had the meat.  The vegetarian selection was voted by far the best.  We had spinach and potato fritters, which were a bit crumbly but nice; onion bhaja, nice but the samosas had too much of a strong flavour of one spice, not sure which.  It needed a bit of yoghurt to finish it off.
The boys dish of fish, chicken and meat was nice, plain, the meat was a bit spicy.  But they liked them all.

Mains:
Because we had had decent entrees, we had only four mains between the five of us, pumpkin, eggplant, chicken and lamb.
The ginger lemon chicken was interesting, the tandoor flavour came through.  The lamb was a bit of a staple, okay but ordinary.  The eggplant masala was everyone's favourite, rich sauce with a full eggplant flavour.  The pumpkin curry was a surprise, we think it had been roasted first which gave it an almost sweet flavour.
Two of us had dessert, gulab jamon and the one I had was coconut balls in a milky sauce, doesn't sound great but was delicious.
Overall, we enjoyed the meal, the menu was extensive, but not much sign of the promised barbeque. Not sure where it got it's name from, though there are several by that name in India.