16 October 2012

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. 

13 October 2012

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.

02 October 2012

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