European Rusk at Torrens 22 May 2019

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

A new restaurant to try in Torrens Shops, the same place as previously Pistacchio and then Barbeque Nation, now European Rusk with a rather eclectic menu.  Not sure what clientele it is trying to reach with a menu ranging from pizza, schnitzels, to a more slightly upmarket choice.  Whatever, it was for Ron's birthday and he got to choose so we went there.

There is a $60 chef's selection, 6 courses plus dessert, more with select wines.  PS there is no BYO.  So we decided to go with that.  Bad decision because while the food was great the quantity was way way too much.

We started with roast beetroot with goats cheese, almonds and hazelnuts.  Nice dish, well put together but very cold, not even room temperature.  This let it down.
Then chorizo with tomato, corn and capsicum salsa. The salsa had a tart, sharp flavour, every one liked this, the combination of the sausage and the salad went well.
The whitebait with garlic and pepper wasn't so well received  It was a bit ordinary, a bit flat,  the batter was not crispy, the dish a bit tasteless, needed salt?  Couldn't really taste the garlic or the pepper.
The calamari salad and chickpea puree was well received.  The pickled vegetables in the salad were  nice, but the iceberg lettuce a surprise.
The next up (we were quite full by then) was the beef cheeks with cauliflower puree,kale and parsnip chips.  This was brilliant, the cheeks were lovely and tender, the sauce very rich, puree was fabulous (but cold), kale and chips done so well, the whole dish was beautifully constructed.   The cauliflower was a light contrast to the rich meat and soaked up the sauce and the kale had been lightly blanched and maybe fried.
We were so full by then and just groaned when they presented us with a slow cooked shoulder of lamb, one per two people.  We shared one between 6 of us and elected to take the other two home.
Even Ron was defeated at this stage and this is saying something about the over quantity of food.
What lamb we did have was beautiful, it had been cooked to perfection without drying out.  The potatoes had been roasted and fried with herbs, garlic and the caramelised onions were superb.
For dessert we had pavlova which was not really pavlova because it did not have cream and some pannacotta which was very nice and rich.

Lovely meal but if we go again we will not order the chef's selection...too, too much.

Good value though.

There weren't many people at the restaurant so noise level was not a problem.  I hope they make a success of it

Saigon Restaurant at Pearce 8 May 2019

Present: Ron, Megan, John, Kim and Karen and Jim, just arrived back from Rome.  Andrew is still building a shed in Ballarat.

Fast and fresh, cheap and cheerful – what’s not to love about the Saigon Restaurant in Pearce?

We started our meal with 2 entrees – fresh rice paper rolls and deep fried Vietnamese spring rolls (both standard favourites for us). The former are some of the nicest in Canberra (we particularly like the hoisin-peanut sauce) and the latter were hot, fresh and tasty. 

For mains, we had grilled chicken with lemon grass and mixed spices, fish fillets deep fried with ginger sauce, pork with lemon grass and chilli, Calamari stir fried in green peppercorns and beef with Vietnamese mint and peanut sauce.  The last of the dishes was a clear favourite – the meat was very tender and the flavourings were a good match with the beef. The other dishes were all very tasty – standard dishes done well. We stepped a bit out of our normal range to try calamari with green peppercorn. The green peppercorns certainly gave the dish a nice bite.

For dessert, we had a (Vietnamese) banana cake and ice cream and banana fritters and ice cream. The cake was particularly nice – fresh banana pieces set in a warm cake, similar to a banana fritter but without the oily batter.

At the end of the meal, the restaurant provided fresh rockmelon which was a lovely way to end the meal.  The bill was also another highlight – despite the mountain of food, the meal only cost each of us $22.  We’ll clearly be back again for another Vietnamese fix!