Regal, Belconnen, 23 August

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kim, Jim, John, Ron, Megan (Andrew holidaying in Ballarat, Karen basketballing)

 

This is tucked away in an obscure (for us Southsiders) part of Belconnen behind the Mall in one of those semi industrial/commercial areas.  The positives in that are that there was lots of parking nearby and that the restaurant wasn't packed.  But almost all of the people in there seemed to be of Asian background, which is a good sign for a Chinese restaurant.

 We scoured the specials menu, which is what we always do in an Asian restaurant, and came up with :

•  Soft shell crab salt and pepper
• Golden silken tofu
• flaming pork chop
• Roast duck Beijing style
• ie pancakes then stir fried with vegetables

The duck pancakes were brilliant, some of the best, not greasy, tender, well presented, absolutely delish,  as was the accompanying duck with veges, which had a great sauce.

We ordered the tofu despite Ron's objections, but he changed his mind once it came.  It had been fried in a casing, and served with an egg white and seafood sauce, which had a fabulous texture.

The crab was a bit chilli for some, otherwise not too oily and declared to be "very nice"

The pork was presented well, but was really pork pieces done in a sweet sauce with a slight smokey flavour.  Very nice as well.

 

We will go back especially to have the banquet menu which is stuck up on the wall and written only in Chinese but which is for a minum of 6 people (we were only 5).

Lantern Room Wednesday August 9 2017

This was one of our posh birthday dinners, we were ALL there.  Because it was special, no one wrote it up, but suffice to say, we had the expensive degustation, and some very special wine, and the Lantern Room did not fail to disappoint.
One thing to add, we had a table towards the back of the restaurant next the bar, and the noise level was minimal, the whole evening was a great success.

Thai Urban July 26 2017

Jim, Karen, Megan, Ron, John

We had:

Peking Duck pancakes

Red Curry duck

Jim's sweet pork belly
Garlic Pepper beef
Chilli and basil prawns

The pancakes were a bit messy.  They came as one big pancake with lots of hoisin on top and inside.  Each had a few bits of duck and lots of veges, carrots, lettuce, cucumber.  They were kind of nice for a change but not spectacular, wouldn't go back for more.  Very messy to eat and we ended up using our knives and forks.

The Duck curry was standard and pretty yum, enjoyed by all. 

The pork was everyone's favourite, it was melt in the mouth, star anise, soy, sweet flavour.  There was much discussion about what the ingredients could be and who had the best recipe at home for something similar.

The prawns were very nice, light with good veges, not too spicy, tasty.

 The beef was another favourite.  It was lovely and tender, we could taste the garlic and the black pepper addition really lifted the dish.

 The dessert was the roti banana and green tea icecream, both lovely.

 The restaurant wasn't very full at all so conversation was easy to hear.  The downside was that the heating wasn't working all that well and so each table had it's own heater.  Oh well, can't have everything.

 Overall it was very reasonably priced at $30 each, great value.

Green Bamboo July 12th 2017

The night before a State of Origin match must be a popular night for restaurants as we arrived to find the normally quiet Green Bamboo restaurant bustling with patrons. While we waited to order, Ron regaled us with tales of his recent culinary adventure in New Zealand.  If the choice of a suburban Vietnamese restaurant was a letdown after such a trip, Ron didn’t let on.  He was as keen as always to have a restaurant night with the group!

There were only 4 of us this time for dinner – Ron, Megan, Jim and Karen.  For entrée, we ordered rice paper rolls. The rolls were fresh and well-packed and the filling was reasonably nice especially the pickled carrots and capsicum.  However Megan was disappointed with her first bite which was all chicken meat.  The peanut sauce served with the dish was also a little bland. The overwhelming flavour was peanut butter and it needed something more to add interest and depth.

After entrée, we ordered 4 mains – Vietnamese mint beef, caramelised pork, battered fish salt and crispy skin chicken with red fried rice.   The unanimous favourite was the battered fish which was beautifully light and crisp. For some reason, the kitchen provided us with the “no chilli version”.  This was a shame as it needed this extra flavour to cut through the fat and balance the salt.   Our second choice was Vietnamese mint beef.   Karen thought the meat was a bit chewy but it did have some nice flavours which were well-matched with the beef. 

In contrast, the caramelised pork was a standard (rather than stand out) dish. We got what we expected but it was pretty boring.  Similarly, the crispy skin chicken wasn’t very exciting.  The chicken was done well – tender chicken with a nice crispy skin.  We were particularly interested in trying the fried red rice accompanying the chicken. However this had a strong smoked paprika flavour which was an odd match with the Vietnamese style chicken.  The dish was also served with an Asian coleslaw which gave the impression of Southern USA food rather than Vietnamese fare.

For dessert, we tried the banana fritters and fried ice cream options – standard desserts done reasonably well.

Overall the meal was well-priced but pretty standard. Perhaps after Ron’s tales, we were expecting  a more adventurous night…oh well, there’s always next time!     

XO Photos

Karen's birthday treat, there was 5 of us, John, Jim, Karen, Ron, Megan

XO is a lively little restaurant in Narrabundah shops, long and thin, fairly noisy but not too much so, because it is long and thin I think.   So us older people were able to hear ourselves talk even though there were quite a few of the younger and hipper generations there.   All of the plates are designed to be sharing plates and are basically variations on Asian themes, with additions of Australian fusion as is the want with modern hip restaurants these days.

We started with a winnder, the Pork Baus, cute little buns with pieces of seared pork belly with cucumber and other flavours, absolutely yum, crispy, spicy, tangy and a fabulous start to the meal.

Which meant the second started had to be pretty good, and it wasn't quite up to scratch, breaded chicken wings with mayo.  They were okay, flavoursome, crunchy but not outstanding.

 

Next, the strange flavoured eggplant on prawn crackers.  Those amongst us with more delicate palates decided it was a bit too chilli, but the rest of us didn't mind.  There was a strong smokey flavour, with the addition of sesame oil, chilli oil which was complemented perfectly by the prawn crackers.

The sexy squid, fried with sweet chilli sauce was well received over all, but I thought the sweet chille sauce was a bit odd.  The squid was cooked to perfection though, brilliant.

 

Mapo tofu with scallops was a bit disappointing.  We felt it depended too much on bought chilli bean sauce plus a bit of szechuan pepper for the flavour without much input from the chef.  Quite nice though.

Duck risotto with a hint of 5 spice was really very nice but some thought it was too salty (are we getting too picky?)

 

The lamb ribs in sticky plum sauce combination went well, but maybe too much fat.  It could have done with much slower cooking to render down the fat and then the lamb would be more falling off the bone.  We felt we were wrestling it a bit.  (Yes, we are getting picky).

We had a plate of char grilled lettuce, mmmmm, not really worth the bother.

The dessert (which we shared) of chilli white chocolate mousse etc, was divine.

 

It was an interesting, different meal, some new taste combinations there which is what we look for.  The service was good, special wine recognised and decanted appropriately.  Recommended.



XO Restaurant Narrabundah 21 June 2017

Karen's birthday treat, there was 5 of us, John, Jim, Karen, Ron, Megan

Wine was very special, Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 407 1991, plus a sauvignon from Brown Brothers to start (not so special).

XO is a lively little restaurant in Narrabundah shops, long and thin, fairly noisy but not too much so, because it is long and thin I think.   So us older people were able to hear ourselves talk even though there were quite a few of the younger and hipper generations there.   All of the plates are designed to be sharing plates and are basically variations on Asian themes, with additions of Australian fusion as is the want with modern hip restaurants these days.

We started with a winner, the Pork Baos, cute little buns with pieces of seared pork belly with cucumber and other flavours, absolutely yum, crispy, spicy, tangy and a fabulous start to the meal.

Which meant the second starter had to be pretty good, and it wasn't quite up to scratch, breaded chicken wings with mayo.  They were okay, flavoursome, crunchy but not outstanding.

Next, the strange flavoured eggplant on prawn crackers.  Those amongst us with more delicate palates decided it was a bit too chilli, but the rest of us didn't mind.  There was a strong smokey flavour, with the addition of sesame oil, chilli oil which was complemented perfectly by the prawn crackers.

The sexy squid, fried with sweet chilli sauce was well received over all, but I thought the sweet chilli sauce was a bit odd.  The squid was cooked to perfection though, brilliant.

Mapo tofu with scallops was a bit disappointing.  We felt it depended too much on bought chilli bean sauce plus a bit of szechuan pepper for the flavour without much input from the chef.  Quite nice though.

Duck risotto with a hint of 5 spice was really very nice but some thought it was too salty (are we getting too picky?)

The lamb ribs in sticky plum sauce combination went well, but maybe too much fat.  It could have done with much slower cooking to render down the fat and then the lamb would be more falling off the bone.  We felt we were wrestling it a bit.  (Yes, we are getting picky).

We had a plate of char grilled lettuce, mmmmm, not really worth the bother.

The dessert (which we shared) of chilli white chocolate mousse etc, was divine.

It was an interesting, different meal, some new taste combinations there which is what we look for.  Despite the negative comments, we really did enjoy the meal and will certainly be back.  The service was good, special wine recognised and decanted appropriately.  Recommended

Saigon Restaurant Pearce 10-5-17

 

 

 

Diners:

John, Jim, Ron and Kim

Entree:

Vietnamese Spring Rolls – Good. Piping hot fried spring roll.

Mains:

Sizzling Pork – Good. 

Stir Fried Chicken with Vietnamese Mint and Peanuts – Delicious.  This dish also had crisp iceberg lettuce in the mix which was nice for texture and also made the dish lighter than the others.  Delicious. 

Fish Fillets with lemon grass and chilli – Delicious.  We asked for this dish to be served without any chilli.

Stir fried rice noodles with bean curd and vegetables – Generous serve. We requested this dish because it was vegetarian.  Good dish.

Dessert:

Banana fritter with ice cream – nice light batter

Caramel flan with ice cream – crème caramel actually. Delicious. 

Accompaniments:

Steamed rice

Additional comments:

Reasonably priced.