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!     

Thai Urban Kambah 24 April 2019

Present: Kim, Ron, John, Megan: Karen and Jim were still swanning about in Italy so Ron was showing facebook photos of their gourmet journeys.  Andrew still on sabbatical.

We had:

Vege spring rolls: delicious, not too oily
Betel leaves with coconut and fish on top, absolutely yum.
Deep fried tofu.  Okay, not silken but hard tofu so not remarkable.
Money bags, the winner out of all of them (only just before the betel leaves)

Red Duck curry, an essential when we go to Thai: lovely with the lycees
Sweet pork belly: very tender, the dish most liked
Chilli and basil prawns; okay, nice touch with the basil but not raved about.

Dessert was banana pancake and black rice with custard.  Both really nice.  The rest of the dessert menu looked special as well.

Overall, it was a fabulous meal, all the dishes were good.  Not many people were there so the noise level was not an issue at all.  The service was a bit haphazard, there were lots of wait staff there but they were very casual about it, and it seemed okay for us to call out for attention or go up to them.  It was all very relaxed.

Banana Leaf Restaurant in Kingston 10 April 2019

Present: Megan, Ron, John, Kim

We didn't have Karen or Jim, they are slumming it in Italy, so we had to make the menu decisions by ourselves.  And Andrew is still on his extended retreat in Ballarat.

We had chicken pan rolls with tomato sauce for entree.  We queried the tomato sauce but apparently that's what all Sri Lankans have with this dish.  Kim thought they basically looked like a chicko roll but tasted way nicer.  They came in the form of a pancake wrapped around spicy chicken then pan fried.  It was very doughey but Ron didn't agree.  Some of us thought it was yummy, others thought it was only okay, Kim prefers spring rolls.

The lamb shanks were very spicy, very tender, we all liked it but someone said that the clove flavour was a bit much.

The hoppers were really nice.  They came on a large plate with a few accompaniments.  The presentation was great, the fish was lovely, the hoppers themselves were overrated but altogether it worked well.  It would be better as a dish for one person but still okay to share.

The lamphreys came wrapped in banana leaf was nice though reminded us of a biryani, surprise, surprise.  Ron thought it was too hot because he ate one of the whole chillis that came in one of the little dishes that accompanied it,(silly boy) but that was just his bad luck.  The rest of us didn't and really enjoyed the dish.

The others had some kind of cake for dessert which they said was nice.

We recommend this restaurant, lovely and quiet, service good and owners happy to chat.

SOI VIII restaurant in Griffith 27 March 2019

Wednesday 27 March 2019

Diners: Ron, John, Jim, Karen, Kim

Entrées

Chicken mince, crab and water chestnut patties – delicious. These came out nice and hot.

Battered vegetables – the batter was crispy and had some shredded coconut. Also delicious and a bit different from Japanese tempura.

Mains

Panang duck in a spicy red duck curry sauce with grapes – was a little too spicy for us but had nice flavours.  We liked the grapes!

Pad Thai with prawns and chicken – nice sauce, generous size.  This dish was also a bit different from the usual drier style of fried pad thai noodles.

Wok tossed squid and prawns with garlic and herbs – this was our favourite dish.  The sauce was delicious and had a nice charred flavour

Massaman beef curry – delicious curry, very tender beef.

Coconut rice and plain rice

Dessert

Fried ice cream – good

Comments – reasonably priced.  The restaurant is spacious and on the night we were there it was not too crowded so it was easy to have a conversation.