Bambusa Manuka 14 June 2023

This was Karen's choice for her birthday and fortunately we had a table down the back so the noise was not so great. All the food was yummy, not sure which one was the favourite but it's on out list to go back some time

Saigon Restaurant Pearce 17 May 2023

Woohoo, all of us made it, Megan, Jim, John, Kim, Karen, Ron

The Saigon seems to be Ron's go to restaurant if he can't think of another.  It's reliable, easy parking, easy food. 

The spring rolls were nice and fresh, the prawns nice and crunchy.  Some of the fussier ones amongst us quibbled about the shape, should they be long shape or crescent shaped, was it a fritter, was it batter?  Who knows, who cares.

The rest of the dishes disappeared in their normal manner, ie most of us taking as much as we needed then Ron hoovering the rest. The fave was the lamb curry, creamy delicious coconutty flavour with potato.  The others really nice but we came away thinking they were all a bit the same, we couldn't really tell the difference between them.  

Whatever, still a lovely suburban restaurant to have a satisfying meal in.

Dumpling Inn Jamison 3 May 2023

Only three of us, Kim, Ron and Meg.  So we ordered what we wanted, meat, protein and bugger the veges.

 

Yummy meal, great chats and great to go back to Jammo Dumps.

 

We had red bean cake for dessert, but we had gobbled it up before anyone remembered to take a photo. Whoops.

Rubicon Griffith 19 April 2023

All of us were there.  No special occasion, it was just because.  Ron, John, Jim, Karen, Megan, Kim,

 

Food was great as always, degustation was ordered without wine but we had a BIG complaint, handled by Ron.  When we were there the last time we had the table by the door and it was freezing cold, sooo , Ron specifically asked for a table down the back this time.  When he verified the booking he wanted a table down the back, and checked again. All good

Until when he arrived we had a table up the front next to the door.  The only excuse was that there were a number of groups "down the back".  Well we were a group, weren't we and when we saw some of those groups leaving, they were no more than 6 people.

No more to be said, sorry Rubicon we won't be back.

China Tea House Erindale 5 April 2023

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

A regular favourite, a bit noisy but we're the stayers and as the restaurant empties the noise level drops.

The duck pancakes were disappointing as the pancakes not crisp enough (first world problem) and fell apart when we tried to lift them up.  Apart from that, the duck was in pieces, no sign of cucumber or spring onion but we ate them all despite these minor disappointments.

The seafood dumplings on the other hand were delicious, crispy with a big lump of seafood inside, totally yum.

The eggplant and seafood in chilly bean sauce was nice, especially with the prawns and calamari.

Stir fry spicy pork belly also nice, the pork slices not too fatty.  Not overly spicy, could have done with some more flavour.

The soft shell crab was crunch, salty and up to its usual standard.

The pepper sauce beef steak was very tender with a black bean flavour.  Approval given and lastly the deep fried lamb was given the thumbs up.  The sauce had a vinegary mint flavour but overall the lamb wasn't as crisp as in the pictures.

China Tea House is a great go to local restaurant, always guaranteeing a decent feed.

Saigon Restaurant Pearce 22 March 2023

Present: Karen, Jim, Megan, Ron

Springs rolls, nice and crunchy, pretty good

Honey prawns were yum.  Crunchy, not what Karen was expecting, very fresh.

Curry beef and coconut cream was lovely.  The meat was very tender and the sauce had lots of coconut.

The leomongrass chicken was Karen's favourite.

Caramilised pork was nice, maybe a tad too sweet but very tender.

 

We enjoy going to the Saigon Restaurant.  It's very low key but serves decent and reliable Vietnamese food.

Otis Dining Hall Kingston 9 March 2023

Present: Jim, Karen, Megan, Ron, Kim

It was Kim's birthday dinner, a bit late, but better late than never, so it was time for a special meal at Otis.

Lovely ambience, with the wood lined dining room, well spaced tables, not too noisy, an air of elegance we don't often strike in Canberra. 

We decided (or rather Ron decided) to have the degustation.  Not cheap at $135 but it seems like everything is expensive these days.

The amuse buche or whatever you are supposed to call it these days was delightful: blini's with caviar, foccacia with a cream dip:  The chevron was a cute little bite of goats' meat minced up, fried, nice and crunchy.

The abalone with noodles was very Japanese tasting, spicy and delish;  the scallop which followed was equally delish especially with the honey lime glaze. 

The fish with the mussel was nice but I kind of felt it was something I could have cooked at home.

The waygu beef was pretty spectacular, sous-vide then grilled with eggplant, apple, kale etc.  Very melt in your mouth flavour.

The dessert was a panna cotta ginger flavour with peach to counter the sharpness.

Altogether a pretty special meal.  Ron said it was even better that his degustation in Svalbad. Not sure if I'd go all the way to Svalbad then but whatever.