Portias Kingston 13 April 2022

 

 

 

 

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

 

Had the usual duck pancakes for entree.  Great start to the meal, not our favourite in Canberra but still lovely.

 

For main, we had a lamb shiraz hot pot,  which was very tender, tasted like it had black bean in it.

Pork ribs in aromatic tangy dark sauce was very tasty and one of the favourites. 

Scallops with ginger and shallots was delicate.

Eggplant fritters with five spice salt was yum and another favourite

Penang beef was very spicy and too hot for some of us.

 

SaPa Restaurant Swinger Hill 6 April 2022

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

We went there on Ron's insistence because he wanted pork knuckle, which was unfortunately off the menu for the night.  He didn't quite realise this but accepted it with good grace non the less.

 

For entree we had lollypop chicken which was kind of nice, upmarket KFC, very fresh and crunchy but well received.

 

For mains:

BBQ crispy pork belly: not great, a bit tough

Salmon apple: nice and crispy skin, nice fresh salad

Beef basil: seemed everyone's favourite, tasty and tender  

Red duck curry; fairly standard, nice but ordinary

Vietnamese pancake: done with prawns and pork: an interesting mix of flavours.

 

For dessert some of us decided to try the fried milk which was more fried breadcrumbs than milk.  And John and Kim had the bowl of fruit and ice etc (forgotten the name of it) with sweetened condensed milk at the bottom which the rest of us snacked on for the rest of the night.

 

Probably not the standout dinner we were hoping for but we could go back.

Gary's Kitchen Erindale 22 March 2022

Jim, John, Karen, Megan and Ron.

Crispy Duck Pancakes.

Dry beans with chicken mince.

Salt and pepper soft shell crab.

Gulai Ayam.

Char keoway teow.

Beef brisket hot pot slow cook.

Rice.

Deep fried ice cream.

Banana fritter and ice cream.

Everyone thought all the dishes were really good. We all thoroughly enjoyed our meal.  We decided that it was a pity Kim wasn't there and that we would have to go back when she could join us.

Bambusa Restaurant Manuka - 22 December 2021

Diners:

Jim, John, Karen, Kim, Megan, Ron.

Entrees:

Shredded duck pancakes. Small, simple, yum.

Mains:

Peking style char kway teow. Exactly as we expected. Very nice.

Cumin lamb. Very strong cumin flavour. Nice and tender.

Shantung chicken. Lovely tender chicken. Beautiful sauce.

Honey and black pepper pork loin. Lovely coating on beautiful tender pork pieces. Honey on top. The crowd favourite.

Beans with dried shrimp and soy sauce. Fried to perfection. Loaded with garlic. Karen's favourite.

Yu Shang egg plant. A bit stodgy. The least liked dish, but still had really good flavours.

Desserts:

All full up - no room.

Comments:

We had a great evening with really good food.

Sapa Restaurant Mawson 8 December 2021

Sapa Asian Fusion Restaurant

Diners: Andrew, Jim, Kim, Ron.

We thought we were going to Green Bamboo, one of our favourites. To our surprise, it has been transformed into Sapa, an Asian fusion restaurant. We pressed on regardless and enjoyed the new, slightly eclectic menu.

Entrees: 

Rice paper rolls (with avocado and smoked salmon) – nice but not traditional

Mains:

Pork knuckle, offered as a replacement for the pork belly we ordered, that had run out. Was easily shared, was very good and accompanied by really good coleslaw, apple chunks and mashed potato.

Honey King Prawns. Good prawns in a nest of crispy noodles – our favourite

Shantung chicken - not bad. Chicken was beautifully tender, sauce was good, but much too salty.

Beef basil - really good. Great flavour of basil through the sauce. Beef nice and tender.

Accompaniments:

 Plain rice

Desserts:

Sapa sago. Really good. Lovely sweet sago with pineapple with the coconut milk on top. Really nice summer dessert.

Halo Halo. A traditional Filipino dessert. Not that close to the anticipated dish, but really good all the same. A really large serve, with a great selection of fruit and beans with strawberry ice cream over a block of ice.

Comments:

Great to see Andrew at our fortnightly dinners again!

·       The restaurant was very popular.  We noticed some other diners trying some interesting dishes and next time we go there we might try them (Bun Dau Mam Tom and Cha Ca La).

A fun evening with good food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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