Tel: (02) 6249 6889
Website: www.lanternerooms.com.au
I am really having a hard time tossing up between this restaurant and Madam Woo as my favourite Asian fusion restaurant in Canberra and possibly Australia.
Madam Woo has a lot of dishes, but also which are very similar. Their servings seem to be bigger and dining experience a little more casual.
Lanterne Rooms is situated in a really small shopping town area in a totally underrated suburb. The service is attentive, professional, with passion and interior leaves no doubt as to the choice of restaurant name.
Entrée:
Duck rolls with marinated vegetables with kaffir lime chilli dressing – this was essentially a sweet duck-strip-meat spring roll (in a thicker batter) with an ornate salad and sweet chilli dressing. We had one each and it was gorgeous, and a tease for more.
Grilled lamb cutlets with capsicum mint pesto- this was arguably my favourite, just because I have never seen lamb cutlets executed in this way (excuse the pun). The cutlets had a strong charred flavour, complimented by the bitterness of what reminded me of an olive pesto – the two flow right into each other in unison.
Mains:
Shanghai rice noodles with dark soy, calamari, prawns, scallops & salted fish – the noodles are what the waiter referred to as a “Chinese gnocchi” with smoky yet sweet soy aftertaste and sticky/chewy, glutinous texture. The scallops cooked nicely, and seafood was also quite pleasant without giving the dish an overpowering sea taste.
Slow-cooked beef curry – the beef here was also similar to a brisket, separated easily and melted in your mouth. The curry sauce was not overly creamy, but rather more like a curry “dressing” with sediment satay/curry flavour to infuse in the beef. Quite a punchy spice it had too…
