By night it is Sub-Urban nightclub/bar, by day it is Belluci’s Italian Restaurant. Really making use of their rent here, I was surprised what a family restaurant it was during the day.
Belluci’s Special (Pizza, pictured below): smoked chicken, bacon, avocado, spanish onion and tangy cesare dressing. A great all-round chicken pizza, would definitely come back for this – flavours all fuse together in a harmonious manner, absolutely heavenly.
Fettucine con Pollo (pictured below): chicken, bacon, onion, capsicum and mushroom in a white wine cream sauce
Definitely up there in my top 3 Canberra restaurants – this is justified by the array of restaurant awards they have won, and by getting big ticks for flavour, ambience, service & presentation.
Lomprisht (pictured above) - “Basmati rice with a fragrant combination of chicken, fish fricadel and vegetable curries wrapped in banana leaves and baked to enhance the rich flavours of this traditional Dutch inspired meal. Served with condiments, sambol and mild curry sauce.”
Sri Lankan Style Rice and curry – “Traditional rice and curry from Sri Lanka is like being served a ‘buffet’ on a plate. Steamed rice with an assortment of black and white curries, sambol, chutney and pappadam where colour, fragrance and taste come together in perfect harmony.”
I really can’t put it better than the menu has, but it is exactly all those things and lives up to expectations. Sri Lankan is a touch lighter than traditional Indian meals, utilising more dry spices rather than relying on oils & fats to give the meal flavour.
Address: Shop 1, The Boardwalk 1/114 Emu Bank St Belconnen ACT 2617
Tel: (02) 6162 1688
Opening Hours:
Lunch – Tue to Sat, 12pm to 2:30pm
Dinner – Tue to Sun, 6pm to 10pm
Closed Mondays
Quite rare to see an Indonesian restaurant floating around in Canberra but sure enough found one locally. This was one of the nicer restaurants in the commercial strip, nicely shopfitted but a little quiet.
Entrée:
Sanur’s Deluxe Platter for two – ‘a platter of mixed spring rolls, chicken/beef satay, sweet corn patties and battered prawns
Main:
Opor Ayam (pictured below, with rice) – ‘chicken tenderloin cooked in spiced coconut curry’.
Empal Goreng (pictured below) – ‘marinated beef tenderloin in sweet spices then lightly fried served with chilli relish’. The beef here was a little dry/tough, but the flavour was nice.
Something different and not as authentic as some of the other Indonesian cuisine I have had. Must cater to a western market because the meat is overcooked in most cases.
Address: Cnr Woolly St & Badham St (above WESTPAC Bank), Dickson ACT 2602
Tel: (02) 6247 7199
Trading Hours:
Lunch (Tue-Sat) 11:30am-2:30pm
Dinner (7 nights) 5:30pm-10:30pm
Entrée:
Money bags – similar to a spring roll pastry (fried) filled with chicken, crab, corn & shredded coconut (pictured above).
Main:
BBQ chicken pieces with lime juice (pictured below) – served with sweet chilli sauce. Curry powder gives it a fragrant taste and interesting texture – truly blissful.
Saffron rice (coconut rice) – more savoury than sweet (Thai coconut rice is sweeter), buttery & fluffy texture, tinted with fragrant red saffron.
Drink: Tamarind juice – similar to a sour plum/kumquat category flavour (which I love), cool & refreshing combination of sour & bitter flavours.
I actually really really enjoyed this place – the offer the standard South East Asian fanfare but the localities will also have their own ‘take’ on things like satay etc. All the dishes have heart, and warm the soul.
Rubicon is one of the more highly esteemed fine dining restaurants in Canberra, and beautifully decorated with that 90s karaoke film-clip lighting to it (i.e. everyone looks warm & blurry). The back end of the restaurant is a restored shed with fairy lights adorning the ceiling – amazing to look at.
Above: Some random sausage-esque appetizer served prior to entree.
Entrée: Crisp pork belly on baby spinach, caper aiolo and calvados cider glaze (pictured below) – melts in your mouth. At first I was hesitant about trying the yoghurt sauce but the pea/lentil gives it extra texture & tang.
Zucchini flowers - stuffed with smoked trout and blistered corn, pinot reduction and parmesan
Main:
BBQ chermoula spiced lamb fillets, parmesean and rosemary polenta chips, baby broccolini and tangerine yogurt (pictured above) – good optimum between chewy & tender texture, had a szechaun spice with a tangy yoghurt sauce and polenta chips – fluffy, savoury taste.
Tucked away on the quieter side of Kingston is First Floor. A fairly limited menu, fine dining without the mandatory dress code.
Entrée:
Slow Braised Lamb shanks (pictured above) – very gamey taste, probably due to the soaking of the lamb (preparation). Served with a tomato pastey, vegetable & red wine sauce, on a bed of creamy mashed potato. Wouldn’t say it is the best I’ve ever had, primarily because of my dislike of the strong gamey flavour which I prefer masked in lamb.
Blue Swimmer Crab risotto – a flavoursome dish which is hard to extract from seafood, and no unflattering protuberant hard shell (pictured above).
Main:
Grilled 150 day grain-fed 250g Yearling steak – cooked well for a medium steak, thicker fillet than I expected, with a classic Béarnaise sauce served with handcut chips. The chips were more like a roast in texture, almost with a sweet cinnamon flavour (pictured below).
Dessert:
Butterscotch sticky date pudding – aromatic, not too sweet (pictured below)
Chocolate & Vanilla Semifreddo – reminds me of an icy version of icecream, but smoother, complimented with a bitter chocolate sauce.
If Italy had a best-kept secret in Brisbane, it would be the cakes & sweet treats served at Café Portofino.
Family owned café, with delicious cakes & sweets of all variety.
Would photograph but the last time went there it was takeaway and it ate it almost instantaneously – was a dark chocolate nougat slice – typical foodgasm.
I have a long-standing obsession with all things metal that move (mostly cars) so when I heard about this cute little café, I knew I had to go in for a visit.
The name Rolls Choice is a play on the words “Rolls Royce” (haha, yes it rhymes!) and each sandwich is named after a make of motorcar or bike.
I ordered the “Piper” without the onion marmalade: “Rolls choice famous oven roasted spiced chicken, sundried tomato tapenade, lemon pepper mayonnaise & swiss cheese”.
A gloriously warm, melty, toasty foccacia sprinkled with cheese powder and crisped edges of bread. Try to get the foccacia because it is almost the perfect sized serving – small by most standards but just enough food to keep the tum-tum happy but you craving it for next time.
Pastilla Nash Walnut & Prune Log @ some gourmet foods stores, or Peter's of Kensington
Heaven Beef @ Prasit's Thai
Mango & Cream with Macadamia nut Weis Bar Icecream @ your local servo
Blackforest shake @ Ca'dor Cafe
Secret Food Confessions
KFC Hot & Spicy Chicken (it needs to available 24/7, not just during winter!)
Post-mix Coca Cola from McDonalds' or any other fast food chain (otherwise needs to be served chilled in a glass bottle, or poured over ice in a glass)
Wendy's hot dogs with cheese, ketchup & mustard
Overrrated Foods
Ferroro Rocher Chocolates
Things that have disappeared off the face of the earth – and I’d give my left breast for to return:
Kiwi Freeze @ Water & Tea
The Dessert Factory (Japanese Bakery on the Gold Coast) with the best minature cakes!
