Charlie Black – Manuka

My workmates and I went out for dinner a few weeks ago.  The idea was that we would have a great bonding experience.   We decided to go to Charlie Black in Manuka because it was central and the menu seemed to cater to most palates and budgets.  I had been to Pangaea for hot chocolate when Charlie Black was Pangaea many a time with girlfriends during wedding season to check out all of the wedding ceremonies out the front of   St Christopher’s Cathedral.

We went there for the first and I was surprised at how much like a pub it felt.  I should really start taking photos of the places and food in future!  So that you don’t get a whole bunch of food shots 🙂

Here are a few shots of what we ate.  There was a 2 for 1 pizza deal on the night we were there so a couple of us got pizza.

2 for 1 Pizzas at Charlie Black

I had the Caesar Salad which was good.  Not the best I’ve had but it was good for what it was.  One of my colleagues got the Chorizo Pasta and I had food envy!

Penne Chorizo w chorizo, olives, chilli, napolitana sauce

I think overall Charlie Black is nice but I’m not sure I’d take my work team out there again.

 

Urban Pantry – Manuka

Corinne and I met in Manuka for a quick and early lunch on a Monday and found that all of our usual haunts are closed on Mondays.  So we decided to try out the very trendy looking Urban pantry.  I had been there before for their burgers but never been there for anything else.

We had a look at the menu and there were so many good things that it took us ages to choose.  Corinne chose the Mushroom Bruschetta and I chose the Nicoise salad.  Both of which were excellent choices.

 

Thyme scented mushrooms bruschetta topped
w/ persian feta

This was so good!  The creamy sour/salty feta, was a great combination with the different types of mushrooms on the plate.

nicoise style salad w/ seared salmon & olive tapenade

this was great too.  It felt a little oily but the flavours really complimented each other.

The service at Urban Pantry was great.  The waitress was very attentive and knew what was on the menu well.

 

Urban Pantry on Urbanspoon

Caffe Ravello – Dickson Shops

Josh and I met over the long weekend for an overdue catch up.  I live in Ainslie so we thought it would be nice to meet somewhere close by and not take the risk of going somewhere that is likely to be closed during the Easter long weekend.

Josh had been to Caffe Ravello before but I hadn’t and he had said reasonable things about it so we decided to sit out in the sun on a very windy Autumn day.

When we went inside to order we were told that there would be a 20 minute wait on the food.  Neither Josh or I were starving so we were happy to wait.  We also really appreciated that the waiter told us in advance that the food was going to take a while.

Salmon, brie and shallot scrambled eggs with turkish toast

I ordered the above and I thought that it was pretty good the eggs could have been seasoned more but there was plenty of smoked salmon through the dish.  I thought that maybe the brie and other components didn’t go that well together but it was really tasty nonetheless.  The coffee was really good too.

Spinach, Mushrooms, Chorizo, Parmesan and poached eggs on Sour dough toast. and a side of champagne and mustard hollandaise

Josh ordered the mushrooms and chorizo breakfast.  He really enjoyed his dish.  I tried some of his hollandaise and it was really good.  Not like the stuff that comes already pre-made.

Caffe Ravello – 20 Challis St  – Dickson

Bean & Grain – Fyshwick Markets

Bean & Grain is new cafe that has opened up in the new revamped part of the Fyshwick markets.  It adds to the growing cafe culture that the markets are trying to build.

My friend Corinne and I had passed by this place one day when we had gone to the Fyshwick markets for lunch.  We popped out heads in because the decor was really warm and cosy and when we had a look at the menu we vowed to come back.  The menu was full of amazing things like a Salmon Gillette with creme fraiche and caviar. Every breakfast comes with a free breakfast smoothie shot.   Click here for their full breakfast menu.  Their staff are friendly and super enthusiastic about the food and the service.  Everything is made onsite using organic ingredients.  I can’t wait to come back here for lunch one day.

Corinne and I got up super early one morning and sat down for an amazing breakfast.  I had the Salmon Benedict and Corinne had the Gillette.  We were both very impressed with the quality of the food and the service.  The food was well priced and perfectly cooked.  The chef was really friendly and came out to say ‘hi’ to us.

Salmon Benedict poached free-range organic eggs, house made English muffin,cured salmon, shallot chilli sambal, fresh made lemongrass hollandaise - $15

The lemongrass hollandaise was a really interesting flavour with the salmon I wasn’t quite sure I liked it or not the start, but then in the end it started to grow on me.

Gillette - Potato & smoked fish gillette, poached free range organic egg,
tomato concasse, herb crème fraiche & caviar - $16

I will definitely come back to try some of the things on the bagel menu.

Bean & Grain – Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets – 12 Dalby St – Fyshwick –  02 6295 9220

Sculpture Garden Restaurant – National Gallery of Australia

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of taking one of my client out for lunch. It just happened to be her sixtieth birthday. We stopped at the National Gallery to have a look around and I realised that the newly refurbished Sculpture Garden Restaurant was there. So we stopped there for lunch. We sat right by the water and ordered from the Fixed price lunch menu, we decided on 2 courses, entree and main because we were  pressed for time.

Caprese salad: heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, baby basil and extra virgin oil

This dish was beautiful with the heirloom tomatoes sweet and sour and the mozzarella was creamy and all the flavours were balanced out beautifully.  I only wish I had taken some photos of the sculpture garden just so that I could show you how peaceful and unique this restaurant is.

Cured trout with compressed apple, parsley and lemon balm

My client ordered this and she seemed very pleased with it.

The food and the service at the Sculpture Garden Restaurant was fantastic and I would love to go there again when I have more time to sit and savour every morsel.