Kinn Thai

It’s always lovely to catch up with friends who have been overseas – deprived of good South-East Asian food in Europe, they asked to have Thai for lunch so we agreed to meet at Kinn Thai. I was very excited to see a red duck curry on the menu (it’s one of my favourites) so we ordered that along with the crispy pork belly and chicken pad thai to share. The pork belly came out first and I think it was my pick of the three – I loved the crispy skin and tomato on the top. All the flavours, including the added dressing, just worked, and I probably ate more than my share of the plate! Next was the red curry – this was the favourite for most of the table. There was a perfect balance of spiciness and flavour, with tender duck, pieces of lychee and good helpings of tomato and chilli. I would recommend this as hearty comfort food without hesitation. Finally we shared the large plate of pad thai, which had plenty of chicken and bean sprouts, and was perfect with a drizzle of lemon on top. Thai cravings very well satisfied!

Kinn Thai, 125 Bunda Street, Canberra ACT                                                    http://kinnrestaurant.com.au/

Hopetoun Tea Rooms

Stopping in at the Hopetoun Tea Rooms is becoming a Melbourne tradition for me. I am completely in love with their window display and their William Morris wallpaper, and I could happily spend days working my way through the tea menu. On this occassion, I met a friend and we managed to get a table without having to queue. The line grew quickly after we were seated, though, so you have to either time your visit well or be prepared to wait. I started with a pot of Buddha’s Finger tea – oolong with peach characteristics. The tea was strongly flavoured, and, as with all of their teas, best consumed fairly quickly, as it started to go bitter as it cooled. I couldn’t resist a big slice of cake, so picked the raspberry sponge as my snack – the piece was quite large and full of cream. The raspberries on top and throughout were plump and fresh, and added a nice tartness to the overall sweetness of the slice. The sponge was lovely and moist, and the raspberry coulis served on the side was divine. Everything here – from the cake to the decor – is lovely.

Hopetoun Tea Rooms, Block Arcade, 282 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC    http://www.hopetountearooms.com.au

Capital Golf Bar & Bistro

When your best friends offer you a free dinner, it’s pretty hard to resist. We went to the Capital Golf Bar & Bistro with a Groupon voucher for up to $100 worth of food. Hello steak! The menu had the usual pub fare of pasta, pizza, grilled meat and some kids meals, but I honed right in on that steak – 300g scotch fillet, to be precise. We actually ordered a plate of garlic bread to start, which came out lightly toasted and very buttery and garlicky (yum!). When our food came out, I was disappointed that my steak was not medium-rare as requested, but rare – just a bit too much for me. The waiter was very apologetic and a new steak was brought out fairly quickly. This was probably closer to medium, but definitely better than the other way. It came with garlic mash (small portion but tasty) and mushroom sauce (creamy with sliced mushroom inside), and the steak itself was fairly tender (not melt-in-your-mouth but not tough either) and very tasty. The meal was about what I would expect from an old-school pub (rather than a gastro-pub), with great service.

Capital Golf Bar & Bistro, 46 Jerrabomberra Avenue, Narrabundah ACT             http://www.capitalgolfbistro.com.au/