Bourke Street Bakery

After eating lunch at Bourke Street Bakery, we decided to treat ourselves to a couple of takeaway sweets and some bread. I picked the fresh-baked seeded sourdough loaf and two tarts – a classic lemon and the more exotic ginger creme brulee. Both tarts had a lovely pastry shell, which wasn’t too crumbly but had just the right amount of crisp. The lemon tart was utterly luxurious – I’ve never had one with such a creamy, lush-textured filling. The lemon flavour was nice and strong, but not too sharp as the creamy filling’s richness softened it out. Be warned, it’s a messy one to eat – the filling oozed everywhere! The ginger creme brulee tart was my favourite though. I loved the caramelised, almost burnt flavour of the top-layer, and there was an added bit of crunch and salt from the pistachios crumbled on top. The filling had a bit of body to it and the ginger flavour was well-balanced with the overall sweetness of the tart. Oh, and the seeded sourdough was delicious! There’s nothing like fresh bread on the day it’s baked! Yum, yum, yum.

Bourke Street Bakery: Shop 7/19-25 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW http://bourkestreetbakery.com.au/project/neutral-bay/

Mr Shabu Shabu

My love of shabu shabu is no secret, but on this particular visit, a friend and I indulged in dessert there after our reliably delicious beef shabu shabu. There are three icecream flavours on the dessert menu – green tea, black sesame and red bean – all traditional Japanese dessert flavours. I picked the black sesame and my friend tried the red bean flavour. The scoops were $3.80 each and came out in a side dish-sized bowl, with one reasonably sized scoop inside. The black sesame scoop was a not-completely-appealing grey colour, but had a really fascinating savoury taste. The icecream was very creamy and at first that hid the sesame flavour, which made an appearance on the back palate at the end of the mouthful. The more I ate, the clearer the flavour became, and whilst it wasn’t as sweet as I expected, my friend preferred that to the sweeter red bean flavour. I tried a bite of the red bean, and actually thought it worked better, the sweet flavour pairing well with the creaminess. The verdict? Japanese icecream flavours are an adventure, definitely worth a try with varying sweet-savoury options!

Mr Shabu Shabu, 6/35 Childers St, Canberra ACT, no website

Oscars

We went to Oscars to celebrate my brother’s birthday, and absolutely everything about our experience was lovely. We started with a plate of the housemade port, thyme and Cointreau pate, which was served with cornichons, flatbread and a divine apple and pear chutney. Best. Pate. Ever. The flavour was utterly perfect and I would love to be able to buy this in bulk!!! For the main, I went for a pizza (I always think of Oscars as a pizza place) and had zero regrets. The Idaho comes with potato, rocket, sour cream, caramelised onion, bacon and sweet chilli sauce, which makes for one damn fine pizza. The base was lovely and the potato was cooked perfectly. There was plenty of sour cream and sweet chilli sauce, and every mouthful was delicious. If I could have eaten more, I would have. Somehow we were persuaded into dessert and three of us shared the Belgian chocolate mousse – it was far heavier than I would usually expect from a mousse, but despite that wasn’t sickly rich, although my stomach was really struggling for space. A special mention must go to the staff, who were so friendly and welcoming and set the right tone for a truly lovely celebration.

Oscars, 201 Main Road, McLaren Vale SA  http://oscars.com.au/

CocoNine

On a cold and foggy night my friend and I ventured down to the foreshore to pick a Thai place for dinner – Coconine seemed welcoming and cozy, so in we went. The staff were so friendly and happily let us peruse the very long menu. We decided on two dishes to share – the Roast Duck Curry and the Siam Gem on Fire, a stir fry with beef and a tom yum sauce. Our coconut rice arrived with the mains – fluffy and with a distinct coconut flavour, this is my go-to accompaniment whenever it’s on offer. I started with the beef stir fry – there was plenty of beef on the plate and it was sliced really thinly for maximum tenderness. The sauce was packed with flavour and I definitely got the ‘tom yum’ vibe, even though the dish didn’t have mushrooms. I loved the lemongrass flavour and crunched happily on the giant snow peas (yum!). The duck curry had a lot more of a kick to it – the pairing of duck, lychee and tomato with red curry really can’t go wrong, and this version had very tender duck and extra sweetness from pineapple pieces. We left with very happy tummies.

CocoNine, 132/2 Trevillian Quay, Kingston ACT                            http://coconinekingston.com.au/

Miss Van’s

Oh, hello amazing Vietnamese food within walking distance of work! Yay! I was very excited to have a team lunch at Westside Acton on one of Canberra’s typically cold but sunny winter days. Whilst I was tempted by the pho, I used my friend’s food philosophy and ordered what I felt like, not what I thought I should have, and that was banh mi. For $8 you get a pork banh mi packed full of fresh ingredients. I thought the roll looked a bit small, but it was very full and actually turned out to be the perfect size for lunch. The incredible crispiness of the bread really stood out compared to other banh mi I’ve had – this one was just super crispy and delicious. I also really loved the fresh veggies – carrot, cucumber and pickled onion – plus the rich flavour of the pate. And the coriander. Everything was enhanced by the mix of mayonnaise and chilli sauce which lifted the flavours into something else. The pork itself was flavoured with five-spice, which helped build the layers of flavour. Even though I was full, I would have happily made stomach space for another. This place is seriously good.

Miss Van’s, 3 Barrine Drive, Acton ACT                    http://www.missvans.com.au/

Self Preservation

I met a friend from high school at Self Preservation for a quick breakfast – it was a lovely little spot to catch up. We sat inside at a low table with little stools, and I ordered the bacon and eggs and a Primavera green juice, which came out in a lovely little jar. The juice had kale, broccoli, silverbeet, cucumber, apple, lime and basil – it was smooth and light, without any one flavour dominating and was a good serving size, although it started to separate if left for too long. The food was beautifully presented and I couldn’t believe how thick the bacon was! It had a scrumptious honey mustard glaze and was very sweet – such a great combination! Unfortunately the eggs were only just runny, but the hollandaise was really rich and delicious. Whilst the meal was a bit salty overall, I particularly liked the super-juicy roasted tomatoes – the skins were blistered so you didn’t lose the juice when picking them up with a fork. The staff were very friendly – apparently I reminded the waitress of her best friend in Ireland! – and the cafe itself was a perfect setting for a long natter. (Note: sadly, this particular bacon and eggs doesn’t seem to be on the menu anymore).

Self Preservation, 70 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC                              http://www.selfpreservation.com.au/

That Gelato Place

As regular readers will know, I’m generally a sorbet kind of girl. I will always pick a fruity flavour over a chocolatey flavour. Well, almost always. On a warm afternoon I drove out to Weston specifically to try That Gelato Place, which a friend had mentioned was worth adding to my #icecreamthurs collection. When I got there, I was really impressed by the range of flavours, including two of my favourite sorbet flavours – blood orange and raspberry. But, but some twist of fate my eyes were drawn to the creamy, chocolatey end of the display cabinet. All of a sudden I heard myself ordering the Toblerone and then it was done – real gelato, all mine to devour. The chocolate flavour was quite light, but this gelato is all about the hazelnuts. There are lovely chunks throughout, contrasting with the smooth gelato. I would have liked some of the Toblerone caramel chunks, but otherwise it was super tasty. The cup portion ($4 for a single scoop) was great value and there were plenty of seats to relax and enjoy your gelato at the store. That Gelato Place also sells take-home tubs of their gelato – this could be dangerous!

That Gelato Place, Shop 10, Cooleman Court, Weston ACT                                 http://www.coolemancourt.com.au/stores/that-gelato-place/