XO

The egg added a richness to the utterly delicious ragout – Kent explained that this is one of his Mum’s dishes, which he knew he wanted to include on the menu here – I’d come back for this alone (once again, there I was scraping the sauce off the plate with my spoon!). We had two main plates – the crispy lamb ribs ($29) and the confit duck leg ($28). The ribs were a close second for my favourite dish – even my friend who doesn’t really like lamb loved them and has decided she can eat lamb if it’s cooked like this. The ribs are piled up in a tower, topped with corriander and Vietnamese mint, and coated in a gooey, sweet plum sauce, as well as XO’s housemade lemon oil, to cut through the richness. Whilst not elegant to eat, the ribs were tender and tasty – the herbs supercharged the flavours for me, elevating this into a really spectacular dish. Finally, we enjoyed the confit duck leg – this was a good last dish, given how spicy it was. The duck was perfectly cooked and tender, and I enjoyed the mushroom broth, but definitely needed some rice as a spice-balancer! XO ticks all the boxes, service included – absolutely worth a visit. Or two…

XO, 16 Iluka Street, Narrabundah ACT, http://www.xo-restaurant.com.au

XO

Walking into XO feels like stepping into downtown Melbourne – the space is modern, fresh and very stylish. The menu is equally exciting, organised into starters, small and large plates, sides and desserts. We started with the bao ($8 each), which had the most incredibly fluffy texture and were served as burgers, rather than wrap-arounds. Co-owner Kent told us that he and the chef spent months perfecting the recipe, so that they stayed fresh upon service – I can confirm, they certainly do! The combination of the pickled daikon, the unctuous pork belly and the freshness of the cucumber was magical and set our palettes up for the rest of the night. Dish two was the steamed prawn and pork dumplings ($16, includes 4), served with the most delicious soy vinagrette – it had a perfect balance of spice, sweet and vinegar flavours and I may or may not have drunk the leftovers with my spoon. The dumpling filling was fresh and had great, distinct textures – I adore prawns in dumplings and could taste them loud and clear. Yum. My dish of the night was the Asian Bolognaise – fried udon served with a ragout and a 60 degree egg, this is comfort food at its best.

XO, 16 Iluka Street, Narrabundah ACT, http://www.xo-restaurant.com.au

Local Press

I usually stick to the breakfasty items on the menu at Local Press, but this visit was definitely at lunchtime, so I ventured into the actual lunch offerings. I was tempted by the kangaroo sirloin, but being a warm day decided for the cooler salad option – a soy ginger chicken and black sesame Vietnamese salad. The plate came out and I was impressed with the vibrant colours – getting stuck in, the salad was just as fresh as it looked. The snowpeas, capsicum and broccoli were all lovely and crisp, enhanced by the fresh mint and basil and rounded off with a good kick of chilli. The noodles were a bit underdone for my taste, although it made them easy to pick up, and I loved the fresh, tangy flavour of the vinegary sauce. The black sesame and cashews added flavour hits, but the star of the dish was the chicken – beautifully tender and packed full of flavour, these pieces were plentiful and moreish. I also had one of the cold pressed juices – orange, mandarin and passionfruit, which helped me cool down from the chilli. The citrus was sweet and refreshing, and the passionfruit added a nice bite. Lovely.

Local Press, 128 Trevellian Quay, Kingston ACT http://www.localpresscafe.com.au/

Pork Barrel

Two-for-one pizzas at Pork Barrel has been a lunch tradition for my whole Canberra life. To be honest, I’ve never tried anything else there! On this visit we ended up ordering two of my favourites – the Bombay (tandoori chicken, Spanish onion and raita), and Continental (artichoke, eggplant, pepperoni, olives and fetta) in the largest size to share. I feel like the bases at Pork Barrel have become thicker, because each piece was far more filling than I remember. The Bombay had tonnes of Spanish onion, much more than chicken, unfortunately, but was drizzled with refreshing raita and had a couple of papadums resting on top. There’s a good kick to the tandoori but it’s balanced by the sweet onion. The Continental had a generous amount of topping, with plenty of delicious pepperoni layered on the bottom, plenty of artichoke and a nice hit of salt from the kalamata olives and fetta. We didn’t have to wait too long for our food, despite being there at peak lunch time, although it took a while to line up and order. Remember to specify that you want two-for-one, otherwise you won’t get the deal!

Pork Barrel, King George Terrace, Parkes ACT, http://www.porkbarrel.com.au/

Parlour Wine Room

When we got to Parlour, the first question my colleague asked me was ‘did you order the burger?’ I’ve got a bit of a reputation for always picking the burger, but in this case it was completely justified. Whilst not part of the $16 lunch specials (a meal and glass of wine/beer included), the Parlour Burger was excellent value for $18, served with shoestring fries in the cutest little pot. The burger itself was very tasty, with the patty cooked to be just a touch pink (perfect), and a great charring on the outside. The beef was coarse but not too coarse, and I particularly enjoyed the slathering of cheese on top. What made this burger stand out was the onion ring smack bang in the middle. Yep. Hello deep-fried oniony goodness (none of this reconstituted business, thank you very much). And the bacon – that was pretty great too. Not to mention that the tomato was thoughtfully sandwiched in between the patty and lettuce, so that it didn’t make the soft brioche bun soggy. I probably shouldn’t have, but I finished all of the shoestring fries – gosh they were good, with a perfect amount of crispy outside and soft inside. No criticisms here at all.

Parlour Wine Room, 16 Kendall Lane, Acton ACT  http://www.parlour.net.au/

National Press Club

I was lucky enough to attend a function at the National Press Club which included lunch (my favourite kind of function!). Often catered menus can be uninspiring – meals made ready to serve in large quantities sometimes favour simplicity over flavour. Not here. The savoury course was a roast chicken breast with fois gras, mushrooms, puy lentils, Mount Majura truffles and a cognac vinagrette, served with a rocket and parmesan salad. Yeah. That’s right. The chicken portion was still on the bone and was quite large, resting on top of the bed of lentils. Cutting in to the chicken, the meat was really juicy and tender, but the real highlight of the dish was the lentils – I’m assuming that they absorbed most of the cognac and truffle flavour, because they were to die for (believe me, this is not something I commonly say about lentils). The rocket paired with parmesan added a nice amount of bite. Dessert was banoffee pie with peanut brittle scattered over the top and a whole heap of cream. The serving was really decadent and I couldn’t finish it all, but the caramel and banana inside were gooey perfection. Definitely not your typical catered lunch.

National Press Club of Australia, 16 National Circuit, Barton ACT, http://www.npc.org.au/

Eighty Twenty

I adore those beautiful spring weekend mornings when you can feel the sun shining on your face! My friend and I enjoyed one such morning sitting outside at Eighty Twenty. Another friend had recommended trying one of the acai bowls – acai isn’t my favourite flavour, but with the delicious-sounding toppings I gave the “O” bowl, one of three options, a go. Our food came out quickly, although not at the same time, and I admired the neat presentation of the strawberries, bananas, granola and toasted coconut on top. The concept reminded me of Local Press’ smoothie bowl, with a dairy-free acai blend beneath the fruit and granola. Winning combination! The granola was the rock star of this meal – crisp, sweet and full of oats, almonds and other delicious things, every mouthful was a delight. The acai blend was lovely and refreshing, with bits of ice and banana to thicken it up. I also really loved the fresh banana and strawberry – this, combined with the icy acai and the crispy granola meant the dish ticked all the flavour an texture boxes. The portion size was just right for brunch and for $14 it was reasonable value. I can’t wait to try the other two!

Eighty Twenty, 18 Lonsdale Street, Braddon ACT, http://www.eightytwentyfood.com.au/