Floresta Nature Doughnuts

I’d seen adorable animal doughnuts on Pinterest and Instagram, so did a bit of a search before we went to Japan to try and find them – I felt a quest coming on. In fact, it took a while to find the store – given a bum steer from an English website, we ended up at Kyoto City Hall where the map said the doughnuts were inside… They weren’t. Luckily, when we did get to the stall they had plenty of animal doughnuts – I picked three to try. The cat was first up – it was chocolate-flavoured, and had almonds as ears (so cute, and tasty too!). The doughnut filler was quite dense and didn’t have as much flavour as I expected, but the actual doughnut was much nicer, with a spongy texture and a nice richness in the chocolate icing. Next was the pumpkin-flavoured rabbit – sadly I couldn’t taste the pumpkin at all, but the strawberry-flavoured frog was very clearly strawberry. The doughnuts were quite heavy so we ate them over the course of a couple of days. Worth the adventure, maybe a bit more for the photos than the flavour, but fun nonetheless.

Floresta Nature Doughnuts, Shinkyogoku street at the intersection with Shijo street, Kyoto Japan http://www.nature-doughnuts.jp/index.htm

Akiba

A friend of mine had his farewell lunch at Akiba, and I was very excited to go back for the first time in a long time. For $34 per person (food only), we were treated to a feast of delicious plates. I started out with the strawberry and mint ‘Akipop’, which was as refreshing and sweet as I remember. First course was the kingfish sashimi, topped with spicy sauce and mayonnaise – the fish wasn’t melt in your mouth tender, but the flavours packed a punch. We all adored course two – the pork belly buns. Yum. Yum. Yum. The pork was sweet and sticky and the Asian slaw was really fresh. They were much bigger than I was expecting too. Next up were a couple of plates of prawn dumplings with lovely thin skins, but the highlight of the meal was the Japanese fried chicken, topped with parmesan and served with Sriracha and Japanese mayonnaise. The pieces were so crispy and moreish = perfection. The beef short rib was incredibly tender (easy to eat with chopsticks), and had a really rich flavour that left us fighting over the last pieces. We ended the feast with a couple of noodle dishes, although I didn’t love these like I did the share plates. Until next time, Akiba.

Akiba, 40 Bunda Street, Civic ACT    http://www.akiba.com.au/

Pepper Lunch

I was very excited to see that Pepper Lunch had opened in Adelaide – I’d enjoyed their food years ago in Sydney and stopped in for a quick dinner on my way back from the airport. My first impression was that the restaurant was untidy – the floors were dirty and the tables hadn’t been wiped down, but the staff were hanging around playing on their phones. I can’t fault the service though, my order was taken promptly and the food came out quickly and beautifully presented. I ordered the kimchi beef plate, which includes thin slices of raw beef, a big mound of rice with corn and lots of kimchi. The plate is sizzling hot and you cook your food at the table. The beef was thin and didn’t take long to cook – whilst it wasn’t a high quality cut, the flavour was nice and there was a good amount on the plate. The kimchi was wonderfully spicy and I loved the way the rice started crisping up at the bottom, the longer I left it without stirring. Sure, this isn’t fine dining, but if you’re after a tasty, filling, inexpensive meal, stop in and give it a try.

Pepper Lunch, 82 Gouger Street, Adelaide SA                   http://www.pepperlunch.com.au/

Mocan & Green Grout

After a disappointing experience elsewhere, I promised that I wouldn’t order baked eggs again in a hurry. But when I arrived at Mocan & Green Grout for a catch up breakfast three days later, I really couldn’t go past it. I crossed my fingers and put my faith in the universe to redeem this winter favourite. Luckily, Mocan didn’t disappoint – far from it, in fact. I started out with a fresh orange juice, which came out really quickly in a large glass and was full of lovely fresh chewy orange bits. The eggs were beautifully presented in a cast iron pan on a board with a slice of beautifully heavy bread and a wedge of lemon. The eggs were lovely and runny, and mixed in nicely with the tomato sauce. The harrisa gave a great kick of heat that wasn’t too much so early in the morning, and I adored the smoky flavour that the Meredith dairy chevre added. The creaminess of the roasted eggplant elevated the whole experience to ‘super comfort food’ with the style and class I’ve come to expect from Mocan. My faith in baked eggs was restored tenfold.

Mocan & Green Grout, 1/19 Marcus Clarke Street, New Acton, ACT http://mocanandgreengrout.com/

Frugii Dessert Laboratory

I loved the TV show Pokemon as a kid – the idea of ‘catch ’em all’ appealed to my inner collector – as does the ever changing flavour menu at Frugii. This visit was part of my #touristinmyowntown adventure, showing a friend from Adelaide the best of Canberra. Of course Frugii was on that list. We stopped in on a Thursday night and the two sorbets on offer were Grapefruit and Passionfruit. Mmm. I sampled the Grapefruit and fell completely in love – sorbets are naturally sweet, so paired with a sour fruit, there is a harmonious balance that ticks all the tastebud boxes. I got a scoop of the Passionfruit too (a small cup with two scoops is $5), after plenty of helpful advice from the friendly staff. Frugii’s sorbets aren’t trying to emulate the creaminess of icecream, because they’re spending plenty of time making sure the flavour is spot on. The passionfruit was really lush and had that fabulously tropical flavour – nothing synthetic here folks. Having added two new flavours to my collection, I wonder what the next one will be on my quest to catch ’em all?

Frugii Dessert Laboratory, 30 Lonsdale Street, Braddon ACT, http://www.frugii.com/

The Grounds

It wasn’t really possible for me to walk past the pastry display at the Grounds and not buy something. If I could have, I would have bought all the things – it all looked so delicious! I was very restrained and picked two – the salted caramel tart and the raspberry chocolate torte. Luckily they were to share, because they were both very rich. I only tried a bit of the salted caramel, but oh my it was good. The caramel was so oozy and there was just a perfect amount of salt. The chocolate layer on top added even more goodness, and the pastry around the edge was nice and crisp. I could have happily devoured a whole piece (and will be back to do just that as soon as I can). I had more of the raspberry and chocolate torte, which was sinfully rich. The raspberry glaze on top was lovely and tart, in contrast to the perfectly smooth, silky chocolate cake beneath. The fresh berries on top were a nice break from the decadent chocolate and added some textural contrast. More please!

The Grounds of Alexandria, Shop 7A, 2 Huntley Street, Alexandria, NSW    http://groundsroasters.com/

Locale

A friend and I managed to get an outdoors table at Locale for a weeknight dinner – the waitress inside wasn’t particularly attentive and seemed a bit befuddled, but the waiter who looked after our table was friendly and professional. We started out with the hot prawns – a bowl full of prawns in a sauce with chilli (deseeded, so not particularly spicy) and tomatos, served with a delicious flatbread. There weren’t many prawns (about 7 in total), but they were perfectly cooked to tenderness, and anyone ordering this dish should lap up every drop of that sauce. Yum. We then shared a Prosciutto e Rucola pizza – buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, rocket and parmesan. We both commented on how the simple toppings was the hallmark of authentic pizza, and with such thinly shaved prosciutto and scattered rocket and parmesan, it looked to tick all the boxes. Flavour-wise, this pizza was superb – the prosciutto added plenty of salty flavour, which was enhanced by the bite of both the rocket and the parmesan. The base was lovely and thin, and the mozzarella went beautifully stringy! One between two was just right for us and we left with happy tummies.

Locale, Shop 5, Deakin Shops, Hopetoun Circuit, Deakin ACT, http://www.localepizzeria.com.au/