Asian Noodle House

If you’re a Canberra local, you’ve probably eaten at the Asian Noodle House more than a few times. I certainly have, and whilst the Dickson store is the original, it’s not super close when you’ve been to the theatre. Luckily the Civic outpost is, and that’s where we headed for a post-show dinner. The menu is a mix of Asian cuisines, from Thai to Laotian (hello larb) to Chinese to Malay – diners are spoilt for choice. I’m not sure if the laksa is Singaporean or Malaysian-style, but it’s legendary in Canberra.  Packed full of greens, tofu, two types of noodles and a mix of sweet spices, the Asian Noodle House laksa is a dish that expats make a beeline for when they’re back in town. It’s no wonder, when the laksa is reliably delicious and the same at every store, every time.  For those whose eyes are bigger than their tummies (guilty), there’s a half-size available too.  A local legend for a reason – check it out if you haven’t already, and if you have, well, it’s probably just about time to go back for another bowl.

Asian Noodle House, 49 Northbourne Ave Civic Canberra City  http://www.noodlehouse.net.au/Noodle_house/Welcome.html

Wharf One

I was pretty excited to discover that Wharf One did breakfast – I’d had icecream there on the waterfront and admired the view, thinking, this would be a great breakfast place. They were way ahead of me. I came back the next day and ordered the ‘broken eggs’, not entirely sure what that meant but excited to have avocado, and a classic banana smoothie. The smoothie came out first, while we sat enjoying the sunshine and light breeze, and it was exactly what you want a banana smoothie to be – sweet and obviously full of fresh bananas. Mmm. When the broken eggs arrived I was intruigued by the colour – the egg white seemed more cooked than the yolk, making it something in between scrambled and poached. It was actually just the right consistency, and when combined with the avocado served on another piece of toast it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in a long time. The seats are nicely spaced apart for privacy and the open structure is designed to allow maximum enjoyment of the weather and the view, both of which were just as lovely as the food!

Wharf One, Wharf Street, Cairns QLD, no website

Sushi Zanmai

Not everybody is a ‘sushi for breakfast’ person, but if we’re talking Sushi Zanmai, I absolutely am. I dragged my colleagues out to Akihabara bright and early, promising that sushi at 7am was something they wouldn’t regret. Sushi Zanmai is open 24 hours and you are always met with a chorus of ‘irashaimasen’ to welcome you. Here, seating at the bar is best, so you can watch the sushi-san work and have a chat. The staff are super friendly and are always happy to give you their recommendations. On this occasion, we were the only people in the restaurant, and had a sushi-san to ourselves, so we started the nigiri feast with salmon, followed by tuna, mackarel, scallops, and unagi (eel). We tried the ootoro (top grade fatty tuna), but all found it a bit too fatty for our tastes. The highlight was the aburi tuna, which had sprigs of spring onion on top and just melted in your mouth. I’m pretty sure that piece alone managed to convince my colleagues of the wisdom of eating sushi at 7am. A must visit for a real Tokyo experience – although not necessarily for breakfast!

Sushi Zanmai, 1F Yodabashi Camera building, Akihabara Tokyo     http://www.kiyomura.co.jp/ (Japanese only)

Manoffin

We used the metro a lot in Seoul, and part of the fun is peeking at all the shops inside each station. I can’t quite remember which station we discovered Manoffin at, they do seem to be at a range of metro stops throughout the city. While we were there they had a special range of muffins out for Halloween, which were incredibly eye-catching and creative – there were muffins topped with spider webs, bloodshot eyes, creepy faces and fanged monsters. Obviously I had to have one. I decided to try the ‘blue monster’, which was probably the cutest out of the selection with half an oreo biscuit poking out as its mouth. The muffin itself was a plain vanilla flavour, and it was soft and fluffy, as muffins should be. The icing was a nice thickness, and the monster’s eyes were made of  sweet white chocolate buttons. I also went back to try one of their regular muffins, maple flavoured, which was rich and luscious, served with whipped cream and a disk of white chocolate on top. A good value sweet snack when travelling in Seoul, and  fun way to celebrate Halloween!

Manoffin, various locations throughout Seoul                     http://www.manoffin.co.kr/

Golden Boy

I was reluctant to eat to Golden Boy. Botanic Bar was one of my favourite places to have cheap pizza and good sangria, and I have many fond memories of hanging out in the right-wing of the bar. When I heard it had been converted into, of all things, a Thai restaurant, my soul died a bit inside. But on my last trip to Adelaide, my friends had already planned dinner there and it was the easiest way to see them all at once. So I relented. Reluctantly, I entered the once-hallowed corridor, to discover that it had been covered in quite a nice palm-leaf wallpaper. So far so good. I was greeted warmly by staff, and shown into the renovated space, which has hand-written scrawl artistically scattered on the walls (somehow it works). We went for the Tuk Tuk banquet, and they just brought courses and courses of fresh, spicy and delicious Thai food. Particular highlights were the satay skewers with the best peanut sauce I’ve ever had, hulled-out cucumber shells full of some kind of melt-in-your-mouth beef and a papaya salad. Only disappointment was the elderflower cocktail, which was watery and tasted like detergent. So I’m pretty much a convert. Anywhere else in town upgrading?

Golden Boy, 309 North Terrace, Adelaide           http://goldenboyrestaurant.com/#

Eighty Twenty

Another new Canberra breakfast place – I can’t quite keep up! We went to Eighty Twenty (which is named for the balance of healthy foods vs treats you’re meant to have in your diet… oops!) for a pre-work breakfast. Despite being new on the block, the cafe was buzzing by the time our food came out. Two of us couldn’t go past the sweet potato rosti, with pesto, poached egg and cherry tomatoes (which I wouldn’t recommend sticking your fork into… Lesson learned). It turned out to be a good choice – the rosti is soft (clearly not fried) and the pesto tastes fresh and very basily.  The egg was perfectly poached and the portion size was just right for breakfast. I also had the ‘Glow Pro’ smoothie (rejoice, dairy-free smoothies are a thing here!) with raspberry, blueberry, acai and coconut flesh. It was light, refreshing and a great match for the meal. As the weather warms up  the outdoor seating is definitely going to be popular. I’ll be back to try the dukkah spiced eggs and possibly the lunch menu… And some more smoothies.

Eighty Twenty, 18 Lonsdale St Braddon, ACT, no website

Lux Bite

Ok, so technically I haven’t been to Lux Bite. But a friend accepted my challenge to bring back a sweet from Melbourne that you can’t get in Canberra – this was the result. A quick google reveals that this cake was actually featured on Masterchef too, so must be tough to make! Called the ‘Lolly Bag Cake’, this little slice is full of layers of childhood flavour. The strongest is without a doubt the green layer (spearmint leaf buttercream), but upon deconstruction the other flavours get their moment – redskin, banana and musk. The highlight for me was the layer of freckles (who doesn’t love chocolate freckles?), which gave some crunch, and the ‘banana Joconde’ (sponge). Whilst all the flavours don’t exactly complement each other if you take a mouthful of them all, they don’t exactly clash either, leaving a slightly confused but largely minty taste in your mouth. I found I enjoyed the individual flavours much more after pulling it apart. Now the pressue is on to bring my friend something good back from Adelaide in return. Thoughts?

Lux Bite, 38 Toorak Rd, South Yarra VIC                                     http://www.luxbite.com.au