Honkytonks

I hadn’t really considered Honkytonks as a dinner venue, but after catching up with a friend there for drinks, we weren’t really ready to move elsewhere. With the recent introduction of table service and an extensive Mexican-themed menu, I was pleasantly surprised by the impressive-looking chimichangas and hot-dogs being brought out. As I am wont to do, I ordered the burger. The Pablo Sanchez burger ($16.50), to be precise. I was lured mostly by the call of the jalapenos and chipotle sauce giving a Mexican twist to the traditional beef burger. The food came out fairly quickly, and my burger was served in a plastic basket with a huge portion of fries alongside. The burger looked great and on first bite, I got a lovely hit of jalapeno heat and spicy chipotle suace – just what I wanted. The patty wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was still slightly pink in the middle as patties should be, so points for that. The fries were thin, crispy and moreish, served with a small dish of tomato sauce that helped cool down the spice from the burger. For the price, it doesn’t really have a scratch on Grease Monkey, but still a good mid-range burger in Civic on a night out.

Honkytonks, 17 Garema Place, Canberra ACT, drinkhonkytonks.com.au

Ryo’s Noodles

My first stop after picking my bags from the luggage carousel in Adelaide was Ryo’s Noodles. Yep, not even kidding. Last time, Mum gave me massive order envy with her miso ramen, so that’s what we both picked this time. Ryo’s is unusual for a ramen restaurant in that you can request your serve to be salt reduced, which we both did. The star of this ramen is the broth – the miso flavour just adds a lovely richness to the already complex broth, which only tastes better the more you eat. I found myself wishing for a second stomach in order to have more! The pork is beautifully tender and not overly fatty, although I would have liked another slice. The spring onion and bamboo shoots are great textural elements, and the ramen noodles themselves have a great amount of bite, making them a real delight to eat. The bowl actually has a very generous serve of noodles, and I was very full by the end of my meal. We had cups of green tea with the food, which come with free refills – the tea was simple and a nice complement to the ramen. See you on my next visit, Ryo’s!

Ryo’s Noodles, 80 Gouger Street, Adelaide SA

Bitter Sweets Buffet

So many of my old favourites in Tokyo are just the same as I remember them – Bitter Sweets Buffet is yet another. We went nice and early on a weekday for lunch and didn’t have to line up (I remember waiting 90 minutes to go in 2009). For a fixed price, you have 90 minutes of all you can eat at the buffet, and all of their food is delightfully tiny so you can try lots of different things. There was a Mediterranean Cruise theme to the buffet when we went, so I started out with a slice of the margherita pizza, some crumbed fish with tartare sauce and (my favourite), a mini burger! You order the burgers from the chef and add your own toppings (lettuce, pickles, tomato sauce, onion) at the salad bar. I tried the potato salad (yum – so creamy) but went back for more crumbed fish – that was definitely the savoury pick. After enjoying some green tea we moved to dessert – hello mini cakes! I tried the strawberry mousse cake, the strawberry scroll (so light and fluffy!), the chocolate berry cake (my pick of the sweets) and a couple of jellies. We were so full that we didn’t last the whole 90 minutes, but every mouthful was delicious.

Bitter Sweets Buffet, 8F Lumine Est, 3-chome, 38-1 Shinjuku, Japan              http://pscoop.jp/bsb/index.html

Two Before Ten

When you find yourself brunching over the course of three hours, I believe it is the joining of three marvellous things – good food, good company and a pleasant setting – to nourish the soul. My sojourn at Two Before Ten in Aranda was just that – a lovely three hours of relaxing in the sunshine, admiring the impressive vegetable garden, chatting and enjoying the excellent food. I ordered the Spiced Eggs on Toast with avocado, persian fetta, and Espelette spice (a chilli grown in France) ($15). I added a side of chorizo ($4) to liven things up a bit. The plate was beautifully presented, with the avocado served as a puree and a scattering of lettuce leaves artfully placed on top. The eggs were cooked to that perfect omelette consistency – light and fluffy, with a good kick of spice from the Espelette chilli powder. The persian fetta added some extra creaminess, and I would highly recommend the chorizo on the side, for a nice balance of salty meatiness. Unfortunately the bread fell into one of my pet hates – very tasty, but impossible to cut with the blunt butter knife provided – but that was my only complaint. The staff happily let us enjoy our patch of sunshine and while away the morning.

Two Before Ten, 68 Bandjalong Crescent, Aranda ACT, http://www.twobeforeten.com.au/

XO

 

ICYMI, summer is over. Sad face. My somewhat child-like reaction is to eat lots of icecream and pretend that never happened. Feel free to play along with #icecreamthurs. XO has become one of my favourite restaurants in a very short space of time; they have the trifecta of great service, ambiance and food. Oh, and they have icecream. Yep. I was very excited to try their much-Instagrammed chrysanthemum tea soft serve after a lovely dinner visit with friends. We were so full but, really, who can resist a soft serve? They came out on a specially designed tray and looked heavenly. Now if you’re after a super sweet dessert, don’t order this soft serve – the flavour is exactly what you would expect from an Asian-style dessert; subtle and almost savoury. There’s something familiar about the chrysanthemum tea flavour that had us all searching our memories – there’s a slight bitterness from the tea which really fills your mouth, but is counterbalanced by the creaminess. The texture was fabulous, although on a warm night we had to eat them quickly to avoid melting! I can definitely see myself stopping in just for this in future.

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

Petal Met Sugar

When I first heard that Petal Met Sugar was selling a dessert called ‘Terrarium’, I raced to my calendar to find when I could next go to Sydney to try it. Meeting a couple of lovely friends there, we snagged a table out the front and then it was terrarium time! The dessert ($10.50) is a finger lime panna cotta, dusted with cocoa nibs and topped with edible flowers. Let me start off by saying that the presentation was immaculate! This was a work of art, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed by the flavour either. The white chocolate wasn’t the sugary, sickly sweet kind, but it did add a rich, creaminess to the contrasting textures of the rest of the dessert. The cocoa nibs were almost like a biscuit crumb, super chocolatey but not overly sweet – I think they were my favourite element actually. Hidden beneath was the delightful burst of sourness from the finger lime panna cotta, just as soft and slightly wobbly as you would expect. Combined, a mouthful with all elements made for the perfect balance. So Petal Met Sugar isn’t just a pretty face, their desserts are well thought-out and definitely worth a visit. Or two.

Petal Met Sugar, 68 Sir John Young Crescent, Woolloomooloo, NSW, http://www.petalmetsugar.com.au/

Stand By Me

I love that some of Canberra’s best eateries are tucked away in suburban oases – Stand By Me is one such gem. I was so impressed by the staff here; friendly, attentive and professional, not to mention happy to answer my questions knowledgably about the menu. I ordered a bottle of blood orange juice and the Samurai Mushrooms ($17.50) to eat. This is such a fabulous dish! The presentation is immaculate, with two wobbly sous vide eggs sitting atop a pile of assorted mushrooms (swiss browns and enoki were the only ones I could identify), with lovely bread soldiers and threads of dried chilli on top. Wow. The flavour backs the beautiful presentation – the eggs were lovely and soft, spilling out over the mushrooms like a sauce, and the mushrooms weren’t dehydrated or shrivelled. On the contrary, they were plump and rich, picking up the garlic and yuzu koshu flavour which brought a splash of refreshment. The judicious use of coriander also perked the flavours up, and the soldiers were made from a bread that I could happily munch away on for days – perfect for moppning up any bits of egg that escaped. Definitely a new favourite!

Stand By Me, 1 Lyons Place, Lyons ACT, no website