Il Portico

I always like visiting people’s favourite places – it usually means they’ve scoped out the menu, which is exactly what my friend had done at Il Portico. He recommended the Boscaolia pasta (available at lunch and dinner, $20), with porcini mushrooms, Italian bacon and a creamy truffle oil sauce. I picked the Proscuitto pizza ($21), with rocket, proscuitto, parmesan and olive oil. Always trust the local. Both dishes arrived together a short interval after we’d ordered. The pasta dish was utterly divine and definitely my favourite. Silky smooth pasta (although not house-made), utterly perfect, salty Italian bacon and seriously the creamiest, loveliest pasta sauce I’ve had in a long time. The truffle oil would have had something to do with that, but I also loved the way that the mushrooms were cooked without shrivelling up or drying out – yum. The pizza was delicious too, with plenty of paper-thin slices of proscuitto, generous amounts of rocket and parmesan, and a not-too-cheesy-or-tomatoey base. The base itself was fairly thin, and had a nice amount of crisp to it. The service was attentive and friendly – this is a lovely spot just back from the Foreshore for a quiet, quality meal.

Il Portico, 71 Giles Street, Kingston ACT,

Mint Rd

I’ve been meaning to visit Mint Rd at the Narrabundah shops for quite a long time, and finally took the opportunity one warm Saturday morning. This is clearly a place that has its regulars – staff were happily chatting away to customers on a first name-basis, and the small space has a welcoming, community feel. The breakfast menu is comfortingly simple – no chefy pretensions here, just straightforward, good food. I chose the bacon and egg roll ($6.50) and a Noah’s apple and peach juice ($4) – sadly no fresh juice option. My roll didn’t take long to come out, and I was impressed with the size. Served on a round Turkish bread roll cut in half, the fried egg was perched atop a good sized portion of bacon, with just the right amount of my choice of BBQ sauce slathered on the bread. On first bite, I was delighted to discover that pepper had been sprinkled on the cooked-through egg, elevating it from ‘good’ to ‘awesome’. This may not be the place for crispy bacon lovers, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed this breakfast – I’ll be back to try the lunch menu soon.

Mint Rd, 59 Boolimba Crescent, Narrabundah ACT, http://www.mintrd.com.au/

Pho @ Dickson

My friend and I had a craving for pho, so on a Monday night after work we headed up to Dickson to indulge our craving. Pho @ Dickson is unassumingly located on Woolley Street – if I hadn’t know it was there, I might have missed it. The restaurant was quiet on a Monday night and we received excellent service. I ordered the ‘bells and all’ beef pho ($14.50), which included rare beef, beef balls, beef tripe and cooked beef brisket (so, basically, all the beef). The bowl was huge, and this was my first time trying beef tripe – I didn’t mind the flavour actually, although the rare beef is always my favourite part of eating pho. The broth was suitably beefy and I could tell that this wasn’t going to be a need-to-down-a-litre-of-water type pho – it wasn’t outrageously salty and that left plenty of space to appreciate the broth’s flavour. The noodles varied in width, leading me to suspect that they make their own, and all of the usual accompaniments are offered (bean sprouts, Thai basil and lemon wedges, plus the sauces). At the end of our meal a sliced orange was brought out as a palate cleanser. I was impressed, definitely worth a visit.

Pho @ Dickson, 14 Woolley Street, Dickson ACT, no website

My Kingdom for a Horse

In the creative naming department, this all-day breakfast place definitely takes the cake – the title is from a line from Shakespeare’s Richard the Third. Luckily getting a good feed doesn’t require such sacrifice. We went on a buzzing weekday afternoon and I started with a fresh orange juice. It was a generous size and very fresh – perfect! To eat, I chose the toast with avocado, roasted heirloom tomatoes, lime and sea salt, and I added a poached egg ($18.50). We did have to wait a while for our food, so I wouldn’t recommend stopping by if you’re in a hurry, but all our food was brought out at the same time, making it worth the wait. The plate was beautifully presented and I couldn’t help but be wowed by the sheer quantity of avocado on the sourdough – there was a lot! Sadly, there weren’t a lot of tomatoes, but they were perfectly roasted and sweet, with just the right amount of seasoning. The egg was perfectly poached and the bread was such good quality (although a bit hard to cut). The dish was simple but tasty – combined with the great atmosphere, the whole experience was fun for a lazy afternoon meal.

My Kingdom for a Horse, 191-195 Wright Street, Adelaide SA, http://www.mykingdomforahorse.com.au

Ona on the Lawns

So… I may or may not have ordered the burger. Again. To start, I ordered a green apple, pineapple, lime and mint juice ($7.50), which came out in a large glass – the pineapple wasn’t too sharp and the lime was just a light hint, although I couldn’t really taste the mint. I couldn’t go past the buttermilk chicken burger ($20), and I was wowed by the piled-high stack that came out with fries on a board. The fries were amazing, with some sort of magical seasoning (mmm) and a herbed aioli that was just perfect. I wasn’t sure how to eat the burger, so I ended up pulling it apart – there was a whole lot of cabbage ‘slaw packed into the bun, with a tonne of runaway peas sandwiched into the upper half of the bread. Given the board was so full, I found it quite hard to eat, but everything was super tasty – I loved the mayonnaise spiked with sprigs of dill, and the chicken was beautifully tender inside the crisp buttermilk shell. It was hard to get a sense of the flavours all together, but I did enjoy the more unusual ingredient mix, and would highly recommend the fries.

Ona on the Lawns, Shop 4, Palmerston Lane, Manuka ACT, onacoffee.com.au/

Wild Honey

Flashback time! Here’s one of my favourite foodie places in Singapore from my 2013 trip. My main reason for visiting Singapore was to eat. Yep, I’m not ashamed to admit it. I did a lot of research before we left to make sure no meal was wasted. Wild Honey made the top of every must-eat breakfast list I found, and for good reason. We booked a table, and were glad that we did, it’s clearly a popular place, even on a weekday. I ordered a melon juice to start with, and it came out quickly and was reasonably sized and refreshing. This gave us time to consider which of the country-themed dishes to pick. Wild Honey’s menu has breakfasts inspired by foods from all over the world, reflecting Singapore’s nature as an international hub. I opted for the ‘Portobello Road’, with poached eggs, mushroom, capsicum, spinach and hollandaise, served on a brioche toast. The eggs were perfectly poached and the hollandaise was obviously house-made. The brioche was soft and not overly sweet, but it was a huge serving and I struggled to finish it. Luckily Wild Honey has some lovely decor to admire while you take a digestion pause.

Wild Honey, 6 Scotts Square #03-02, Singapore,     www.http://wildhoney.com.sg

Beef & Barley

With my passion for burgers, I was super excited about Beef & Barley opening on the Foreshore, offering burgers and craft beer. The menu has all of your classic burger needs, with some exotic additions (the Pedro, with chorizo and beef), but I stuck to the classic beef burger this visit – the American ($17), with beef, bacon, fried onion, cheddar, BBQ sauce and mustard mayonnaise. I must admit, I was really impressed by the service here – staff were eager to take my order and be helpful, creating a friendly vibe without being over the top. Burgers come with a serve of their beer battered chips; unusual, as they have a sweet dusting on top. I think this worked with just a little sugar, but was a bit much on some chips, and to be honest, it probably isn’t necessary as the flavour of the potato and batter alone are great. The burger had a huge patty cooked through and nicely charred, and whilst I would have liked more melt on the cheddar, it was really tasty and complimented the streaky bacon’s salty kick. The fried onions were magical (think a less oily onion ring) and the only thing missing was some pickles (which will be an option later down the track, I’m told). Oh yes, these guys have a winner.

Beef & Barley, Corner of Eyre Street and Kingston Waterfront, Kingston ACT, http://www.beefandbarley.com.au