The One

Last time we went to Westside, my friend got a sandwich from The One and I promised myself I would get it on my next visit. So, instead of making a beeline for Miss Van’s, I branched out. The One offers a range of meat-packed sandwiches and tacos, and I was tempted by the promise of pickles on their Cubanos – slow-cooked pork, pickles, onion, leg honey ham, mustard and cheese, toasted. I chose the large size ($12.50), but it ended up being large enough for two lunches (!) so I would probably get the small size ($8.50) next time. This sandwich was to die for. I LOVED IT. Firstly the pork. There was LOTS of it – I’m talking tender, tasty, melt-in-your-mouth – and it went perfectly with the slightly sweet honey ham. There were plenty of bits of pickle throughout, and what really kicked the whole thing into the ‘out of this world good’ category was the mustard. I really loved the buttered American-style bun too. Ok, I loved everything about it, and, bonus, I got to enjoy the second half the next day. Get on it people, this is the real deal.

The One, Westside Acton, 3 Barrine Drive, Acton ACT       https://www.westsideactonpark.com.au/the-one/

Milk Crate Cafe

I rarely come to this end of Civic, but was happy to make the trek to try out Milk Crate Cafe, a slightly hidden but exciting new cafe bringing a bit of New York to Canberra. All of the seating is outdoors, spilling out onto the pavement in the little urban courtyard. The staff are really friendly and when I arrived there was a steady flow of people coming in for coffee. I ordered the Istanbul Roll, which came with poached eggs, sucuk (a spicy Turkish sausage), grilled haloumi and homemade tomato relish. The roll was presented unlike any I’ve seen before, with a crisp, flaky Turkish bread lining a tin, and the filling topped inside. Unfortunately the poached eggs were cooked through, but that was the only downside. The sausage was delightfully spicy and the tomato relish had a rich, deep flavour and stopped the dish from being dry. The grilled haloumi was thin as crispbread and had a fabulous salty kick, and I loved mopping up the relish with the unusual bread. Get the eggs right guys and this is a real winner – and at only $9.50, great value too.

Milk Crate Cafe, Shop 6, 12 Moore Street, Canberra ACT, http://milkcratecafe.com.au/

Penny University

I’ve been to Penny University several times, but somehow haven’t gotten around to blogging about it until now. On this visit, I started with the tropical juice of pineapple, lychee and mint, which came out with a little cherry blossom flower on top (adorable!). The juice was the perfect size for breakfast and had plenty of flavour balance between the three ingredients. I opted for the breakfast special – za’atar spiced eggs with capsicum spread on Turkish bread and minted yoghurt. My friend ordered the black forest ricotta hotcakes, and was told they would take 10 mins to cook. With great service, both our meals were brought out, hot, at the same time = awesome. These guys are pros. I was a bit disappointed to only have one egg, but excited to see that there was a whole land of salady things that I hadn’t expected – kale, fried chickpeas and baked eggplant. Oh yum. The egg was perfectly runny and whilst I couldn’t really taste the za’atar (it’s amazing at Local Press), the capsicum spread was divine, and was perfectly complemented by the salad flavours and textures – tender eggplant, slightly crisped chickpeas. Oh, and the Turkish bread was easy to cut. Fabulous experience all round!

Penny University, 15 Kennedy Street, Kingston ACT, no website

Fox and Bow

Oh my. I fell completely in love with this little cafe and can’t wait to go back. The menu is exciting and I couldn’t go past one of their amazing-sounding smoothies to start off. The ‘Ohhh Darla’ (love that movie!) was perfection – watermelon, pear and berries with gelato (maybe blackcurrant flavoured?) – it had great depth and balance, and lasted me nicely over the course of my lunch. The staff kindly reduced the dairy content for me too on request – great service! I went for one of the more lunch-like options and ordered the ‘Road Runner Beep Beep’. Oh my. It was amazing. The Portuguese grilled chicken was wedged between a lightly toasted bun (no crumbles, not too thick to cut! Yay!) and topped with just the right amount of jalapenos to give it a good amount of kick. The chicken itself was perfectly cooked and tender, and the guacamole was really generous, along with plenty of rocket for some crunch. There was also a serve of pickled something (cabbage? onion?) that tasted a bit like coleslaw – yum! Oh, did I mention that the sandwich came with a box of perfectly crisp, thick-cut chips? The seasoning was perfect, with a touch of rosemary. And the atmosphere was fantastic. Love, love, love.

Fox and Box, 4 Farrer Place, Farrer ACT                               http://www.foxandbow.com.au/

Mr Shabu Shabu

My love of shabu shabu is no secret, but on this particular visit, a friend and I indulged in dessert there after our reliably delicious beef shabu shabu. There are three icecream flavours on the dessert menu – green tea, black sesame and red bean – all traditional Japanese dessert flavours. I picked the black sesame and my friend tried the red bean flavour. The scoops were $3.80 each and came out in a side dish-sized bowl, with one reasonably sized scoop inside. The black sesame scoop was a not-completely-appealing grey colour, but had a really fascinating savoury taste. The icecream was very creamy and at first that hid the sesame flavour, which made an appearance on the back palate at the end of the mouthful. The more I ate, the clearer the flavour became, and whilst it wasn’t as sweet as I expected, my friend preferred that to the sweeter red bean flavour. I tried a bite of the red bean, and actually thought it worked better, the sweet flavour pairing well with the creaminess. The verdict? Japanese icecream flavours are an adventure, definitely worth a try with varying sweet-savoury options!

Mr Shabu Shabu, 6/35 Childers St, Canberra ACT, no website

CocoNine

On a cold and foggy night my friend and I ventured down to the foreshore to pick a Thai place for dinner – Coconine seemed welcoming and cozy, so in we went. The staff were so friendly and happily let us peruse the very long menu. We decided on two dishes to share – the Roast Duck Curry and the Siam Gem on Fire, a stir fry with beef and a tom yum sauce. Our coconut rice arrived with the mains – fluffy and with a distinct coconut flavour, this is my go-to accompaniment whenever it’s on offer. I started with the beef stir fry – there was plenty of beef on the plate and it was sliced really thinly for maximum tenderness. The sauce was packed with flavour and I definitely got the ‘tom yum’ vibe, even though the dish didn’t have mushrooms. I loved the lemongrass flavour and crunched happily on the giant snow peas (yum!). The duck curry had a lot more of a kick to it – the pairing of duck, lychee and tomato with red curry really can’t go wrong, and this version had very tender duck and extra sweetness from pineapple pieces. We left with very happy tummies.

CocoNine, 132/2 Trevillian Quay, Kingston ACT                            http://coconinekingston.com.au/

Miss Van’s

Oh, hello amazing Vietnamese food within walking distance of work! Yay! I was very excited to have a team lunch at Westside Acton on one of Canberra’s typically cold but sunny winter days. Whilst I was tempted by the pho, I used my friend’s food philosophy and ordered what I felt like, not what I thought I should have, and that was banh mi. For $8 you get a pork banh mi packed full of fresh ingredients. I thought the roll looked a bit small, but it was very full and actually turned out to be the perfect size for lunch. The incredible crispiness of the bread really stood out compared to other banh mi I’ve had – this one was just super crispy and delicious. I also really loved the fresh veggies – carrot, cucumber and pickled onion – plus the rich flavour of the pate. And the coriander. Everything was enhanced by the mix of mayonnaise and chilli sauce which lifted the flavours into something else. The pork itself was flavoured with five-spice, which helped build the layers of flavour. Even though I was full, I would have happily made stomach space for another. This place is seriously good.

Miss Van’s, 3 Barrine Drive, Acton ACT                    http://www.missvans.com.au/