Africola

Part one is here. Finally the main game – the peri peri 1/2 chicken. Oh my. Next time I’d skip the entree and just have this baby. Hello spice, hello flavour! The chicken was perfectly cooked and the (boom) chakalaka spicy leaves on top were so tasty. I loved the little pickled root vegetables and the crunch from the toasted pepitas. The chicken livers and hearts were deliciously rich and there was a fabulously spicy sauce coating the whole lot. A pot of polenta-like something came out with a lovely tomato sauce through it, which meant there was no way we were leaving hungry. We’d also ordered a plate of the yoghurt-baked carrots (also served with goat’s curd) and these were to die for. They were perfectly roasted and the flavours were so well-balanced! They also helped to cool down the spice from the chicken. Whilst the entrees felt ‘chefy’, the main was exactly what you would imagine South African food to be – hearty, jam-packed full of flavour and perfect for sharing. The wait staff were amazing, getting us fed in the one hour we had and regularly checking on the gas heaters and refilling our water. I’ll book for inside next time, because the vibe was amazing, but I’m glad I got to experience that chicken. I will be back for sure.

Africola, 4 East Terrace, Adelaide, SA                                     http://africola.com.au/

Africola

I finally made it to Africola! I was super excited to try South African food for the first time! We booked on a Friday night and were allocated outdoor seating, but we certainly weren’t neglected despite seating in front of Botanic Bar. I started with the Bluna cocktail – gin, orange wine, gooseberry and Rooibos cola combined into a light and lolly-sweet mix (yum!). Meals come with a complimentary serve of house-made flatbread and smoky goat’s curd – a perfect way to whet the appetite. Dish one was the charcoal marron served with a seaweed dressing. The marron was tender and soft and I mopped up all of the seaweed dressing – it was like the best nori in oil with a great salty hit. This dish was a real winner for flavour, but when they say entree size, they mean it. Entree two was the raw kingfish with mandarin segments, mandarin gel and goat’s curd. For me, the kingfish was the only thing that didn’t work – when I order fish I want to taste it, instead all I got was mandarin with the texture of fish, which was a bit odd. Overall I felt like the entrees were trying a bit too hard to be ‘chefy’. Part two to follow.

Africola, 4 East Terrace, Adelaide, SA                                     http://africola.com.au/

Little Ramen Bar

There really is nothing like a steaming hot noodle soup on a chilly night, and of all the noodle soups, ramen surely must be the most comforting. On an overnight visit to Melbourne I braved the cold to seek out ramen at one of Melbourne’s quaintest little establishments, Little Ramen Bar. I had about a 10 minute wait for a seat, but my order was taken while I waited so the food came out quickly once I was inside the cozy nook of a restaurant. I had the ‘most popular’ chashu tamago with a shoyu broth, and a glass of umeshu (plum wine) on the rocks. The ramen arrived quickly and was exactly what I felt like. The tamago (egg) was still gooey in the middle and the pork slices were tasty, although marbled with quite a bit of fat. The broth itself was fattier than I expected, but it wasn’t overly salty and I ended up drinking most of it as it had such a beautifully rich flavour. The noodles had just the right amount of bite and my craving was completely satisfied. Definitely a spot to come back to.

Little Ramen Bar, 346 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC                                 http://www.littleramenbar.com.au/

Schnitzel Haus

When my brother came to town for a work trip, his one request was to have a good schnitzel. Rejoice, brother, said I, for a Schnitzel Haus has opened in Braddon! And off we went. The menu at the Schnitzel Haus is quite extensive, and you first need to choose what type of schnitzel you’d like (pork, chicken or veal). I opted for the veal, and picked the Mexican – schnitzel topped with salsa, guacamole, sour cream and jalapenos. I was tempted by the schnitzel burgers, but decided to go the whole hog on my first visit. So, when my schnitzel came out, it was really, really big. Like, ‘how on earth am I going to eat ALL this?’ big. But man it was delicious. The crumb was wonderfully thin and the veal was lovely and tender and who doesn’t love Mexican toppings? I didn’t eat many chips – they were lovely, but were taking up much-needed schnitzel space – but I really appreciated having the salad to balance out the meat. It had a light oil dressing which was perfect. The only downside was the noise – we arrived late-ish, and it was still really hard to hear one another across the table. Other than that, it got the thumbs up from both of us.

Schnitzel Haus, Lonsdale Street, Braddon ACT                       http://theschnitzelhaus.com.au/braddon.html

Chat Thai

I met a couple of friends in Sydney for dinner and asked them to decide where to eat. I was super excited when they took me to Chat Thai, somewhere I hadn’t tried in the Pitt St Westfield. Chat Thai’s menu is well-designed with modern graphics and plenty of choices, and the interior of the restaurant is dimly lit with several large, share tables running down the middle. We sat at the end of one, and spent quite some time studying the menu. In the end I decided against the noodle soups, spicy salads and the curries, and went for the crab omelette on the specials menu. The omelette was massive when it came out and in the end I couldn’t finish the whole thing. It appeared to have been deep fried on the outside, leaving a golden, slightly crispy outer with a fluffy, creamy inner that had fabulous textural contrast. The fresh corriander really brought the whole thing to life, and I would have loved more of the spicy dipping sauce to go with it. By the end I did feel like it was a bit rich and oily, but the crabmeat was tender and tasty. I will be back!

Chat Thai, Westfield Sydney, Level 6, 188 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW           http://www.chatthai.com.au/

Kusina

I’d never tried Filipino food before my friend booked a group of us in for Kusina’s Boodle Feast. The Feast happens on the last Sunday of the month and the menu changes every time, so regulars get to try new things. The exciting part is that there are no plates or cutlery – you have banana leaves as plates and go back to basics eating only with your hands. We had a group of seven, so had two platters (they’re designed for four) jam packed with garlic rice, salmon, potato salad, pork belly, curry, deep-fried prawns, salted eggs, corn and fried chicken. Yep. That’s a lot of delicious food! My favourite was undoubtedly the pork belly -tender, fatty and with a delicious soy dipping sauce, it vanished quickly from our platter. The salmon had a cheesy-baked topping that was really perfect for the fish, and I liked the cold potatoes for some vegetable content. The prawns were lovely and spicy, and the chicken was so crisp I had to go back for more. The rice was completely addictive – I would have happily just had that for dinner – and the portions were well-judged for the number of people. I think I’ve found a new favourite.

Kusina, Cooleman Court, Weston ACT http://www.kusina.com.au/

Capital Golf Bar & Bistro

When your best friends offer you a free dinner, it’s pretty hard to resist. We went to the Capital Golf Bar & Bistro with a Groupon voucher for up to $100 worth of food. Hello steak! The menu had the usual pub fare of pasta, pizza, grilled meat and some kids meals, but I honed right in on that steak – 300g scotch fillet, to be precise. We actually ordered a plate of garlic bread to start, which came out lightly toasted and very buttery and garlicky (yum!). When our food came out, I was disappointed that my steak was not medium-rare as requested, but rare – just a bit too much for me. The waiter was very apologetic and a new steak was brought out fairly quickly. This was probably closer to medium, but definitely better than the other way. It came with garlic mash (small portion but tasty) and mushroom sauce (creamy with sliced mushroom inside), and the steak itself was fairly tender (not melt-in-your-mouth but not tough either) and very tasty. The meal was about what I would expect from an old-school pub (rather than a gastro-pub), with great service.

Capital Golf Bar & Bistro, 46 Jerrabomberra Avenue, Narrabundah ACT             http://www.capitalgolfbistro.com.au/