Sublime Gelato

This will be the last #icecreamthurs post for 2015 – thanks for playing along and I look forward to sharing more icecream discoveries in 2016. Westside Acton is one of my favourite places to have lunch – I haven’t had a bad meal there, and now that the weather is warming up, it’s a great place to laze and enjoy the sunshine. I met up with a friend for lunch, and after eating we didn’t really want to leave, so we picked up gelato from Sublime, which has recently opened (yay!). The range of flavours is quite broad for such a small stall, and whilst the $5 per scoop isn’t quite a good value as say, Frugii ($5 for two scoops), the gelato here is good quality. After considering the rather tempting Belgian chocolate and the white chocolate and raspberry coulis flavours, I went for the dairy-free option and picked a single scoop of the strawberry sorbet. The cup was a standard scoop size, and we found seats out in the sunshine to enjoy our gelato. The strawberry flavour was very sweet was consistent throughout. Although a bit melty, I would happily order it again.

Sublime Gelato, Westside Acton, 3 Barrine Drive, Acton ACT

Mr Papa

Mr Papa has been around for a few years now, appearing at events like The Forage regularly, but this was my first visit to their semi-permanent home at the Hamlet in Braddon. I was also Dad’s first visit to the Hamlet, so we ordered an empanada and a chanchito (pork roll) to share and give us room to try other things. The friendly ladies at Mr Papa happily chatted to Dad in Spanish while they prepared our food, and gave us a sample of the sauces they offer to try – the green one (I can’t remember the name) was to die for and we got a small tub of it for our empanada. The empanada was beautiful and fresh, with pastry that wasn’t too thick and lots of filling. The tangy lime sauce made the dish though – I’d highly recommend getting as much of it as you can because it was so, so good. The chanchito was slightly less exciting – there was a lot of bread, and whilst the pork was tender, I found that the raw onion dominated the flavour. The sweet potato slices were a great textural contrast though. I’d definitely get the empanadas again!

Mr Papa, the Hamlet, 16 Lonsdale Street, Braddon ACT                                           http://www.mrpapa.com.au/

The Mandalay Bus

As part of my birthday week celebrations I organised dinner with a group of friends at the Mandalay Bus. The bus is an iconic fixture in Canberra, and is somewhat notorious for pumping tunes loudly from its location at the top of Lonsdale Street. The menu is a mish-mash of fried food and Burmese curries, so I picked one of each to try. I couldn’t resist the waffle cut fries, which came in a generous serving and were crispy and well-seasoned. Friends had the chilli cheese version and enjoyed them too. Actually, I think most of the group ordered a serve of the fries, and we all nibbled on them throughout the night! For the Burmese dish, I ordered the pumpkin curry, which was also incredibly good – the soft, creamy pumpkin contrasted perfectly with the assortment of seeds scattered on top (pepitas, sunflower seeds, and others I didn’t recognise). The curry was mild but had plenty of flavour and after all those fries I couldn’t quite finish my bowl. I’d recommend rugging up as the nights cool down – milk crates aren’t the warmest seats but the casual community vibe and the fabulous street food makes it worth the effort.

The Mandalay Bus, Haig Park Carpark, Corner Lonsdale St and Girrahween St, Braddon ACT, no website