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

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/

The Butcher’s Apprentice

Sometimes a meal just blows you away, and that’s exactly what happened at our shared dinner at the Butcher’s Apprentice. I started with the Butcher’s Mistress cocktail – gin, lychee, basil, citrus – it was well-balanced and very refreshing. We were offered the ‘dry chips’ as a snack while deciding on the rest of the menu (very classy upselling!) and enjoyed every bite of the crisp potato, sweet potato and taro, salted delightfully with paprika. Next was the ‘crackle and pop’ – pork and chicken crackling with popcorn and more paprika. The skins were served cold and crispy, in perfect bite-sized pieces. The chacuterie plate had a very generous serve of cured meat, with a creative tomato jam and slightly charred, oiled bread. Next came the main – pork cheek served with rainbow chard, pickle, watermelon rind and a mound of orange blossom floss. The sweetness of the floss went so perfectly with the melt-in-your-mouth pork cheek! The star dish had to be the ‘chocolate’ dessert – a chocolate panna cotta lined the base of the bowl, topped with dark chocolate pearls, white chocolate flakes, chocolate floss and marmalade. Heaven! The Butcher’s Apprentice offers just the right pitch of fine dining with friendly, welcoming staff and truly exciting, creative food.

The Butcher’s Apprentice, 17 Redleaf Avenue, Wahroonga, NSW, no website

Grease Monkey

Patience is not a strength of mine, so when I saw that Grease Monkey, whose black garage shutter had been teasing all of Braddon for months, had opened, I couldn’t wait to go – so I didn’t. I grabbed my book, joined the (fairly long) queue to order, then took a perch at the stool along the front window to await my burger experience. I chose the ‘Greasy’ – their basic burger, with a beef patty, lettuce, cheese, onion, pickles and Greasy’s sauce plus tomato sauce and mustard. All the burgers come with chips, and whilst I did wait quite a while for my food (they were very busy), the portion was great value for $15. The burger itself was on a soft bun (oh the joy! This is what burger buns should be!), although I was surprised at how thin the patty was – the burger crumpled down a lot for ease of eating. But the flavour – oh yum. I am a huge fan of pickles and there were plenty, and whatever is in that Greasy’s sauce, it was gold. The chips were nice and crispy with a flavoured salt (chicken? peri peri?) on top. I really appreciated the uncomplicated menu and will be back to try the other burgers for sure.

Grease Monkey, 19 Lonsdale Street, Braddon ACT                              http://www.greasys.com.au/

Meating Room

I met my friend at the Meating Room in Weston for dinner a couple of nights after their opening, and was immediately impressed with the fitout and the atmosphere. The place was full of all sorts of groups (families, couples, groups of friends) at 6:30pm on a Sunday. We were seated in lovely armchairs and ordered a few things to share. The tapas came out together – arancini balls with a garlic sauce and pulled pork sliders – and really that would have been enough dinner for the both of us. The arancini was the highlight for me – with a crispy panko crumb and full of veggies, parmesan and rice, they went perfectly with the garlic sauce and were great value with 12 pieces on the plate. The sliders (2 in a serve) were tasty to start but the flavour faded after a few mouthfuls (not enough BBQ sauce?) – the pork was tender but my friend’s slider was very oily. Finally our Meatingroom pizza arrived – it was clearly made on site as the shape was imperfect, but the base was lovely and crispy and the topping was full of meat – chorizo, bacon, salami, pulled pork and beef – so good. The staff were exceptionally friendly and I look forward to many more cozy evenings exploring their menu.

Meating Room, 45B Liardet Street, Weston ACT                        http://meatingroom.com.au/

Zootz

The reviews for Zootz were mixed, so when we went for a celebratory dinner I was a bit worried about what might happen. Zootz has a fabulous location right near the jetty, and we were one of many groups seated outside. I’d heard it was a seafood place, but on arrival the menu didn’t actually have a lot of seafood options, and I couldn’t go past the call of a good steak. My friends ordered drinks and they took a while to come out – we had to ask after them twice before they arrived, which was a bit poor, even for a busy night. Our food arrived at the same time though, and I was amazed at the large cut on the plate. I’d ordered it medium-rare, which to me means pink in the middle, but sadly my steak was overdone. However, the flavours were incredible – the caramelised onion on top went nicely with the rich, smooth mashed potato and the sweet balsamic sauce drizzled on top. The steak itself was lovely and tender, although not melt-in-your-mouth, and both of us eating it agreed we would order it again. Don’t expect perfection, but Zootz offers a good value meal.

Zootz Kitchen Bar, 257 Seaview Road, Henley Beach SA                 http://zootzhenleybeach.wix.com/home

Charcoal Restaurant

Arriving at Charcoal felt like stepping back into another decade. I was one of the only women there, and the red leather seats and trolley cart service gave the atmosphere of an old school boy’s club. However, none of this detracted from the dining experience. Charcoal is a steak restaurant, so everyone in the group ordered one cut of steak or another. We ordered the anchovy bread to start, which must have been pan fried in butter is was so good – crispy, salty and morish there was nothing healthy and everything delicious about it. For my main, I picked the cajun fillet – something about meal with a good spice rub is always appealing. Our meals came out at the same time, and I liked the touch of a floret of butter served atop my steak. I’d ordered medium-rare and medium-rare I received, with tender pink hiding inside the charred outer meat. The cajun flavour was spicier than I expected, but I really enjoyed the smokey, vibrant taste. We received salad with our meals which was nice to break up the meat-fest. Charcoal isn’t cheap, but the quality was excellent and the setting is certainly unique.

Charcoal Restaurant, Melbourne Building, 61 London Circuit, Canberra ACT, no website