Butterbing

I love Canberra’s food community – we’re a friendly bunch, and no more so than when queuing for exciting delicious things. Butterbing, the purveyor of fine cookie sandwiches stuffed full of buttercream, stopped by with a one-day-only pop up stall in front of Barrio yesterday, and while in the line I had a lovely chat to another food afficionado who had been working out to earn her cookie sandwiches. I had no such excuse, but proceeded to order 4 flavours – almond crunch, orange, peanut butter and the flavour developed especially for Canberra, golden gaytime. I then invited my best friend over for a tasting. First thing to note – the cookies themselves are like eating the best brownie you’ve ever had, slightly crispy on top and soft and rich within. I started with the almond crunch – the buttercream had a lovely salty kick to counteract the sweetness and there were plenty of almonds within – this was my friend’s favourite. Next up was the orange, with a true citrus flavour – sweet, but not sickly sweet. The peanut butter was delightful – chocolate and salty peanut butter belong together, especially when they are both of this quality. Finally the golden gaytime, which had to be my favourite, tasted exactly like the icecream, just without the biscuit crunch. Heaven. Butterbing, please #cometocanberra to stay!

Butterbing, sadly not yet stocked in Canberra, https://www.butterbing.com.au

Kong BBQ

I was a bit confused when I first saw the sign for Kong BBQ – it was half written in Japanese, but when I approached the menu looked like Korean fusion. Ok, I don’t mind a bit of cultural confusion, as long as it’s tasty! Luckily despite the language/cuisine conflict, Kong has some very tasty offerings, many of which come with my favourite form of cabbage – kimchi! As a takeaway lunch from the pop up stall in the city, I started with two different buns – the smoked brisket and the spicy pork belly.  Both are served in a soft bun and are packed full of flavour and spice (and kimchi).  Bring your tissues for runny noses and oozy sauce – not elegant, but when food tastes that good who cares? To finish, I shared a chicken roti roll with lemon and (you guessed it) kimchi – this was far and away the highlight, and I would have eaten two more of them if there was any space left in my stomach.

Kong BBQ, Rue and Co (pop up), 80 Collins Street, Melbourne            http://www.kongbbq.com.au/