——-07/04/2012——-
There weren’t many places were open during the Easter weekend and Mum didn’t want to cook every night (I didn’t cook because oh how I miss her cooking) so we headed out to d’browes in Narrabundah for dinner.
I have had many enjoyable dinners at Marinetti’s and when people told me that the head chef went and started his own restaurant in 2005 called d’browes where they have kept the much loved favourites like the lamb shanks, duck livers and ‘bongo bongo’ on the menu (and the food was much nicer), I was super excited. I have been here on several occasions now and some dishes have wowed me and some have been disappointing but it might be because I’m comparing the dishes to Marinetti’s and for the extra price, it isn’t worth it.
Bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (not complimentary)
Entree~ ($14.50)
Scallops grilled with garlic herb butter As soon as the dish was placed in front of me, I remembered I had had this entree last year when I came here for my birthday and I sighed with disappointment. I didn’t enjoy the huge roe lobes which dominate the small portions of actual scallop or the style of cooking. Some of them even felt like they weren’t cooked all the way through, I really have to stop ordering this.
Mushrooms field and forest mushrooms with white wine parsley cream Not as great as my memories of Marinetti’s version which is a shame because it is one of my favourite dishes.
Mains~ ($27.50)
Duck crispy duck Maryland coated with poached pear jus The pear was amazing- sweet and juicy and covered in spices but it overpowered the taste of the duck, it was almost like eating a duck dessert. The meat was also a little dry.
Eye fillet char-grilled with a classic pepper cream sauce A good piece of steak with a good portion of peppercorns in the sauce.
Vitello con funghi veal pan fried with mushrooms sage and vermouth sauce An ok dish although the sauce was a bit oily.
Special- Hungarian goulash slow cooked for 8 hours with sauerkraut, paprika and beef If a special was so great it would be on the menu and this one should be! A delicious rich goulash with tender chunks of beef slow cooked to perfection bringing out all the flavours in the sauce.
Sorry about the flash, it was very dark within the restaurant, not the best blogging environment.
Dessert~ ($11.00)
Profiteroles choux pastry filled with ice-cream topped with chocolate sauce this was the finale to the dinner and what we were soooo looking forward to and for me this fell completely flat. My sister didn’t really like it because of the almonds, which I think they accidentally put on because the other dessert had it. The choux pastry was overly hard and we struggled to cut portions with our spoon. The best part would be the chocolate sauce but overall very disappointing.
Pears and Zabaglione poached pears with rich egg marsala custard topped with roasted almonds and cream A delicious custard covering perfectly poached pears- yum! A great combination of textures between the roasted almonds, poached pears and creamy custard.
D’browes wasn’t my first choice for taking my Mum and sister to experience Canberra dining but I was thoroughly impressed that they didn’t have a surcharge during the Easter weekend considering some places were charging up to 15% surcharge.
Venue: D’browes
Address: 59 Boolimba Crs, Narrabundah, ACT 2604
Phone: (02) 6295 6990
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 