——-30/05/2012——-
I have some work friends who are also keen foodies and we wanted to go out for lunch. We decided against Asian as we had it the last few times and we wanted to try something different, but when you take out Asian it really cuts down on your options.
Ethiopian- we’ve all eaten it and probably have eaten at the same two restaurants: Fekerte’s and Ethiopian Down under. So when I mentioned that I had seen a new (well new to me) Ethiopian restaurant near the Jolimont centre, we quickly google street mapped to stalked down Global cafe and bar.
From the website:
“Most traditional Ethiopian curries are mild, so they can be enjoyed by people who like the flavours of exotic spices without the heat. However, extra chilli paste is available on request to those who prefer hot curries.”
We didn’t realise they had a lunch special, it was just a happy coincidence!
A selection of meat curries, lentils and vegetables. You get a choice of rice or Injera an Ethiopian bread. We decided to get rice for the table and everyone gets their own bread.
Vegetarian/Vegan~
Alicha Wat– split yellow peas with garlic, ginger and tumeric.
Vegie toss– pan fried cabbage, carrot and green beans.
Duba Wat– spiced pumpkin stewed with tomato and burbere sauce.
Kik Wat– red lentils slowly simmered in a spicy sauce.
Meat/chicken~
Doro Wat– chicken slowly simmered with tomato, paprika and hard boiled egg.
Key Wat– beef hotpot slowly simmered with tomato, paprika and traditional flavours.
Like every other meal, I found it very hard to choose which 3 curries I wanted so the lady who was serving us kindly let us try four.
All the different combinations the table had:
Pumpkin, yellow lentils, beef and chicken curry.
Red lentils, vegie toss, chicken and beef curry.
Chicken, beef, pumpkin and red lentils.
Red and yellow lentils with a chicken and beef curry.
A chilli paste that I was not daring enough to try.
Some Iced tea to wash it all down.
Service was very casual and friendly and with everything already cooked you can have a cheap fast lunch here with little effort. The curries were somewhat flavoursome and it was great to see such a variety in flavours but not working in the city and having to find a car park, I don’t think it was that fantastic that I would come out of my way to eat here again, even if it is $8.00 for the lunch special.
Venue: Global cafe and bar
Address: 63 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra City
Phone: (02) 6247 4104
Opening hours:
Lunch Monday to Friday: 11am – 3pm
Dinner Monday to Friday: 5pm – 8pm
Delicious vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options also available
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 