They say the safest place to put a large metal spike in a car is the centre of the steering wheel, so applying that same theory, The Copa should be the safest restaurant in Canberra given the recent press and with everyone’s skeptical eye watching its every move, right?
I was asked repeatedly if I would come here after the salmonella outbreak and I replied that there were a lot of other restaurants in Canberra I could eat at and I probably wouldn’t, but never say never…
They were offering $30.00 pp (usually $45.00) all your can eat for the month of June and a group of my friends were going so I thought I’d go along for the ride and take advantage of the offer and it looked like everyone else was too, it was packed!
There is a token for each individual person on the table and you flip it over once you’re done. There were some jokes about bringing me a fishing pole but I had high hopes with so many choices of meat and sides that getting full would be easy.
All ready to go! We were seated at the very furthest corner of the restaurant but I was hoping that wouldn’t be a problem (besides me trying to get to the toilet).
Cheese bread starters with a variety of dips – a tasty cheese puff with an unusual texture but remember, don’t fill up on the bread!
Tonight’s special – octopus and chorizo.
Sides~ although there were a large variety of sides, they gave us three and said we could order more. Nothing too exciting here, I was waiting for the meat.
Brazillian style rice, black beans and chorizo and braised cabbage
Chorizo – pig and chilli. A delicious chorizo with a real spicy kick!
Bachalau – creamy coconut and tomato reduction. A light fish with a mild taste mostly its lending the flavour from the coconut milk.
Lula – spicy baby squid. Easy to eat and not chewy at all, although the sauce the squid and prawns were in were loaded with chilli and lemon.
Camarao – king prawn cutlets.
Ricau – chicken thigh fillet wrapped in bacon. It did remain moist because they used thighs but I’m not the biggest fan of chicken when there is red meat to be had.
Picanha – rump cap spicy. Depending on where the server cut for you, you could get a rare piece or well done piece, all you have to try and get though is an outside juicy seasoned area otherwise you’ll be stuck with an unseasoned dry/rare piece of meat.
Porculeiro – pork neck on parmesan crumb. A really succulent piece of pork and the parmesan creates a crispy outer coating. I was looking forward to getting more of this but it never came back.
Loin – lemon and oregano. This was seasoned with a lot of oregano and my piece was a bit dry, it need some pepper and gravy.
Although no one had flipped their button over, one of the waiters seemed to serve everyone around us and I had to actively call him over before he offered us some of his skewer.
The food stopped coming which was abrupt and without warning and while they were trying to clear table I had to ask if there was at least any more pineapple, after the waitress went to check she said that there was only the vegetable skewers and pineapple left. The first pieces of pineapple were mostly the core and inedible but the second pieces were all coated in cinnamon sugar and juicy.
A very big and spacious restaurant with a very big churrasco imported from Brazil.
Needless to say I never turned my token over, it just seemed like they decided to stop serving food without telling anyone.
The bathrooms looked rather funky having giant pales with stones as the sinks but the large pieces of duct tape taping the mirror to the wall was a bit alarming and it seems like they also haven’t bothered to finish the outside decking area.
They have removed all egg products from the menu since ‘the incident’ and I can safely say that I went there last night and I am still alive. There were good things and bad things just like most restaurants but I didn’t like how they stopped serving food without any warning (and we didn’t even get offered half the available menu!) and because we had a later booking and placed in the back corner it was not advantageous or helping our cause.
The food here was good, some things were a lot better than others and at the discounted price it was pretty good value and made it very easy to split the bill, but if you do come here, I would opt for a table close to the churrasco and an earlier starting time. I would have liked to have tried more than I was offered.
They have an all new price list from 1st July- adults $39 and children $19.
Venue: The Copa
Address: 5/55 Woolley St, Dickson, ACT 2602
Phone: (02) 6249 8880
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 