Month: February 2016

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn food10 Comments

When your weekend is busy, you need sustenance or have yum cha with friends. 
#foodblogger #cbr #localcan #canberrafood #food #foodie #foodblogger #instafood #yumcha #dumplings #tea  

 

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Soju girl re-run

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn food1 Comment

When some friends and I were catching up we didn’t want to be disappointed so we went to an old favourite, Soju girl in Civic. I tried to order modestly and we were all happily full and pleased with the overall meal.

Some of us were driving so we opted for the delightfully sweet mocktails: designated driver yuzu juice, apple juice, sugar syrup orange bitters, ginger beer and the healthy option lychee juice, peach juice, green tea syrup, rhubarb bitters ($12.00 each).Duck bao, peking duck, pickled cucumber, cabbage slaw, hoisin mayo ($6.00 each). Wow, a soft fluffy bun of a decent size found in a Canberra restaurant for less than $9, other restaurants please take note. A great combination of savoury meat mixed with crunchy fresh flavours of the vegetables.Small share plates~

Tempura vegetables, ginger soy dressing, paprika foam ($14.00). I was worried that it would be too meat heavy if I ordered the way I wanted to, so I threw in this plate for good measure; fried vegetables still count. Nice and crispy without being oily, I preferred the ginger soy dressing but I did appreciate the lovely whipped consistency of the paprika foam.Crispy pork belly, chilli salt, apple puree, bacon candy ($19.00 5 pieces). I have never been disappointed with Soju girl’s pork belly, it is always crispy with the perfect amount of meat to fat ratio to not feel like you’re just eating something really fatty.Pulled pork roti, melted cheese, chilli mayo, soft herb salad ($18.00 4 pieces). The roti was nice and flaky while the pork was tender and the cheese glued it all together. I would consider this a heavier dish if you weren’t sharing it with three or more people.Medium and large share plates~

We shared rice with our mains ($4.00)

Wok tossed crispy honey chicken, chickpeas, banana ($35.00). Just looking at the photo of the receipt now, we were apparently charged $38.00 for this dish. I wasn’t the biggest fan of this as I felt that it was too sweet and the addition of banana really threw me off. It was like a bizarre take on sweet and sour pork, but the sweetness and banana made me think it almost belongs in the dessert category.Beef cheek, pickled cabbage salad, Penang cashew curry ($44.00). A beautiful rich curry with tender beef. A bit steep in price for a curry, but it adequately fed us all.Dessert~

Mango pudding, passionfruit granita, mango jelly, pomelo, strawberry ($16.00). I’ve eaten a fair few mango puddings in my time but this one trumps them all. The pudding texture was very soft and delicate (unlike the stiff gelatinous ones you get from yum cha), while the mango jelly provided some chewy texture. The combination of fruit really made this dessert a clean and light way to finish the meal, this was my favourite dessert of the night.How pretty is this dessert?!Cinnamon waffle sundae, chocolate sauce, honeycomb, crushed nuts, raspberry puree ($16.00). “One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong”, this song came to mind as I tasted this dessert. The other desserts were so visually stunning and delicious, while this dessert looked like an 5 year old got to choose what was for dessert and slapped it all together with OTT condiments. I took a big spoonful, digging up from the bottom and between the nuts, raspberry puree and ice cream, it just tasted like I was eating granola soaked in ice cream. I dared not try the waffle as it was limp and bendy and a friend told me the honeycomb was burnt and the taste was very strong. I quickly flicked back to one of the other desserts.Chocolate fondant, spiced chocolate anglaise, white chocolate soil, blackforrest ice cream ($19.00). I was surprised to read that this ice cream was blackforrest flavoured as my friend and I thought it tasted very artificial and sweet, almost bubble gum-esque. As far as chocolate fondants go, this wasn’t ridiculously sweet and rich which made it quite the perfect dessert. If you share this dessert with chocolate lovers, be prepared to eat fast or you’ll get nothing at all (yes TimmyC I’m referring to when I share desserts with you).As usual, the staff were very friendly and food came out pretty promptly. Even though I didn’t love all the dishes, I was pretty impressed with the overall meal.
Soju Girl Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
 

 

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Last night’s family dinner was as easy as pie!
When I couldn’t get a creamy chicken pie at a bakery recently, I took matters into my own hands. Super easy and you can hide lots of vegetables inside. 
#homemade #australia #pie #chicken #food #foodie #delicious #instafood #instadaily #foodporn #cbr #canberrafood #canberrablogger #foodblogger   

Pod Food re-run

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn food3 Comments
We went out for a double date to Pod Food with another couple who had purchased a living social voucher. It was the promise of lovely food with fantastic company, an offer we could not refuse.
 
Mocktail ($10.00).
I had asked our waiter if I could have a mocktail, he then asked for the flavours that I’d like and all I specified was it to be sweet. He came back with this concoction and although he mixed several things together, all I could predominately taste was ginger ale with a slightly sweet after taste (reminded me of vanilla coke but with ginger ale). I didn’t mind it, but the bubbly nature of the drink made me sip slowly so not to get full from this beverage.
Bread with fennel pollen butter ($6.00 4 pieces). I not exactly sure who thinks of putting foraged fennel pollen in butter but they are a genius. With the combination of superb warmed bread, we couldn’t help but order another serve.
Living social voucher was a 5 course dinner degustation for four people ($249)
 
Tasting menu~
South coast snapper tartare, nectarine, radish, rice crisp. The delicate crisp held really well together as we took multiple bites to finish this. This was stunning to look at and a nice refreshing way to start the dinner; we were all very impressed.
Duck replacement. They had run out of eggplant custard by the time we got to this course so they said that the chef was changing it to something to do with duck breast. This duck ‘spring roll’ with morcilla and green tomato felt very thrown together and was a confused fusion of asian and south american. I didn’t like it and it was even more disappointing for this course to follow such a brilliant start.
Chicken consomme, soft egg, soba noodles, oyster mushroom, toast. The consomme was a one note, salty broth that didn’t bring to life the other somewhat bland ingredients. I ate it quickly because I was hungry and there was a rather long wait between courses.
Char-grilled beef, sweet potato galette, apricot, fennel. This wasn’t the nicest beef that I have had and it felt a little dry in parts, but I really did enjoy the apricot sweet touches to the main.
Chocolate mousse, blackberry, crème fraîche ice cream. The chocolate mousse was very sweet and rich but it was balanced out by the crème fraîche ice cream. It was a nice way to finish off the meal. 
A close up shot of the desssert.The dinner degustation that we had was inconsistent but overall I was not too impressed with the meal, which is a shame because I usually enjoy the food here. The night was not made better by the fact that we were sitting outside being eaten alive by mosquitoes that were raging in the fountain near by. Despite this, we found the staff to be very polite, attentive and friendly.
Venue: Pod Food
Address: 12 Beltana Rd, Pialligo ACT 2609

Enlighten Night Noodle Markets 2016

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OMG I just read the stallholders for this year and I am EXCITED to say the least.
Everybody loves Ramen- I’m heading straight for ya!

The line up includes:

Bao Stop                             Black Star Pastry                    Chairman & Yip

Lilotang                              Miss Vans                                  Hoy Pinoy

Korean Twist Potato        Kusina                                       Donburi Station

East Street Canberra       Kiyamachi Tei                         Lets Do Yum Cha

Mini Pancakes                   Mr. Papa                                   Everybody Loves Ramen

Soi Noodle Bar                   Spanthai                                   Teppanyaki Noodles

Thirst Wine Bar                 Waffle on a Stick                     Thai in a Box

 

 

Venue: Enlighten Night Noodle Markets

Address: Reconciliation Place

Opening hours: 4th-13th March 2016 5pm till late

Multicultural festival 2016 – day 1

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And so it begins…

Rum baba, hello my friend. We only see each other once a year and I feel it is never long enough *om nom nom*

#multicultural #food #foodie #canberrafood #canberrablogger #foodblogger #cbr #localcan #italian 

 Dessert intermission  

 The other foods we sampled last night; some old favourites and some new curiosities. Top right was Inca Grecian fusion- some pieces of the beef skewer were tender and some parts were chewy but there was lots of flavour on them and they have a nice chilli sauce for that extra kick. Beirut chips were apparently served by hot guys but the chips weren’t anything special. 

Span thai are selling the most blandest paella but the Argentinians do a great pork rib 
#multicultural #food #foodie #canberrafood #canberrablogger #foodblogger #cbr #localcan #inca #grecian #thai #greek #beirut #spanish #argentina  

 

Honey joys 

On By Tales of a ConfectionistIn food4 Comments

I blame @mib19 for making these honey joys. When she mentioned it the other day, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them and it doesn’t make things better knowing how easy they are to make. 
#bakecravings #honeyjoys #cornflakes #easybaking #cbr #canberrafood #canberrablogger #morningtea #food #foodie #foodblogger