Temporada re-run

With so many new restaurants coming out and so many good existing ones, I rarely would go out of my way to go back to a place where I found it mediocre but I’m always up for second chances. I didn’t love Temporada like everyone else did when it first opened but it has been a few years so maybe things have changed. TimmyC was keen to go back because we had such fond memories of their beef rib sliders.

We were seated at the bar which meant lots of table space but the seats were uncomfortable and towards the end of the meal, TimmyC and I ended up standing up while finishing our meal. 

 

To start~

House-made sourdough and cultured butter ($2.50).Their bread was delicious but the butter was definitely the best part. Order this when you sit down, then it will be perfectly timed to arrive when you have just finished ordering the rest of the meal.

Wood grilled pippies, saffron and chorizo ($20.00). I found the sauce to be most addictive to eat and I resorted to dipping my bread in it to get every last drop. Unfortunately the sauce and really salty chorizo probably drowned out the natural taste of the pippies.

BBQ King prawn, bourride ($9.00 each). TimmyC’s prawn came out of its shell rather easy but I found mine was stuck to the shell which made it really difficult to eat. I got a lot of ‘burnt’ taste in my mouth from the charred legs as I resorted to pulling the prawn meat off with my teeth. The prawn meat itself was sort of sweet but I didn’t enjoy this dish.

Zucchini flower, spanner crab, lemon ($9.00 each). These don’t look like much but they came out piping hot without being oily and they were delicious. Definitely my top pick of the smalls plates that we tried.

Filled with crabby goodness.

Wood grilled dry aged 500g T-bone, smoked potato, pink peppercorn, leeks ($45.00). TimmyC always jokes that T-bones are a ‘private steak’ for me because I like to pick up the bone and get every last bit of meat, but this was served pre-cut which meant for easy eating and sharing. The steak itself wasn’t anything special and I was hoping for more butter and smooth texture from the potato.

The steak wasn’t amazing but it was cooked perfectly.

We still weren’t overly impressed with the food but more importantly our bums were super sore from the seats, so we decided to pay the bill and head somewhere else for dessert. My friend who was also there having dinner that night was coincidentally sitting at the bar next to us, eventually she got a sore bum too but her party of two really enjoyed their duck main and would happily come back again. I guess it depends on experiences and the food that you order, but I won’t be in a hurry to come back again, maybe if they get beef ribs sliders back on the menu.

We sat near the kitchen entrance so it was easy to flag down staff when we wanted a water refill etc, the food wait time was very minimal and it was fairly busy by the time we had left.

See my previous post about Temporada here.

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Temporada

After several attempts of trying to making a booking at Temporada (I think I left three calls on their answering machine at various times), they finally rang back and said that they could reserve a table for four people at 7:30pm on the Thursday with no problems.

It is located next to the Hellenic club in the city which limits you to street parking or parking aaaaaall the way near the court house unless there is a secret space that I’m unaware of? Not the most convenient location.Inside shows very limited seating with a lot of the dining area around the central bar, one side has small tables and raised bar stools and the long length of the wall has table and chairs. I was very happy that we were shown to a table and not the area around the bar.The outdoor seating looked flimsy and was made from thin metal, sitting on the high stools on the side or at the bar didn’t look comfortable but the seats we sat on weren’t that great either. Let’s make this meal quick before my bum gets sore.I like the funky light fittings they have on the wall.To start~

House sourdoughand cultured butter ($2.50 each, apparently this is two serves of bread). Was the butter really soft and creamy? Yes, but the one thing it lacked was the touch of salt that gives it that extra oompf and flavour. The bread was cold too making the beginning of the meal off to a bad start. Unless you’re waiting for people and you’re starving, I’d skip ordering the bread.

Pigs head roll, romesco, coleslaw ($7.00 per roll). I’m not usually drawn to menu items that say ‘pig’s head’ but I thought I’d be adventurous and try this. The pig’s head meat was made into a little patty and I couldn’t even tell it was pork let alone meat from the head. One of the prominent flavours was the charred burnt bun which was unpleasant.

Beef short rib roll, fermented cucumber, horseradish mayo ($8.00 each roll). I could smell the succulent scent of rib when I held the bun up to my face and I thought to myself ‘this was going to be amazing’. It didn’t disappoint, this meal was starting to turn around! YUM YUM YUM! I wish I could add scents and flavours to my blog, but I guess you’ll have to come here yourself to get one.

I love the bag hooks that they have at the bar but the seats look really uncomfortable to sit on especially during the whole duration of a dinner.Plates~

Grilled sweet corn, lime butter, coriander ($9.00). Yep you read that right, I paid $9 bucks for a cob of corn, a very delicious corn, but just for one cob nonetheless. The flavours of lime and coriander incorporated with the butter does wonders though, I might try this at home.Cape grim beef rib eye, chimmichurri, garlic kale, zucchini ($35.00). I couldn’t tell if it was the only thing on the menu the guys were willing to try or if they were sick of waiting for me to quickly take photos of their food before they could start eating but all three boys ordered the same thing. A good piece of beef, but that’s all it was – ‘good but not great’, nothing special here which was disappointing with the attached price tag.Grilled lamb ribs, spiced eggplant, lemon dressing ($33.00). I really liked the ‘lemon-y’ touch but towards the end of my meal I felt like I was heavily weighed down by a lot of oil and I didn’t feel that great afterwards (like the feeling you would get if you were to yum cha and ate all the fried food without drinking Chinese tea). The lamb was tender and fell easily away from the bone, despite being oily I liked this more than the steak because I thought it had more interesting flavours.

The wait for/between meals was rather short with the staff being efficient, very friendly and attentive.

I had high hopes for this venue after getting such rave reviews from other bloggers but for me this was overall pretty disappointing. I hope they weren’t influenced by the hype of who owns Temporada just because it is the same people from Aubergine. If it wasn’t for all the initial bread intake, I’m pretty sure I would have been just as full as when I left Mocan and Green Grout (i.e. still hungry).

I’m not about to give it a thumbs down but I’m not exactly going to rush out there anytime soon either. I think I would have just been content with three beef rib rolls which would have meant my bill total would have been $24.00 rather than $60.00. It has almost fine dining prices without the same standard of food or atmosphere i.e. had decent seats and ambience.

Venue: Temporada

Address: 15 Moore St, Canberra, ACT 2601

Phone: (02) 6249 6683