Cream
Bunda St
Canberra
Pleasant decor, friendly service (lots of new staff) and good reliable food make Cream a good dining option.
Cream has indoor and outdoor seating options and both are pleasant. We ate inside with our group of seven and it worked well. I know some have commented on bad experiences with staff - but I've never had a problem. Our table service was efficient and friendly throughout the night.
We started with a couple of serves of the dips entree - described in the menu as "trio of house-made dips w/ char grilled pita bread". We had beetroot, hommos and sundried tomato served with pita bread that was still warm. It was a tasty start! At $11 per serving its good value too. All the dips were tasty - but the beetroot dip possibly needs something extra to give it some more kick.
My favourite here is chimmichunga - described as tandoori chicken, bacon, mushroom, mozzarella. Cheese & chipotle chilli wrapped in a flour tortilla, lightly fried & served w/ ranch dressing. Its a big meal accompanied by a small side salad. If your hungry though, its tasty and very filling. Chimmichunga costs $24 - but in my book its a bargain and has never let me down!
The veal backstrap looked and tasted great. It was billed as vela backstrap w juniper berry coating on purple sweet potato puree, kipfler wedges, asparagus w halapeno and borlotti beans. Although one of the pricier meals there at $34 it looked well worth it.
Risotto was chosen off the specials board by two of the group. It was described as slow braised beef cheeks, w pumpkin, Spanish onion, snow peas, olive oil and micro herbs and cost $27. Whilst it looked good, both diners who chose the risotto said it was a bit bland and needed some punch.
Salmon Salad - poached atlantic salmon tossed w/ snowpeas, roquette,
cherry tomatoes & sicilian green olives - $21. This was in the entree section but was big enougfh for a main course - and there was plenty of good sized chuncks of salmon too.
The kingfish from the specials board looked good and was well received. The baord described it as - Kingfish - marinated fillet on a chickpea sofrito, manchego cheese, roasted tomato, fresh rocket & a sherry saffron sauce - $34.
Lamb shanks - slow braised in olive oil, white wine and oregano w/ roast lemon potatoes and tzatziki. ($33)
A good drop to accompany a meal - as we discovered. I think this was the second bottle!
Mains ordered varied from items in the menu to others on the specials board - prominently displayed on an inside wall.
Cream is a good dining option for a decent meal and its has never us down.
