KINN THAI RESTAURANT - CIVIC, CANBERRA

Kinn Thai Restaurant
125 Bunda St
Civic, Canberra

It was only after visiting Kinn Thai in Canberra that we realised there are Kinn's in quite a number of states across Australia.

This one occupies a spot in a good location in the restaurant hub of Civic - a foodie location in the heart of Canberra that has grown a lot over the last few years.

Kinn opened here with little fanfare and yet it has quickly become very popular - a sure sign that the food there must be good.

It's actually quite a big place, with most of the seating inside but still having sufficient outside seating to take in those balmy Canberra late Spring, Summer and early Autumn evenings.

The menu at Kinn is quite extensive without being over the top. There is certainly something for everyone on their pages. The dishes are quite tangy and they all seem to be presented with a degree of flair to them.

They do traditional dishes with an innovative twist and it works well. The end result are some very tasty food that was full of flavour.

They also had plenty of comfort food options too - you know, those deep fried crispy ones that we always say we'll steer clear of but end up ordering anyway.

You won't regret getting them here.



We started with a few entrees - it's kind of hard not to. After a bit of debate we ended up choosing betel leaf - well two of them to be precise. This was described as a traditional Thai appetiser of betel leaf filled with tiger prawn and topped with Thai herbs and Kinn’s special sauce. They recommend you "throw these down" in one mouthful. They were delicious and we'd certainly have them again.

Next was the Kinn duck pancakes - roasted duck breast, cucumber and shallot wrapped in house made rosemary pancakes. These were tasty too, but we love duck.

Main course number one was the crispy pork belly - yes those comfort food dishes. This comes in a variety of ways, but we chose the Ka Na Moo Grob or stir fried garlic and Chinese broccoli. It certainly had plenty of garlic but it didn't overpower the rest of the dish. The Chinese broccoli added plenty of vibrant colour. It was another winner. Some steamed rice soaked up even more of the flavours.





















Finally, we moved on to what was probably the dish of the night - the chilli jam crispy soft shell crabs.

This dish had an instant wow factor as soon as it arrived at the table, with crispy soft shell crab piled high on the shallow bowl. It looked spectacular.

The taste was just as good too. The tasty sauce at the bottom of the bowl had us dipping and swirling food constantly. Fortunately there was plenty there.

Kinn Thai was impressive. Great food, attentive service and a pleasant environment.

MEZZALIRA RISTORANTE - CANBERRA CBD

Mezzalira Ristorante 
Cnr London Circuit and West Row
Canberra CBD

This was my third visit here. Its one of the better restaurants in Canberra. It has always had a good variety of good food on offer, good service and a pleasant decor. This visit was no different. Its located on the corner of London Circuit and West Row - in fact the doorway is literally on the corner.

Although the first picture below right does not do this meal justice it was delicious. The lamb was so tender and the flavours combined perfectly The same can be said for the salmon dish shown immediately below. All the desserts were also delicious.

This is a classy place and would suit a special occasion perfectly.

 

GINGER ROOM - CANBERRA

Ginger RoomOld Parliament House

King George Terrace, Parkes
Canberra

Ginger Room has a strong reputation for good food. This visit was for a function in a private room so the test was whether alternating dishes would stack up. I have to say the standard was good. All three courses tasted great, the service was good and its a pleasant place with so much history.

The main I had was lamb backstrap. It came with shitake mushroom, king brown mushroom, cavolo nero and garlic sage mash. The backstrap was well cooked with a nice pink colouring showing it wasn't overdone. The meals also came with table bowls of seasonal vegetables. It was a pleasant main course that was tasty and well presented.

The dessert was impressive to look at and tasted just as good - but it certainly helps if you have a sweet tooth! It was peanut butter mousse, nougat ice cream, caramel and a  chocolate wafer. The chocolate wafer was crisp, the mousse and ice cream delicious and the caramel was rich and morish.

Assuming the restaurant standard would exceed this then I'd certainly recommend this place.



LA SCALA - CANBERRA CBD

La Scala
Shop 7 Bunda St

Canberra CBD

La Scala is a nice place for a decent quality meal. The food is good, the service very good and the decor is very nice. Prices aren't cheap but its a quality restaurant.

I had the veal medallions with prawns. The photo quality isn't great here because I had to use my phone - so it doesn't do the meal justice. We dined with a group. Generally everyone said it was a decent meal - possibly not the best they had ever had but still good. The wine was ok as well - but again not awesome. La Scala has always delivered good quality food in pleasant surroundings and this meal was no exception.

CAFE ESSEN - CANBERRA CBD

Cafe Essen
6 Garema Place
Canberra CBD

Tucked away in a laneway in the CBD of Canberra is a plethora of cafe's (sorry I always wanted to use the word plethora!). Cafe Essen is one of them and it has some interesting things for breakfast and lunch - as well as some decent coffee too.

It had to be a light breakfast after a big night so I reluctantly stuck to some raisin toast and coffee instead of the more exotic options on offer. It was a cold morning too but the heaters here make outside dining not only an option - but an attractive one. The order was taken promptly, the food arrived quickly and the decor was pleasant. Its hard to have bad raisin toast - and this serving was nice.

The coffee here is good too. It came first, ahead of my toast, as it should. They also brought a bottle of water and a glass too - without me having to ask for it. These little things do make a difference and people notice them!

I like the look of this place. It has a nice feel to it. Its small and personal. The service is good, the menu options seem good and I'll certainly try it again for something else.



BLU GINGER - CANBERRA CBD

Blu Ginger
5 Genge St
Civic, Canberra CBD

Dining in groups at an Indian restaurant always gives everyone so many more food options to share doesn't it?

Blu Ginger has had a few ups and downs recently but we'd always liked their food before so we gave them another shot. It was certainly a good decision.

We started with the seekh kebab. A single serve of this is three pieces of charcoal grilled lamb mince marinated with exotic herbs and spices served with mint sauce and costs $10.90. Very tasty and juicy. We then moved on to the old favourite of chicken tikka. This comes with three pieces of tender chicken fillet (and it was tender too) marinated in yoghurt, tandoori spices and cooked in the tandoor. This costs $11.90.

Next up were some very interesting steamed dumplings - not something I've normally seen at Indian restaurants. They were a special and had pork mince in them and came in a serving of six for $12.90.

For our mains we started with the tried and true butter chicken. The meat dissolved and the sauce was succulent. It was very nice. The butter chicken costs $17.90.

We then moved on to lamb rogan josh - a mild lamb curry that comes from North India and  has a thick rich gravy with fresh tomatoes and a garnish of coriander. This was again very tasty and cost $18.90.

The Bombay beef looked like a good choice and it was. This is a house special of mild beef curry cooked with potatoes. It has a hint of fenugreek leaves (but I couldn't taste this) and cream. This dish costs $18.90 .

Our final main was a vegetarian option. We chose the kadai paneer - also from North India. This tasty serving is cooked roast capsicum, tomato and onion. It also has a semi dry masala sauce - but its hard to pick the masala over all the flavours it has. The dish costs $16.90 .

Naans and roti's cost around the $3.00 to $4.00 range depending on which ones you get. They were all tasty - and we tried plain naan, garlic naan and the plain roti.

Of course you have to have rice with Indian food to soak up all the lovely curry sauces. We had basmati safron rice which cost $3.00 per person.

Papadums are also $3.00 per serving and the accompanying cucumber yoghurt sauce (if you order it) is another $3.00 per serving. Many places give you the raita free with your meal.

Blu Ginger provided a very tasty meal. The surroundings are impacted by the HUGE ceilings but are nice, the service was fast and friendly and the value was solid too.

KOKO BLACK - CANBERRA CBD

Koko Black
Bunda St
Canberra

Its hard to resist a Koko Black chocolate shop isn't it? This one is always reasonably busy and for the first time ever I decided to grab a take away hot chocolate and a few goodies to share with some people. I have to confess - I wasn't even sure that they served take away - but after asking I found out that they do.

With so many great choices of chocolates where do you start? I have to confess I don't remember all the ones I chose - but they are (clockwise from bottom left) raspberry, cant remember (sorry), pistacio, chai, stout, salter caramel. Being a giving person I only had one - the stout. Hadn't tried this before and it was great - very thick and rich in flavour and texture. The chocolates were $1.95 each.

The take away hot chocolate is expensive here - $5.95 - but once you have that first sip you realise that it isn't any ordinary run of the mill hot chocolate. You actually taste real chocolate! This is different to the mass produced powdered varieties. Its so rich - almost to rich - and tastes like liquid chocolate. However, despite constant swirling it was still a bit to thick and rich to actually finish it all.

Koko Black has some great options for dining in as well. You can sit either inside or outside. They have great chocolates and other treats. Prices aren't cheap but you get great quality and service. 

KINGSLEYS STEAK & CRABHOUSE - CIVIC CANBERRA

Kingsleys Steak & Crabhouse
182 Bunda St
Civic Canberra CBD

Kingsleys have a few restaurants around the place - but this is the only one in Canberra. Its a bit pricier than some of the nearby places but its really good quality food and service in very pleasant surroundings.

It looks classy. They have indoor and outdoor seating and the place is quite popular. Its predominantly a steak house - that's what its best known for at least - and they do have good steaks here. Its quality meat, well cooked and presented, with attentive but not overbearing service.

Feeling like steak made this the perfect restaurant choice for the night!


 

I chose the 300 gram striploin (New York). This was described as 120 day grain fed, Riverine Premium Beef™ with a marble score of 2+. It came with thick cut chips and a small pot of bernaise sauce. It was a nice steak, cooked perfectly. Presentation was good - simple but effective. The chips were good and the bernaise sauce was mild but very tasty. The meal cost $36.90 - so its not a cheap steak but it was good.

Main number two was the eye fillet. At 200 grams it was a bit smaller than the New York cut but it was again a very nice steak, described in the menu as pasture fed eye fillet, grasslands (grazed I presume) and with a marble score of 2+.

Again it came with thick cut chips and a small pot of bernaise sauce. They cook the steaks so well here. This meal cost $36.90.



 

A side of steamed vegetables was needed to balance the meat - so we ordered them. There was a nice combination served up - not huge but tasty and fresh - and they cost $9.90 - so not cheap but again, very nice.




 

Finally some bread was added. They have a sourdough cob for only $4.00. Its tasty and fresh and good value too.




 

There is a decent wine list available to peruse and choose from. Our wine choice - a tasty pinot - was a Yealands Way Pinot Noir from Central Otago in New Zealand. It turned out to be a good drop and was decent value at $39.00 a bottle (or you could buy it by the glass for $10.00).

Kingsleys Steak and Crabhouse has very nice steaks that are well cooked and well presented. Service is good and their decor is pleasant. Prices aren't low - but you get quality for that.









 

FISH SHACK - CANBERRA CBD

Fish Shack
Petrie Plaza (off Bunda St)
Civic Canberra ACT

Nice food here, prepared to order and reasonable vale too with meals ranging from around $10 to $16. If you want fish you can get it in a wide variety of ways - grilled, crumbed, beer battered, tempura battered or steamed. There are also a variety of dips to go with your fish - you can choose from lime aioli, roast garlic aioli, tartare or wasabi aioli.


 I was feeling healthy - strangely - so went for grilled fish fillet with salad (and no chips - and boy it hurt saying that!). The quantity was good - around 120 grams - and the fish was moist and well cooked. The salad that came with it was mixed leaf with Spanish onion and it also had lemon and tartare. It was a nice meal - but it really needed chips - who orders fish and no chips!!!

Fish Shack is good. The food is fresh, well cooked and tasty. Prices are reasonable too. You can eat in or take away. My meal was $8.50.

BURMESE CURRY PLACE - CANBERRA

Burmese Curry Place
106 City Walk
Canberra

This place is great. Its small, plain, hard to find and yet really busy - there are queue's most lunch times.

There are about ten different food options and for lunch you can choose two. I chose number 3 - sweet pork, and number 7 - chicken and prawn. This came with rice. It was a good sized serving of both dishes.



The pork was extremely tender - and it was sweet as described. The chicken and prawn was very tasty too - with plenty of plump juicy prawns and soft tender chicken. This was a great combination.

The food at Burmese Curry Place is great. The serving sizes are great too. Its a winner on all levels. Take away is only $6.99 - or eat in is $7.99 (but its not the greatest location for this).

GUS CAFE - CANBERRA

Gus Cafe
Shop 8 Garema Arcade
Canberra



This place has been around since 1967 - the sign says this. Its a Canberra institution open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can eat inside or outside - but outside is by far the best spot. You can take in the busy Civic end of town as you enjoy a meal, snack or coffee.

Arriving for breakfast and feeling like muesli I ordered it - and this arrived (see picture). It was a combination of muesli, fruit, yoghurt and drizzled with honey. It was extremely tasty and quite filling. The combination of flavours and textures went really well.

The coffee at Gus is really good. Possibly not the best ever but better than plenty of places.

Muesli, coffee and an extra hot chocolate came to $20 - so its not dirt cheap but it was decent in both quality and quantity.

Gus Cafe has been around for a long while - so it must be doing something right. The food is tasty and there are interesting combinations. Its well worth a visit.