Seddon Deadly Sins
I was excited to try a brunch place that was located somewhere other than the city, inner North, South or East. Having rarely ventured into the west side of the city, it made for a nice change of scenery. The place itself was very charming, with a very cute little courtyard out the back where customers could dine alfresco. The menu also read nicely and the prices were reasonably, noticeably less expensive than many brunch places not in the west. I went for the chicken parma, which I rarely if ever order. This one was nice, a very generous serving with nicely crispy crumbed chicken and an abundance of ham, tomato sauce and cheese. However, as I cut towards the middle of the chicken, it was clear that it was fully cooked as it oozed blood and still had that undercooked chicken texture which is very distinctive.While I rarely send food back, on this occasion I made an exception since it was you know, raw chicken. What happened next convinced me never to return to this place. After a few minutes the dish was returned to me with the embarrassed looking waitress saying that the chef had taken a look and that it was in fact cooked. So if you're willing to go to a place with arrogant chefs willing to put their put their patrons' health at risk, try Seddon Deadly Sins.
Westlake
For some reason, I've found that the yum cha in Melbourne is not as good, and not as cheap, as those in Perth. For a city with such great food and a high population of Chinese immigrants, I've always found this odd. Westlake in Chinatown is no exception to the below-par yum cha experiences in Melbourne. The food was average and the prices were OK, but still more expensive than what you'd pay for the same stuff in Perth. The service, however, is terrible. The three of us were chatting at our table after finishing our food when the wait staff literally came up to us and told us to leave because other people were waiting. Still the rudest experience I've had in a restaurant.
Binh Minh
Of all the ridiculously busy and popular Vietnamese places along Victoria St, Binh Minh is definitely amongst the busiest and most popular. I can only put its popularity down to its prime location at the beginning of the street, because, hell, it can't be due to the food or service. On the night we went there was a ridiculously loud and raucous children's birthday party happening which while it made the experience unpleasant, wasn't exactly the fault of the restaurant. The setting, however, was bad enough on its own. The upstairs area where we were seated looked semi abandoned and like it hadn't been refurbished in yonks. This would have been forgiven if the food was any good but it was very mediocre. The pho that I ordered was bland, not to mention a small portion and more expensive than what you'd pay at many other places along Vic St. The service was also pretty non-existant. There are definitely much better places along Victoria Street.
Chimac
West Melbourne is positively a mini mecca for Korean food in the city and Chimac is no exception. Tucked away on Peel St near the Queen Vic Markets, you've probably passed it a number of times. Do yourself a favour though and walk in for a bite when you're next in the area. Walking in, the place is definitely hip and well thought out. Upon sitting, you get some complimentary fried spaghetti to nosh on while you wait for your food. The KFC served here is DELICIOUS and very flavoursome. The bulgogi we had here was also very tasty. The only slight complaint is that I don't think they offer unlimited banchan.
La Cantina
Staying with the Queen Vic Markets theme, inside the markets themselves you'll find a surprisingly good Mexican/Latin American eatery. La Cantina is only open on the days the market is open, so not on Mondays and Wednesdays and I believe only for lunch. We've been here a couple of times and enjoyed it. On the most recent visit, I went for a very tasty chicken borrito, having not been a fan of their beef (which I found too chewy). This burrito was nicely sized and the addition of the spicy sauce you can help yourself to really gave it that extra oomph. Prizes are also reasonable and the staff are friendly.
Canberra
Saigon Fresh
While banh mi is a common sight in the likes of Melbourne and Sydney, this is certainly not the case for Canberra. Unfortunately you have to the places like Gungahlin and Mawson to get a decent one. When work sent me to Gungahlin for the day, I took the opportunity to try Saigon Fresh. The little shop is sort of hidden away in one of the Gungahlin malls but it was worth the little search. The rolls are fresh and tasty and it was actually the first I had a cold pork roll, as I normally go for the grilled meats. It was surprisingly tasty though and at $6(?) it was good value for Canberra. Yes, yes, we all know you pay $4 for them in Melbourne but $6 for a nice sandwich is still good value, no? If you're a banh mi purist you might take issue with the fact they use red onion instead of spring onion, but I didn't mind, it still made for one might tasty sanga.
Pho Phu Quoc
I've said before that Vietnamese cuisine is actually pretty decent in Canberra and Pho Phu Quoc is no exception. I had first came here when I came up for the weekend to inspect apartments before my move over. You know, the good old days, before I actually had to live here. Anyway, I've seen been back here a few times as their they do a nice bowl of pho, nice chewy noodles and a very aromatic broth. Be warned though, it is a pretty small serving and I dislike the fact that it's served in a shallow bowl, which to me takes away from the experience of eating a bowl of pho. I also always ask for less beef and extra noodles, because I'm weird like that. Service here is very variable. They were nice when I came here with colleagues but can often be rude and inattentive. You usually have to ask 3+ times for some water.
Griffith Vietnamese
M recently had a conversation where the gist of it was that when something is described as a *insert city here* institution, it usually means the place isn't very good. However, I'm glad to say that this isn't true for Griffith Vietnamese. The place is partly famous for all the messages left on the wall by politicians. My personal favourite is the one from the Member for Isaacs, Mark Dreyfus, because he made the effort to write a bit in Vietnamese. The couple of times I've been here has been with a group and inevitably, as is the done thing here, we ask the kitchen to simply give us a few dishes and some rice to share. These tend to be Chinese-Vietnamese style stir fries which are mostly very tasty. Personally, though, I prefer more Vietnamese-Vietnamese fare. I've always found it odd that they don't serve pho. Do try the caramel pork, though, it's delicious.
Iori Plus
Came here for a celebration lunch with my team. I was in charge of booking and organising for the large group (25+) and the staff were very accommodating with my requests and all the back and forth. Service was very good, as is pretty typical of (Japanese run) Japanese restaurants. Most of us got the banquet, which although normally $60, was being promoted for half price. It was definitely worth the money in terms of quantity. Believe me, I eat a lot of food, and there was plenty of it on offer. The quality, though, was a bit lacking. The sashimi wasn't super fresh and the quality of the beef used for the tataki left a bit to be desired. However, I really enjoyed the grilled squid and the agadashi tofu.
Parlour Wine Room
Came here for a lunch with my colleagues after one of us had seen the place recommended on another blog, especially recommending the pork pappardelle dish and their lunch set menu (I wanna say $16 for a dish plus a drink). The people who chose the pappardelle dish seemed to enjoy it but I went for something else, a dish of fried eggs with pepper and jamon. It wasn't the best choice. The eggs were nicely cooked but they were just eggs. The peppers weren't weren't as smokey sweet as I would've liked and I could barely find the jamon. As sorry as I felt for myself, I felt more pain for my colleague who chose the 'cassoulet'. I use the term very loosely because what arrived at the table was nothing resembling a proper cassoulet. The dish looked literally like a couple of sausages (I think they used chorizo which of course is not traditional) with a few beans swimming in a bright red sauce. Definitely no sign of the confit duck, pork belly chunk or toulouse which I'd expect in a good cassoulet.
Up 2 U
I had wanted to try this place for while as they are one of the very few places in Canberra that does one of my favourite things in the world: hotpot. When my friend asked whether I wanted to come along as she had bought half priced Living Social vouchers, my answer was a resounding yes. With the voucher, I think it was $15 for all you can eat hotpot (normally $30). This made for good value even though the range of ingredients wasn't super extensive. We each got our own little pot to ourselves, which was nice and the food was better than the last hotpot place I'd been where we got individual pots. We also got to choose from a range of soup flavours and I went for the mushroom while others went for interesting ones like laksa. The only slightly annoying thing is that while the vegetables are free for you to take at a buffet table, you have to ask for the seafood and meat. They were strict with how much they gave you, making sure you'd finished what you had at the table before they would give you more. While it was a bit inconvenient, I didn't mind too much as I hate food wastage.
Broddogs
We came here when the little red food truck was still located in the carpack of the Belconnen mall. It's sinced moved on (to Braddon?) but it's fact we're not entirely cut up about. Being fans of Brodburger, we were keen to try out Broddogs, owned by the same people. However, while Broddogs do some of the best burgers in Canberra, I was less enamoured with the hotdogs. The issue wasn't that it was tasty, it was tasty enough. However the dogs are a pretty small serving for their price (mostly over $10) and the sausages in particular are very thin and small. While is was decently nice for a hotdog, it definitely doesn't match up to other gourmet dogs out there.
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