July 2007 - Canberra Table

Canberra Table

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Spotlight Posts

Brewing beer- do it for australia

Satis in Watson

Malibu mex

the Green Herring restaurant

tafe teaching

sticky date cake for wesley

technorati? getting bloggy with it

September food events calendar

the myth of celebrity catering requests part 2 - politicians

where is the best coffee in belconnen?

palate pleasure Bowral

hi Jude

August food events calendar

Japanese nori rolls

food for surviving Harry Potter and the deathly hallows

review: beess and co.

crepes the winter breakfast

the eggplant (aubergine)

crisp cafe and bar review

welcome to my new site

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Japanese nori rolls
I received a request for this recipe from Sushifinder. I apologise for the delay but better late then never.
This is one of my favourite ways to enjoy rice and certainly quite versatile, you can eat it as a meal, serve it as a smart canapé and the variety of filling options are endless

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Posted By: David John Burke - Category: No Category

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A Bite To Eat a Drink as well

July 27th 2007 06:16

A Bite To Eat a Drink as well

I love the Canberra eating districts of Manuka, Dickson and Kingston but I always admire successes that crop up in suburban shopping centres. A Bite to eat found its niche in Chifley and has built on the flair of the tiny shop strip. From the outside it could be a beatnik café, with the bohemian air apparent at a glance. Inside, none of the tables seem exactly alike in the carefully mismatched dining room, the theme is maintained throughout, a shrine to post ww2 laminex design, tacky if done wrong, enhances the comfortable surroundings of a bite to eat. my wife and i came on a Saturday afternoon and were lucky to get a table. While Ordering at the bar I grabbed a look into the neat and homely kitchen, noticing one of the basic requirements for good food, Happy chefs, Coupled with the friendly professional floor staff, are factors essential for a great feed

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Posted By: David John Burke - Category: No Category

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food for surviving Harry Potter and the deathly hallows

July 24th 2007 02:08

Harry Potter and the deathly hallows

Food for surviving “Harry Potter and the deathly Hallows”
I have just finished reading the last Harry Potter book and feel like I have been on an emotional roller coaster. Such a fantastic ending to one of my favourite fantasy series’. I am writing this post warn anyone who has not read the book to arm them selves well against the shocking and twisted journey this book takes. I found myself on the verge of tears often, and as each new book in the series grew ever more mature I knew that this one would be the most trying. I turned to the knowledge imparted by Lupin in “the prisoner of Azkaban”. Lupin gave Harry chocolate when the Dementors attacked the Hogwarts express to ward against their spell of despair.

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Posted By: David John Burke - Category: No Category

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fish and chips

July 20th 2007 11:31

the perfect setting for fish and chips

Fish and chips
My family and I went on a short trip to the south coast recently. We had in mind a 36-hour holiday with a few key elements of a full coast trip to get us through the canberra winter. A hotel stay, shopping, a trip to the beach, a rain forest walk and the obligatory fish and chips. I am easily pleased but I have to ask, where does one find amazing fish and chips? Do you have to be a local to be offered the good stuff? Is there some kind of code word you have to use? Or is the perfect fish and chips just a myth. My assertion is that all the good fish leaves the water at places like Bateman’s bay to the Sydney fish market, with a small percentage of the catch going home with the fisher-people themselves, while the fare you can get at the numerous takeaways of the area are imported pre-battered varieties. as I ticked off the itinerary I could not help feeling let down I came to the coast in part to eat fresh battered fish giving half my chips to a surging throng of seagulls, but the reality never quite meets the expectation. My advice is catch your own, cook it and make the sides it could take you almost 36 hours to do it but for my money the outcome and the activities involved are all you would need to make a great holiday.

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pumpkin sweet potato and corriander soup

July 18th 2007 02:25

japanese pumpkin

Pumpkin sweet potato and coriander soup
This is one of my favourite winter dinners. If I had a fireplace I would be contented with soup a good book and a week of doing little else (except hot chocolate and port maybe) this recipe is also a winner as an entrée for any feast. the basic method of this soup is very similar to most pureed soups and by changing some of the major ingredients you come up with all sorts of great soup recipes.

sweet potato

some under lying factors in a lot of soups are the stock and the mirepoix

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review: beess and co.

July 18th 2007 01:56

under the london plane trees

Beess and co could pass for one of Canberra’s best-kept secrets on location alone, the fact that everyone seems to know about it does not detract from the sense of discovery when you come upon this culinary gem. Tucked around the corner at the Yarralumla shops, the outdoor area canopied by London plane trees, is often bustling with customers, while locals covet inside table space daily. The popularity of bees and co is well earned, I come all the way from Macgregor to get a hot chockie, and everyone we have introduced to bees and co make similar journeys. We arrive on a Saturday afternoon to enjoy a light meal (in fact we have done a Tuesday lunch and several missions for the banana bread as well) the seasonal menu is big on fresh, simple, smart food with plenty of specials to boot. I ate a version of a B.L.T. (16.5 from a previous menu) last time I came. They used great bread in this generous sandwich. Lashed with bacon, in season tomatoes and crisp rocket, which lifted this dish nicely. Other times I have for the house made banana bread and the best hot chocolate in Canberra. My two children love the smoothies with banana honey and a touch of spice. The coffee (Cosmorex) is a brand many cafes use badly, the baristas here show that skill applied makes great coffee, not just the bean. If you prefer a range of Toby’s estate teas are also available and fresh fruit /vegetable juices are a feature. My most recent jaunt to Yarralumla found me worshiping a bowl of Hungarian goulash (14.9) while my wife enjoyed sweet potato and coriander soup(10.9). The delicately braised meat with paprika and sausage, Glossy and Moreish, our large serves disappeared quickly bread and all.
We relaxed at the end of our lunch(es) to gentle world music and soaked up the warm unpretentious atmosphere.
Owners Andrea Beess und Chrostin and Katherine Mitchell have done a very fine job of creating a truly great café, and one which I will happily find myself at again

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crepes the winter breakfast

July 16th 2007 01:32

crepes with lemon and sugar

Winter breakfast

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the eggplant (aubergine)

July 11th 2007 22:45

eggplant varieties

The eggplant
Quite possibly the third most inaptly named fruit of all times (number two is the ice cream bean and one being of course jack fruit which looks nothing like any jack I have met). This of course was not always the case, originally eggplants were a white, egg shaped and sized fruit that were quite bitter and full of seeds. This is where the tradition of salting the eggplant came from, it is purely to leach the bitter ness and in extreme cases make the eggplant edible at all. Modern day eggplant has lost some of the less liked qualities through cross breeding and can now be up to the size of a standard NRL football, I find these ones a bit scary and prefer them about the size of two good sized fists. The modern eggplant does not always need salting but I tend to give them a bit of a season and a sit before use, just in case. There are of course dishes that use this bitterness to an advantage,
baba ganouj is one example

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crisp cafe and bar review

July 9th 2007 02:59

a selection of wraps

$tex mex flair$

tex mex flair

Canberra being a public service town we have a plethora of cafes attached to government buildings traditionally these establishments are ubiquitous and lack character most of the time I cant really recall much in the way of what I ate and where when thinking of these businesses. There are of course exceptions to the rule and one such brave establishment is Crisp cafe and bar. Located on Northbourne Ave. crisp opened three years ago and from the out set had a South American theme (a fact echoed by the name of their catering arm Coyote).
the smart refit and clean lines are no fuss with some artful touches such as photos of the cafe, along with exotic condiments on display and the way they have turned a storage problem into a design feature by stacking their brightly coloured function platters in plain view shows a knowledge of how to use a small space to the full. And small it is seating roughly 25 inside and the option of outside (weather permitting) crisp fills quickly, although even during the lunch rush it all seems to flow nicely with out making you feel squashed. Owner Jason Herbert, a chef himself, works with head chef Kieran Riley on all the menus. You can order some of the usual unadventurous fodder if you want, but all come with a little south American flair, the regular stuff I have tried are great in particular the steak sandwich (with a tex mex twist) and the all day breakfast burger ($5) during winter the obligatory soups are anything but boring, even the potato and leek ($8.70) I ate the other day had a lively touch of spice (cumin). Where else in a similar setting can you get a selection of Mexican style wraps ($10) titles including Sante fe (coyote spice rubbed chicken with bacon and Guacamole) or the tantalising tandoori chimmichunga (with chipotle chillies mushroom and bacon) once wrapped this one is deep-fried for and added dimension quite decadent yet delicious. Crisp is also licensed and has a succinct selection of wines and beers from standard to top shelf. The coffee passed with flying colours with my wife enjoying a chai latte (both $3.20 standard size). I haven’t been to any functions by coyote catering but if the café is anything to go by it would be quite a good feast for just about any occasion. In summing up crisp is definitely above average in the category of office building cafés. I hope that other such venues choose to offer the guaranteed customers in any office building more interesting options.

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welcome to my new site

July 8th 2007 23:23

who knew bolognaise was also a great exfoliant

Hello every body and welcome to my new site. I am going to start by introducing my family, and myself and giving a brief history of my life up till now. My name is Dave and I live in canberra with my gorgeous wife Rachel and my two children Ian and Rose. I also have a son Jhon who lives with his mum in the blue mountains My wife is a teacher and my children are still young enough to warrant me being at home during the day. Being a home father is by far the most rewarding and challenging job I have had. I also stack shelves at a local super market ( which I recommend as a great job if you want to do exercise and get paid for it) and I also do cooking demonstrations for a promotions company on the odd occasion. Before writing for orble, I wrote food reviews for the canberra times, a job I enjoyed until unfortunately the department was downsized and Before that I worked as chef in many canberra restaurants including Corque which I had a share in. my health and my family commitments suffered greatly while I was a part owner in this restaurant so I had to get out of the kitchen and eventually sell to start my recovery. This site is now my cooking outlet. Along with my wife I enjoy dining out immensely, and will do so at the drop of a hat. Through this site I hope to convey a snapshot of some of the best restaurants bars and cafes in Canberra. I will not however publish scathing reviews of places that really dip below the standard line (my personal standard) I will endeavour to offer advice if on any establishment I can. The restaurant reviews will be posted every two weeks with cafe reviews in between along with recipes and general foodie type dialogue. once again welcome, hope you find this an informative site. Regards, Dave

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January 2008

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December 2007

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October 2007

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