N is for Narrabundah

I've let this series fall into disuse, by accident. But on Monday I found myself off in Fyshwick picking up upholstery fabric for the kitchen banquette seat. It's going to be purple microsuede. Because, that's why. So, of course I had to go to The Flute for bread. And Narrabundah is so close, why not drop in and resume the series?

It turns out that Narrabundah is absolutely packed with food choices. We have D'Browes and La Cantina for upscale dining. I have had La Cantina on my 'to review' list for some time but I fear that Bryan Martin may pip me to the post on that one. It's classy Italian, and looks totally gorgeous with white table linen and red brick walls. D'Browes is also supposed to be good, though I haven't tried it. Bryan got to that one a year and a half ago, and rated it 14 - which is a pretty good score, though not outstandingly brilliant.

There's also an Indian restaurant, the Kashmir House, with a fairly standard North Indian menu. There's also a nameless hamburger place, a coffee shop and a bar. The bar is Das Kapital, and I've been there a couple of times. They do OK bar snacks, nothing thrilling but not bad, either. I was going to grab a coffee at the Rouge Espresso Bar to check that out, but they are closed on Mondays.

In retail food, there is a medium sized IGA. They have no deli counter, but they stock refrigerated cold cuts and olives and so on, and they have nice things like free range chicken and Maggie Beer products. The fruit and veg section is small and limited in choice, but everything looked very nicely fresh.

There's also an old-fashioned bakery, Danny's, with a tattooed baker there selling pies, lamingtons and vanilla slices as well as an assortment of breads. They do sourdough bread, in white and multigrain, so I bought a couple of rolls to test. And a vanilla slice, which was your basic classic style, well done. I enjoyed it. The rolls were a little bit disappointing. They were lacking in that robust sourdough sourness and chew. Clearly not an artisanal sourdough, but a bit denser textured than your regular bread. They were rather nice, actually, as long as you weren't set on a Silo bread.

M is for Manuka

I know, I know, I had a request for Mawson. And I kept thinking I'd get out there soon, and I kept putting it off, and going to Fyshwick and Civic and Dickson and North Lyneham and Manuka and Kambah, and never making it to Mawson for a proper trip. And now it's well over a month since I did my last alphabet post, so it will just have to wait for another time.

So, M is for Manuka this time. I go to Manuka quite often - dinner and a movie with the Bloke, or coffee and cake with friends, or just for work reasons. It's a big area for food in Canberra - mostly as a cafe, restaurant and bar precinct. Locals know that you pronounce Manuka as MAAH-nuh-kuh. It's not Ma-NOO-ka like the tea tree plant, source of the famous honey, even though it is in fact named after the plant. Legend has it that some minor British royal declared the place open in 1920-whatever with this pronunciation, and it stuck.

I don't like grocery shopping in Manuka. There's a Coles, and a bakery and fruit shop in the newer section, but I find the supermarket poorly laid out, confusing and claustrophobic. And the prices are targetted to Canberra's rich list. I do appreciate Manuka Fine Foods, and also the Food and Wine Providore: they may be pricy, but you are paying for high quality gourmet nosh there. You know to expect it.

Restaurants and cafes come and go here. There's always something new. But some of the old favourites just keep on going - when I was a teenager in the 70s, my parents would sometimes take us out for pizza at Le Rendezvous, and Chinese at Timmy's Kitchen. Both are still there, redecorated but still going strong thirty years on. The old milk bar is still there, too, selling lots of specialty chocolates, and milkshakes in old-fashioned metal cups.

I have a few recommendations to share. There's no particular order, and missing a place may simply mean that I haven't been to it. Or not since the 80s: I must try Le Rendezvous again one day... As always, tips are most welcome in the comments.

Manuka Fine Foods: in Palmerston lane, this place has the best cheese room in town! There's also a deli and cafe, and the coffee is good. They have stock from quite a lot of regional suppliers. Some of it seems overpriced to me, especially some of the biscuits, but I suppose that depends on your priorities.

Zucchero: on the lawns, this does a decent coffee and cake, and excellent sandwiches on the house sourdough bread. It's an unpretentious spot, and serves breakfast until late.

El Torogoz: in Palmerston lane, this place has the most authentic central American food to be found in Canberra. Seriously good if you stick with the central American menu items. Try the soft tacos, and the unusual cheesecake with parmesan.

Jewel of India: upstairs, on Bougainville St, above the courtyard with Le Rendezvous. Some of the best Indian food in Canberra.

Legends: upstairs, on Franklin St cinema-side. Legends does Spanish food, including terrific tapas. They stock Spanish wines, sherries and beers. I was there with some friends in February, and we sampled a good range of the tapas. The kidneys in sherry cream sauce and the pipis were great, with generous serves. They run at about $12 per plate. One day we'll have to have a proper meal there, but if you want proper tapas, this is your place.

Mecca Bah: If you prefer mezze, here is your spot, on Manuka Terrace, Flinders Way. They do Moroccan and middle eastern food. I love the middle eastern coleslaw with pastirma. Great pides, and OMG, the icecream! Halvah, date, yoghurt, roast apple, turkish coffee ($9 for 3 scoops and they will let you mix). Must go back soon, it's been too long.

Ironbark Cafe: Australian food, using not just native meats but also fruits, spices and greens. Service is very laid back in pace. They do burgers ($18), wraps ($12), salads and cakes as well as more substantial dinner fare. The exact menu varies a bit, as availability for native ingredients tends to be sporadic. Check the specials board and watch out for the boab root felafel and the bunya nut pancakes. Fabulous.

Ginseng: good quality Chinese, on Flinders Way.

Timmy Kitchen - good quality Malay/Chinese, on Furneaux St. One of Canberra's oldest restaurants, almost an institution. Excellent value for money.

Wasabi - Japanese, teppanyaki style or a la carte. A huge sake selection and a proper sushi bar. A little pricier, but also with more upmarket dishes, than its Dickson counterpart.

The Julep Lounge: seriously good cocktails, upstairs on Franklin St.

L is for Lyneham

I'm fond of Lyneham. When I was a student, my first group house was near the Lyneham shops. None of us had a car, so I did all the shopping on foot. I still visit regularly - it's close to a friend's house, quite handy to stop off to pick up some bread or meat for the BBQ. And I've often been to Tilleys, and more recently, The Front.

We have, for your foodie pleasure, an IGA with a nice range of European deli and bakery items. Their fruit & veg is OK but not brilliant - handy for top ups if you miss the markets. There's a Brumby's bakery, a pizza & takeaway joint, the Lyneham Pide Hut and the Mee Sing Chinese. The Pide Hut is, meh, not so great but OK. They do good zucchini balls. But given the option, I'd always prefer Dickson TurkOz. I've never tried Mee Sing, but I hear it's not bad at all.

Much more notable is the Lyneham Meat Centre, the home of Country Pride sausages (also available in many IGAs). This excellent local butcher sells a good range of award-winning sausages, all low in fat and most gluten-free (I asked). They actually bought the Country Pride recipes from the original owner, who has long since retired. There used to be a rumour going around that it wasn't legal to call these products sausages, because they contained too much meat, not enough fat and filler. My favourite is the hot chilli beef - they have a serious kick to them. Today I bought some of those, and some lamb and rosemary, and spicy Italian pork - all for the freezer, since I'm heading off to the coast tomorrow. They're all good, except I think the lemon chicken one is a bit weird. Most of them are $11 per kg.

Also notable is the Front, a cafe-gallery with not much in the way of food, but quite decent coffee. It's host to all sorts of music, performance art, exhibitions, and other artistic happenings. This is absolutely the hippest cafe in Canberra.

And then there's Tilleys. Oh, Tilleys, how you have fallen! Perhaps my rose-tinted nostalgia glasses are on, but I remember when it was new. It was just a single shop-front, and controversial because of their "no unaccompanied men" policy and their lesbian Friday nights. It was the hippest cafe in Canberra, no question. I heard my first live blues music there - Madam and the Ragtag Jazz Band. I danced the night away to DJs playing Do-Re-Mi and the Eurythmics.

I used to sit there in the afternoon, nursing a coffee with a cheap second hand paperback, while my laundry ran in the laundromat two shops down. And they had a fabulous cheese and fruit plate which fed all three of us housemates lunch for $6. (Yes, yes, but then again, the rent was only $60 a week for the whole house and our weekly food kitty was $20.)

Anyway, Tilleys grew and grew, and absorbed the neighbouring shops and restaurants in a slow but relentless crawl. Much like All Bar Nun, in O'Connor. The Thai restaurant, the sausage shop, the post office - all gone. The laundromat now houses a post office agency, and the sausages can be bought from the butcher, and the excellent little second hand bookshop is still there, so it's not a total loss.

When we came back to Canberra in 2002, Tilley's had grown huge and rather staid. The size of the place made it good for large group brunches, or random evening post-choir meals. There's lots of outdoor seating, and brunch until 3pm. Also, the music acts drew us in, so I've been there quite a few times.

They had some really good music acts, on a regular schedule. Eric Burdon was perhaps the best I went to. It's an excellent cabaret venue, all dark wood and red interiors, with a nice little stage. And all the edges are lined with booths of varying sizes, fitted with comfortable cushions. But a couple of years back, unfortunately for us, they cut back a lot on the music.

In recent experience, the food has been up and down. I've had good, bad and mediocre meals there in the last five years. Today was bad. I stopped in for lunch, and had a macchiato that was mostly just bitter. And a Cajun chicken salad ($17), which was disturbing. The fridge-cold slices of chicken breast seemed a little dry and overcooked, but the mild spice was quite pleasant and the lime-yoghurt dressing rather good. So far, OK. But the salad was highly dodgy. The cherry tomatoes were a little too squishy for me, and the mesclun included not just lettuce that was slightly brown around the edges; not just yellowing baby spinach leaves; but even some that were actually slimy. Oh dear. I ate the chicken and some cucumber and onion, because I was hungry, but I left most of the salad behind.

There is currently an ad on the door for a new cook, so perhaps it will turn around again.

K is for Kambah

Aha! You were expecting Kingston, weren't you?

OK, I suppose not. I've been very obvious with clues back in November and December with my mentions of Meatways. Kambah it is, then. Down south, Kambah Village is at the corner where Tuggeranong Parkway changes its name to Drakeford Drive. The cross street is called Boddington Crescent to the west, Marconi crescent to the east. You can see it easily: look for the big sign and the metal sheep.

So, anyway, out at Kambah you will find Brew Your Own. Despite their minimal dead website, promising updates in 2005, this is a brilliant shop for the home brewer, wine maker or concocter of spirits. I am half appalled and half enthralled by the options of whisky essence, woodchips for infusing in your pseudo-bourbon and such devices. The bloke sticks to the grains, malts, yeasts, hops and such. The owner, Colin Marshall is deeply knowledgeable about beer. Discounts are available to members of the Canberra Brewers' Club. Brew Your Own is round the back of Kambah - go through the path beyond Woollies and turn left, or drive round. There's parking in front.

While the Bloke goes for the beer, I go for Meatways. This brilliant butcher is my main reason for visiting Kambah. If The Bloke is going to the brew shop on a Saturday, I'll tag along. Meatways has prize winning gourmet sausages of all kinds of flavours. The ones in the picture are pork with parsley, fetta and pine-nut. There's usually half a dozen flavours in stock, but the specifics vary weekly. The bacon is house-smoked, and it's very good. The owner, Cameron Fenson, also does smoked chicken, salmon and kabana sausage. There are several "value-added" meats - we had a Greek-style marinaded leg of lamb a while back, and it was very good. I'm often suspicious of pre-marinaded meats, and I never buy supermarket ones. But at Meatways it's good. Lemon, garlic, herbs, no mysterious flavour additives. They are open 7am-6pm Tues-Fri, 7am-1pm Sat; closed Sunday and Monday.

The Kambah Village complex has a Woollies supermarket, and it's a very big one. It's surrounded by clubs and pubs - the Burns Club, the Kambah Inn motel and bar, and the Vienna Restaurant. There's also a few restaurants, and a bakery in the actual complex. The bakery is an independent business, awkwardly named "Bakeshoppe". I bought a fancy "megagrain" loaf and some scotch baps from them, and they were pretty good. It's a standard bakery, rather than gourmet or artisan or patisserie, but it seems pretty good for its genre. It's bright and clean; the pies were selling well, and the finger buns and vanilla slices looked appealling.

I haven't tried any of the restaurants, and have heard no rumours, either. There is a fast-food style Indian, with the big bains-marie. Spring Garden Chinese looks like the usual local Oz-Cantonese generic place; the Village Cafe looks like a standard old-fashioned milkbar/take away with pizza. The Vienna is Austrian, a schnitzel and strudel place with lace curtains. And I don't know what the Burns Club offers. Maybe Sri Lankan haggis curry? Seriously, their website says that their "Banana Leaf Brasserie" serves Sri Lankan, British, Scottish, Portuguese, Italian and Australian Cuisine.

J is for Jamison

Not to be confused with Jameson, the Irish whiskey of a slightly different spelling. The Jamison Centre includes a small mall now badged as "Jamison Plaza", and a few businesses in neighbouring streets. Technically it's in the suburb of Macquarie, but nobody ever calls it the Macquarie shops, so I'll keep it as my "J" entry.

There are two notable restaurants off in the Wiseman St/Lawry St court area, near the Salvation army shop. The Dumpling Inn is reputed to do the best yum cha in Canberra, and one day I must get round to trying that. I've been there for dinner once, and it was good. They're currently closed for holidays, due to reopen on 12 Jan. The Turkish Pide House was a staple for friends living in that inner Belconnen area, so I've been there several times and eaten their takeaway pide even more often. It's a good example of its type, and I do recommend it even though I prefer TurkOz at Dickson. There are three of these Turkish Pide House restaurants; I don't like the city one much, because I've had bad service there too many times. Jamison has always been much better in my experience.

Also around Jamison is the Jamison Inn (Jammo), a pub that's been there forever, and is a bit of a dive. And there's the Southern Cross Club Wests, with the usual club brasserie and stuff. I've never been in there. (Correction: the Jammo is now closed down. Thanks, Anon commenter.)

On the outside edge of the "plaza", you'll find a burger, sandwich and pizza takeaway, and a Turkish Kebab House. The latter is an offshoot of the Pide House, using the same logo, and sharing management, but it's more of a fast food joint. It's brightly lit, has the gyros grilling behind the counter, there's no table service. You can get the usual kebabs, soft drinks, chips and such. They also have a few unusual items for a kebab house: vegetarians can choose a zucchini puff roll as well as the usual felafel roll. There are cheese burek, and gozleme, too.

I first encountered gozleme at the Folk Festival. They are simple things - a grilled flat bread wrap, like a quesadilla or a lightly filled pancake. I'm quite fond of them. So since I was in need of a late lunch, I tried one of those. They have four pre-made varieties, all assembled across the way in the main restaurant. They're reheated on a large sandwich press. I tried the mince, cheese and spinach, and liked it. The bread wrap was thin and slightly crisp, as I've also had at Ades in Belconnen. The folk festival stall does a softer version. I don't know what's more authentic, but they're both nice. There's a recipe at taste.com.au which I may try out one day. (Picture from taste.com.au, credit Louise Lister.)


What's in the mall?
Inside the major complex, there are two major supermarkets (Coles and Aldi) and a couple of chain shops, Donut King and Coffee Guru. There are two bakeries, one rather old-fashioned in its offerings with plain breads, pies, softdrinks, and an icecream freezer. The other is more patisserie-styled, and sells gourmet pies. The bread shown here is a "German Grain Sourdough" ($5.60) from the more modern looking one, Bakery Culture. It's a nice brown loaf, but lacks the tang and density of a real sourdough. They also have cheaper regular loaves, and the patisserie looks nice - I was most tempted by the fruit custard "clafouti" tarts.

There is a pleasant cafe there, Ricardo's, which was closed when I went but is due to reopen tomorrow. I went there once with Beth, and seem to recall a decent coffee. But it was a long time ago. There's also a mixed Asian fast food place, with stirfries in the bains-mairie, and laksas on offer. It looked OK as far as I can tell.

On the supply side, there's a butcher, Simco Fresh Meats, and also the Allergy Centre, a health food shop with plenty of useful supplies for coeliacs and other people with specific dietary needs. The health food shop comes with the usual dose of woo-woo - a naturopath on site, and expensive fad superfoods (gojiberries and mangosteen are so last year, pomegranate is the latest), a huge wall of supplement pills, and ads for magic water and other quack stuff. That's unavoidable, it seems, but I don't have to like it.

I've saved the best till last: I loved Go Troppo. This is a pretty decent fruit and veg place, like its relative in the Fyshwick markets, but the Jamison branch also has a large deli and frozen food section. They stock many good things - frozen berries by the kilo; a dozen flavours of Pure Gelato; frozen and dried fish; and Mario's pastizzi and ravioli. I was especially excited about the pastizzi, since this is the first time I've found them in Canberra. Pastizzi are excellent party nibbles. I took some ricotta and spinach ones as a contribution to a New Year's Eve party last night; they came out really well. They have a very good light flaky pastry, and you can cook them straight from frozen.

Also in the deli, there was a terrific cheese selection. I bought some Manchego and a firm Dutch goat cheese, and noticed that they also had the aged Gouda that I was so exited to find in Fruitylicious. Actually, my excitement over these delis may say more about my habits than the delis. Dickson has no deli, and the ones in Belconnen that I'm most familiar with tend to stock more Italian and gourmet Australian products, and not so much of the north and east European range. This self-imposed exploration is a good idea.

I is for Isaacs

When I found out that That Bagel Place is in Isaacs, I decided that Isaacs must be my letter I. I also heard that there was a wood-fired pizza joint there, so surely that must give us a bit of a choice for a Friday lunch.

Well, no, there isn't. There are no lunches available at Isaacs, unless a pie from the general mixed business will do you. There is indeed a pizza place, called Pizza Viva. But it is open evenings only, Wed-Sun. There's a few tables, but judging by the pile of boxes, take-away or delivery is their biggest thing. I did find one very positive review with google, so if I happen to be out that way and need a pizza, I'll definitely keep them in mind. There's also a Chinese restaurant called Silk Road; it seems very standard of menu and was likewise closed for lunch.

Even my reason for visiting, That Bagel Place, turns out to be only a bakery, with not even a retail counter, let alone a cafe. Though you can buy their bread and bagels next door from the aforementioned general mixed business, so it wasn't a totally wasted trip. I'd normally buy their goods from the EPIC farmers market, or the Kingston markets. They also sell at the Southside farmers market, which I haven't yet visited.

The sourdough breads ($5) are excellent - I love the deeply flavoured and robust rye and caraway. The bagels, well, they are pretty good. They may well be the best bagels in Canberra. I like them, and I'll buy them again. They sell at $6 per half-dozen, which I'd rate as very good value. However, they are still not as dense and chewy as the ones at New York's finest Jewish bakeries. Nostalgic US ex-pats won't be 100% satisfied. Also, I was disappointed that the cinnamon and raisin is actually cinnamon and sultana. I wanted raisins, damn you! *shakes fist*

There's one more food-related thing out there. Delightful Baskets looks like a very useful place, if you need to buy gift hampers for delivery anywhere in Australia. You can do this online, or by phone, without actually having to drop into the shop - indeed, their website doesn't even give their street address. There's a big selection, starting at $40.

In the end, Isaacs is another place that I can't see any reason to visit again, although if I'm out there at the right time to sample the pizza, I'm in. But the biggest foodie noise there is the bakery goods, and personally, I can find them more easily elsewhere.

BTW, I forgot my camera, took some pix with Belinda's phone, and neglected to extract them before she went to the coast. Oh well, yet another text-only post. You'll cope. I have lots of photos planned for my next one.

H is for Hackett

I originally thought of doing H for Hawker, so I'd have an excuse to revisit Rocksalt. But I don't have time for that in the near future, so I'll save that for the next go through the alphabet. Meanwhile, I was feeling vaguely ashamed of never having even visited Hackett, because it's just one suburb over. Of course, this nearness is the very reason that I haven't gone. I have a decent local already.

I decided to pop in to pick up some milk and catfood, and check the place out. It turns out that this is an easy one to write up, because there's very little there. It's rather sad-looking at the moment, with a large shop boarded up and wire-fenced off, and another standing empty. There's an odd-looking op shop cum community centre, and a hairdresser with a plaintive notice in the window about supporting local business.

Hackett has one restaurant, the King Ruby Chinese, which offers a very traditional Western-Cantonese style menu. They do home delivery to my area, but I honestly can't remember if we've had it or not. We're not big on Chinese: both the bloke and I prefer Vietnamese or Thai.

And finally there is an IGA. This one has a Local Liquor outlet, and otherwise it's straight groceries. No deli counter, no hot chickens, just fridges with pre-packed deli items. The fresh meat section is very small, but it does include Gourmet Game roo and Lilydale free range chook. The fruit & veg section is also small, but the produce looked fresh and quite reasonable in quality. There's a good range of standard groceries, and a few more unusual lines for an IGA, like Maggie Beer, Outback Spirit and Chilliman. It's quite a decent little supermarket. If I lived next-door, I'd be happy to have it as my local. But it's not somewhere that I'll go out of my way to visit.

G is for Gungahlin

Wow! I never thought that this would be such a great destination, but I am now officially adding it to my regular must-visit list. Gungahlin, as most of you know, is not a suburb but an entire district. It's the newest part of Canberra, lying north of Belconnen and west of the Federal Highway. It's rather dismal looking to my eye - not enough trees, and far too many medium density modern houses designed by architects with a disdain for the golden ratio. I suppose that time will remedy the tree problem, at least.

Anyway, Gungahlin has a town centre, which includes the big supermarkets and chain shops. There's Coles and Woolworths and Aldi and Big W, and a gigantic Magnet Mart up the hill. I've very rarely visited, except for the odd quick dash to Woollies while the bloke went to Magnet Mart. I noted with some depression that there isn't a single bookshop out there. But this time Beth and I went off for lunch and a little explore around the Gungahlin Place and Hibberson Street shops. The Gungahlin centre is not all mall, there's a lot of shops lining the street in a country town style that's unusual for Canberra. I like this more open air approach.

We went to three shops, and peered in the windows of several cafes and Asian restaurants in this area. Red Chillies Vietnamese looked rather nice; Ginger & Spice has a nice name but the menu seems pretty straight Cantonese with a tiny touch of Malaysian. There's a noodle and Chinese BBQ joint called Fortune Box. Of the shops that I actually visited, I enjoyed the Cook & Grocer, but this one place wouldn't persuade me to return. Fruitylicious, on the other hand, is totally reason in itself to go back, and if I were in any doubt, then the Hub Asian Supermarket would clinch it.

Our first stop on this dark and stormy day was a light lunch at the Cook and Grocer. At 1pm, they had sold out of most lunch dishes, but I did have a very enjoyable roast vegetable and parmesan baguette ($6.20) and a "Morgan's handcrafted coffee" ($3.50). Beth had a veggie quiche with a side of Greek salad.

We browsed around the shelves, noting that they sell a small but carefully chosen selection of fine foods. There's Homeleigh Grove olives and oils, Toby's Estate teas, a few select local wines, Lime Grove products, Whisk & Pin products. They also have their own range of interesting biscuits, including cardamom butter biscuits, cinnamon Xmas cookies and Almond, orange and cardamom biscotti. They're luxury priced, around $4-6 for a small packet. It's everything you need to make up gourmet gift hampers. They do special orders, as well - we just missed the deadline to order a Saskia Beer Black Pig ham for Xmas.

Their other main line is in takeaway dinners - as in, good food that you can take home and reheat for dinner. There wasn't much in the fridge at lunchtime, just some sticky date and chocolate puddings, and a lone beef casserole. This is because it's made fresh every day - the fridge is stocked up by about 4pm, with casseroles around $12 and veggie dishes around $7. Not supercheap again, but fresh made, and if my sandwich and biscuit is any guide, probably rather good!

Fruitylicious is at 123 Hibberson St Gungahlin, and this is the place where I gasped in amazement and decided to come back. It's a large mixed family business, combining a deli, fresh fruit & veg, a juice and smoothie bar, and a small bakery with coffee and home made pastries and cakes. There's even a small catering business, offering fruit, cake, and assorted savoury platters for parties. This place has everything! The main emphasis is Italian, with some Eastern European and Mediterranean goodies. With Christmas on the way they stock an extraordinary array of panettones. There's Italian softdrinks, and grappas and spirits. There's Australian premium lines - Maggie Beer again, and others with less memorable names. (Yeah, sorry about my poor note-taking.)

The deli at Fruitylicious boasts not just one but four different varieties of prosciutto - three Italian and a Spanish Serrano. There's a staggering range of cheese, both Australian and imported, including various kinds of provolone and parmesan, a house marinated fetta, and an aged Dutch cheese - I've never seen one that in Canberra before. There's marinated vegetables and coldcuts galore, and the friendly ladies behind the counter will give you a tiny sample and advice if you're unsure what to get.

I picked up a small semi-random selection of stuff, which will give you an idea. I have Peppe's frozen ravioli with veal, sage and white wine; a chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano; a few slices of Calypso hot salami (made in Sydney in a traditional Italian style); a hunk of aged Gouda; a bottle of Croatian Maraska Amarena sour cherry syrup for cordials; and a tin of Polish Bakalland poppy-seed filling for baked goods. I don't know what I'll do with that yet, but I'm sure google will come to my aid somehow.

Our final stop was the Hub Asian supermarket at Gungahlin Place East. This is one of a small chain: there's another in Tuggeranong, and a Belconnen one is planned. The owners seem to be smart people, aiming to expand the market for Asian groceries to people who might be nervous about shopping in tiny places with staff who have little in the way of English. They also seem to have a penchant for photos taken at odd angles. The shop is larger than many suburban supermarkets, and brightly lit with wide aisles. It's sparkling clean, with a multilingual and multinational staff who all speak English. There's a staggering array of goods, including fresh vegetables, nicely labelled in English, and takeaway Thai salads and Vietnamese rolls. There's fresh made sweets, delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays with the fresh produce.

There's fresh noodles and tofu and kimchee and chinese sausage in the fridges, and every type of dim sum you could imagine in the freezers. Also in the extensive freezer section, there's a baffling variety of meats, fish, vegetables, desserts, and vegetarian fake meats. There's aisles of Asian soft drinks, lollies and biscuits. There's curry pastes and stirfry sauces and spices; there's tinned vegetables and fruits; there's noodles and rices and, well, I don't know what there isn't. It's south east Asian in focus, with a moderate Japanese selection, and a very tiny Indian range.

I'll definitely be dropping back from time to time. I won't be changing my favourite Asian grocer: Saigon in Dickson is more convenient for me, and I'm usually happy enough with their range. I think they get some of their sweets and fresh produce from the same suppliers as the Hub. But if you don't live near Canberra's mini-Chinatown, these Hub supermarkets in our satellite town centres will be a godsend. When's Woden due, guys?

So there you are: Gungahlin proves not to be a foodie wasteland at all! I will be going back, for sure.

F is for Fyshwick, and Friday, and Flute

You might think that there's nothing foodie in Fyshwick, Canberra's light industrial centre. Furniture, car repairs, motorcycles, home renovation supplies, whitegoods, sex shops and brothels, yes, but food? If you are new to Canberra and that's your impression, then you'd be wrong. There are several notable foodie things in Fyshwick. Though I really don't recommend chocolate body paint from the sex shops. Nasty stuff, that, but I guess everybody has to try it once.

There's actually quite a few places worth mentioning. First, of course, is the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets. These are across the railway line from the more industrial zone, with access off Canberra Avenue via Dalby St. It's almost Kingston. It's open Thursday to Sunday, and boasts a couple of delis, an Asian grocer, two fish shops, a poulterer, a couple of bakeries, two butchers, an organic fruit & veg stall, and a lot of general fruit & veg retailers. I'm fond of the nut stall, with the fresh roast nuts and shop-ground peanut better. I don't go out there that often, though, since Belconnen is usually more convenient for me.

Even in the industrial zone, there are several places worth a visit. Last Friday I had to go to pick up a motorbike part, and I took the opportunity to go to Cosmorex coffee and The Flute bakery. Cosmorex, at 44 Kembla Street, sells coffee equipment of all kinds: grinders, plungers, roasters, espresso machines, mugs, and more. They also sell their own blends of coffee and tea, some of it nicely packaged up for Xmas gifts. The coffees are around $8-10 for 250g, unless you want the famous Jamaican Blue Mountains - at $180/kg, they keep a little in stock around Xmas but otherwise you have to place a special order. They're open Monday to Friday 8-4.40, and Saturday mornings 9-12.

The Flute Bakery, at 8 Barrier St, is even less accessible to the full time worker since it's a Monday to Friday concern, and they close early. I think it's 8am-3pm. But I'm only 80% full time, so I can get there now and then. I do love my Fridays! This little bakery and patisserie is very impressive - they turn out a terrifically good crusty white sourdough loaf, as well as multigrains and rye and fruit loaf and so on. I'm told their pies are excellent, too, but I haven't yet tried them. Their patisserie is wonderful: it's a hard choice between all the little French fruit tarts and cheesecakes and profiteroles and mousses. One of The Flute's specialties is the mini fruit-filled brioche. I took home a blueberry and ricotta one for Saturday breakfast, and had a pear and almond tart with my Friday morning coffee. The tart had a lovely crisp sweet shortcrust, and a creamy almond base under the fruit, and a pistachio garnish. Yum. And to top it off, the coffee was brilliant! It's seriously one of the best in Canberra: full bodied, aromatic, rich and strong without any burned in bitterness.

Also in Fyshwick, there are a few new looking cafes around to cater to the local workers and the weekend furniture shoppers. I haven't tried any of them yet, so if you have any suggestions, please do pop them in the comments. The one place that I really want to get to soon is Zierholtz. I've been to the brewery, and the beer is really great. Debacle keep a couple of varieties on tap, if you want to try it in town. But now a cafe/restaurant has opened up, and I'm hearing rumours that it's got good food as well as beer. I want to get there soon!

E is for EPIC: the Growers' Market

This is another alphabet gimme. I was thinking of actually going somewhere new, like Evatt, but this morning was so lovely that I just had to write about it.

EPIC is "Exhibition Park in Canberra", because "Showground" is like, so old fashioned and doesn't have enough syllables. It's a large complex, located across from the racecourse, on the corner of Northbourne Avenue and Flemington Road. However, the important foodie part is the Capital Region Farmers' Market, held weekly on Saturday mornings. The official hours are 8am to 11am; I mostly go about 9am.

The market is not accessed through the main gate. If you're driving, continue north up Northbourne, and turn left at the petrol station. You can't miss it: apart from the petrol station, there's also a traffic light, and Stirling Avenue going off to the right. Market parking is straight ahead; other exhibitions such as dog shows and car fairs are nearby.

Today's visit was my first in many months, and there have been a few changes. Most notably, while I was away there was a small scandal. It turned out that some dealers had been buying up fruit & veg from the Flemington wholesale markets in Sydney, and trucking them up to sell at premium prices in Canberra. The market organisers have now started a policy of inspections, and the liars have been turfed out. Well done! I was especially pleased to see that none of my favourites were caught in the net. And a couple of large stalls that I was always a bit sus about have vanished. (Ha ha, insert snarky "I was right" noises here.)

Anyway, this market is a delight. It's lovely to browse around - there's a lot more than just fruit and veg. You'll find bread, cakes, lots of meats, chocolates, garden supplies, nuts, tea, coffee, preserves, dips, fish, oysters, dried fruits, olives and much more. It's not a craft market, though there is the occasional sideline like soap and handcream. And you can trust that you're buying reasonably locally, either from the producer themselves, or a direct agent of the producer. There's a list of stallholders here, though they're not all there all the time.

This morning's haul is a fair example - each point is a purchase from one stall
* chilli peanuts, maple pecans and caramel macadamias
* sourdough rolls
* seedlings: three tomato and one zucchini
* lettuce, salad mix, spring onions, sorrel, coriander and watercress
* sweet corn and silverbeet
* rhubarb and broccoli
* sugarsnap peas, green beans and "Ming's Mum's Satay Sauce"
* apples (from the cold store, of course, but good ones!)
* strawberries
* tomatoes and asparagus
* mushrooms
* saltbush lamb sausages and lamb rump steaks
* lavender soap
* plain gnocchi
* cherries

Yes, cherries! The first of the season. Yay!

D is for Downer

It's a downer, man!

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Seriously, there is nothing there at all there in the way of food. Literally. Zip, zero, nada. Seven years ago, there was a corner store kind of grocery, a dodgy Indian restaurant, and an Italian one that I never tried. But one by one they succumbed to the proximity of Dickson, and now there's only offices and a martial arts studio. No food for you. Go to Dickson instead, or maybe Watson, depending on which side of Downer you are.

C is for Civic, with Lemongrass

Civic - it's what we call the city centre, and we usually forget that out-of-towners don't understand it. There's a lot there, even if you don't count Braddon or Acton. I've mentioned several over the year that I've been blogging: I have a review index, with nine Civic restaurant reviews so far. Ten when I add this one. (Maybe more if I check for ones that I forgot to link?)

Some of my favourites are currently missing from the list. I especially like the Wig & Pen microbrewery, Hippo bar, Flavour of India, Iori Japanese, and Kingsley's Steak - no, that's not the chicken fast food joint! I also like the fine dining at Anise and Courgette, and the casual Cafe Essen. I'd like Milk and Honey, and Cream better if they were less noisy.

I don't find Civic food shopping particularly notable. It's useful, though. You can reliably get most of what you want, what with all the offerings of the new Canberra Centre. Choose from Aldi or Supabarn for your supermarket needs. There's a decent deli, a good fish shop and a good butcher (the Meat Guru). Dobinson's does good sourdough bread, and there's a couple of other bakeries, too. I used to like the fruit & veg place before they moved, but the quality seems to have dropped. And don't forget Oxfam upstairs, for your ethical coffee, tea, and chocolate supplies.

Outside the Canberra Centre there are still a few odd corners to buy food: there's a nice Korean grocery downstairs near the bus interchange, and an IGA and the wonderful Croissant d'Or French patisserie on East Row. Another IGA is over on Marcus Clark St, near the Wig & Pen, catering to the university trade, and there's a wine & fancy foods outlet on University Avenue that I keep meaning to check out. Following round Marcus Clark St, there's some new places with the new developments, but I think they count as Acton rather than Civic.

Bars and restaurants are scattered all over Civic. I would be stupid to try to list them all. Garema Place has the town square feeling to it, with lots of outdoor cafes and ratbag pigeons and decrepit panhandling magpies. It's gradually been going more Asian than European in menu. Much to my sadness, my favourite Valentino's closed and was replaced by a noodle bar. The South American place turned into a Vietnamese restaurant. But Milk & Honey, Essen and My Cafe are keeping up the cafe culture, and Gus' is being renovated.

West Row has some of the classier restaurants. The edge of the Canberra Centre has some sound mid-range places including Wagamama and Koko Black. Sammy's Kitchen moved here, in case you missed it. And for the bottom end of the budget, there's plenty of cheapies.

Read on for the Lemongrass review - and feel free to add your own suggestions or favourites in the comments. I have delayed posting this because it felt incomplete, but I now think that I have no option. With a topic this big, I'm bound to overlook something good.

Yesterday three of us had a quick pre-theatre dinner at Lemongrass Thai, on London Circuit. The two word summary is "superior Thai", and I think that a lot of people know this. On Friday night it was completely packed out by 6.30pm. We only got a booking at short notice because we promised to be out by 7.30pm when our play started.

It's reasonably priced. For three dishes with rice, 3 beers and a tea, we came in under $70. And the food was, well, superior. The green chicken curry was nicely spiced; chili-hot enough to notice but not too strong. Plenty of eggplant and bamboo shoots, and well flavoured meat. It was not at all greasy, despite their use of thigh meat - this is a common failing of cheap Thai & Vietnamese places; I do wish Lemongrass' chef could share their technique!

The pad thai was a good one, though not outstanding. And the beef salad was delicious. The char grilled beef slices were lean, flavoursome and tender. It had the proper sweet-sour-salt dressing that comes from fish sauce, palm sugar and lime. It didn't have many herbs - I was expecting mint and coriander, but it came with mesclun lettuce. This is more like the one I make at home than a proper authentic version. But they do have a second beef salad on the menu, with the rice powder rub, so perhaps that's the more authentic kind? Anyway, we enjoyed our food very much, and the servings were generous, without being huge. I would have liked to try the special lotus nut dessert, but I was too full.

The service was quite quick, as you'd expect from such a busy place. We had a little trouble communicating with our waitress, as her English wasn't the best, but a bit of pointing at the menu helped. I didn't read the wine list, but it is licensed and does BYO. And there were a couple of good beers on the list.

Despite the roaring trade, the sound is muted to a low enough level that we could hear each other. The decor is simple smart casual, with Thai accents in the ornaments and shapes. All in all, it's well worth a visit. It'd be a regular of mine if only we could get our acts together to book in advance - the evening 7.30ish timeslots tend to fill up the day before.

B is for Bungendore: a cooking class

Yesterday I spent the morning in Bungendore, which I will claim as B for my Canberra alphabet. It's only 20 minutes drive from my house - the same as Mawson - and it's a pleasant spot to visit. There's bookshops, antique shops, cafes, pubs, restaurants, and even some good food shops. The woodworks gallery and cafe is a favourite for breakfast, and for the amazing craftsmanship. When I win Lotto I will furnish my house from there. (Must buy a ticket one day. Or not, the odds are much the same.)

This time I was mostly up the back of Le Tres Bon, making wattleseed pasta, icecream and meringues with my friend Fi. She is a big bushfood enthusiast who writes the insufficiently updated Eat Australia. I gather she's been busy collecting chooks and digging gardens and training dogs and otherwise having a life instead of writing.

The cooking classes we're attending are not the ones run by Christophe himself, who is off in France at the moment. While he's away, Julianne and Anthony Cowley are teaching about bushfoods. They are a Canberra couple with a large bushfood garden, which they have on occasion opened to the public. I think I missed one showing this year. Julianne is an enthusiastic cook, and watching her knead pasta dough and prepare it is a delight. That unfussed smooth action must have taken her a lot of practice to develop.

I'm no dab hand with pasta, nor is Fi - her bloke is, though, by all accounts. We managed to produce some decent fettucini anyway, though with much less flair and panache, and much more overworking and compromise. Actually, we really didn't do ourselves proud at all: our meringues inexplicably failed to puff up and rise. Not my greatest moment. I had thought that if you got your egg whites safely to the firm peak stage that the rise was inescapable, but apparently not! Usually I use electric beaters, though, and hand whisking is clearly *not* better. Yay, technology!

Oh well. We had a lovely lunch of wattleseed pasta with a simple tomato sauce, followed by wattleseed icecream with a chocolate dipped wattleseed meringue, and wattlecino coffee. And we had leftovers to take home. Fi's & my skinny unrisen meringues actually taste excellent: a good strong flavour rush. I had a couple after dinner last night.

I wanted to pick up some of the wonderful ham from Food Lovers on my way home, but they had sold out. Fortunately I'm going to the next class in two weeks, so I've ordered some. Until then, I'll have to content myself with a garlic and rosemary rubbed leg of saltbush lamb, a couple of organic sirloin steaks and a pair of organic chicken breasts. I haven't decided on an exact menu for the week, but a Sunday roast lamb is always attractive.

Last night I used some of the chicken with a mango and native mint marinade from Outback Spirit. Served with oven chips from a packet, fresh steamed green beans and a simple mango salsa that was just half a Kensington pride mango, chopped with a fresh jalapeno and a couple of slices of red onion. Very yummy, though a bit expensive this early in mango season - I got two at $3.75 each, but I do love them.

A is for Ainslie: Pulp Kitchen

Some friends are doing a "world tour of Canberra" - visiting every suburb in alphabetical order. Sounds like fun, but I don't think I can impose this discipline on my blog. I can't make the commitment to a regular event, since I have a job, and friends with other ideas, and a newspaper column to write as well. But I will make a tag and play with the idea of a Canberra alphabet. I have B to come soon after this post. C? Well, that's too far ahead to plan, but Civic and Dickson sound easy. Then Emu Ridge, Evatt or EPIC?

So A is for Ainslie, and I've already noted that Ainslie has a nice IGA with a good deli, including Poachers' Pantry smoked goods and free range BBQ chooks. There's also a chicken shop, a Brumby's bakery, a yoga studio, Edgar's pub, and an unusual Vietnamese place - takeaway and delivery only, no actual restaurant attached! There are two nice restaurants - 2602, which I haven't been to, is supposed to be pretty good though not outstanding.

On Friday night I went to the other one, Pulp Kitchen. It's where Bernadette's used to be, and has a similar simple decor - wooden floors and tables, big blackboards on the walls for the wine lists and specials, and a couple of large paintings. It's calling itself a European brasserie, which reminds me of how unusual these days to find modern cuisine without Asian accents.

Continue here for more detail.

The bloke and I went with two friends, and we had a good night of it. Nothing was a deal-breaker, though there were a couple of small irritants. It's a little bit too loud for my taste, though not so bad that we couldn't hear ourselves speak. The service was skating marginally on the slow side of good, though they did have a big crowd on the night. And the charges for corkage and cakeage - not that we used them - seemed rather snobby at $5 per person, and ungraciously expressed. Their download menu is in Word format - someone really needs to tell them about the concept of the pdf... Oh well - that's it, really.

On the good side, the menu was delightfully flexible. The majority of the dishes could be ordered in large or small sizes; many meaty sounding things had a note that they could be modified for vegetarians; and the oysters were served by the piece. They did not even blink an eye when one of our party asked for just two oysters kilpatrick ($5). And the quality was fine. It's not super gourmet, nor is there glam presentation - or even small garnishes. But it's good honest food, notably well prepared, in this classic bistro style.

I enjoyed half a dozen Coffin Bay oysters natural ($15) with a bloody mary granita to start. Others just had some bread, which was a good crusty wood-fired loaf served with a fruity olive oil. We all opted for small serve meals for our mains, in order to leave room for desserts. Steak and chips, liver and onions, spaghetti and meatballs, and and octopus and potato salad: costing $17-21 for the smaller sizes. Full sized mains are $23-$30. I was impressed with my calves liver - it was perfectly cooked, which is so important with liver, and came with some really good chunky bacon. Maybe a bit heavy on the salt, but I like that. Add $9 for a side of steamed green beans sufficient for all, and we were content, but still ready for dessert.

I had the bitter chocolate terrine with pistachio and vodka icecream ($12), and loved it - the silky smooth terrine and the velvety smooth icecream paired up well. Neither was too sweet, and the flavours matched beautifully. Kate's apple cake and calvados icecream looked good, and she liked it, but I didn't beg a taste. John and The Bloke had cheese plates ($19), which The Bloke describes as "better than average but not great". There were five cheeses, cut in sizes so small as to look a bit stingy to me. The customary three would have looked better, I think. The choice of cheeses was sound, a mix of Aussie and European. No megastars, but good stuff - that seems to have been the theme of the night.

All in all, it was pretty good and I'd be happy to go back there. The quality of the food and flexibility of the menu make it good value for money, as long as you don't blow it on the stupid corkage.