111 Monaro Street
Queanbeyan NSW 2620
Ph: 02 6297 1335
Website
When I say I "lived" in Canberra, I spent at least half of that time actually living in Queanbeyan. Now, many will scoff, but Queanbe-hole does have its advantages - and the Central Cafe is definitely one of them. It was my place of choice for breakfasts (and also my brother's choice, when he visited), did a good lunch, and also put on a great dinner. They have a "light eater" menu, but also cater to those with a more bottomless stomach with "king size" meals - and they really are huge. But the breakfasts at this place are what I love.
Once upon a time I would happily tuck into the "small" bacon, eggs, and sausage breakfast. It was a big plate, with rashers of bacon, several sausages, eggs however you wanted them, tomato, mushrooms, hash browns on request... erg, so much food, but sooo good. And, once upon a time, I could polish off that whole plate - or have a damn good try at it. Sadly, that much pig-meat and grease would now leave me quite ill. But there's a whole range of fry-up brekkies, or omelettes, or other breakfast-type foods. A few months before I moved to Melbourne I'd started in on their omelette range, and ended up sticking to that almost exclusively.
But I digress - N and I rocked up one morning just after opening so I could have my first CC breakfast in a little over 3 years.
I was so worried that it wouldn't live up to my memories. Silly me.
N was craving something a little lighter, so ordered one of their open sandwiches, with fillings customised for her - ham, avocado, tomato, and cheese, served up with chunky fries (a staple at CC). Her verdict - yum.
I gave in to hankering for a ham and cheese omelette. Despite the kitchen having some small morning-reading problems (what first came out was ham and cheese toasted sandwich), I was quickly given my (correct) breakfast. Oooooohhhhh... so full of ham-y cheese-y goodness. I spied a fry-up plate go past our table, and it looks like that hasn't changed either. I had a quick look at the rest of the menu too - looks like little has changed since I was last there. But when you've got an extensive menu, and can do everything on it well, why change it?
Central Cafe isn't the type of place you go for fine dining, and it doesn't try to be. But for a good honest meal between 8am and 9.30pm, any day of the week, at a decent price, can you really ask for anything more?
83 Theodore Street
Curtin ACT 2605
Ph: 02 6282 0755
Website
While I was up in Canberra N and I decided that we really wanted to try a place near her home that we'd always meant to, but never gotten around to. And considering her rather advanced state of pregnancy - that is, a bit more than a week overdue - we figured there was no time like the present. It being a Saturday, we figured we should probably book, as we'd noticed that it often looked busy.
A table for two? No problem. So we rock up, a couple of minutes before our meal time, enter the funky premises and wait near a podium to be seated. And wait. And wait. Despite numerous staff brushing past us, or chatting amongst themselves near the bar, no-one seemed keen to show us to our table. We were just starting to discuss leaving when a girl deigned to serve us. She furnished us with a couple of menus, took our drinks order, and left us. N made the comment that she'd looked at us "as though we'd slept with her boyfriend" - very accurate assessment. About 15 minutes later our drinks arrived. What were they, you ask - fancy? No, merely soft drinks. We gave our orders for mains (neither of us wanting to tempt fate with anything more), and settled in to sip our refreshments and chat away.
We've never had a problem having a conversation (hell, we lived together for a while and used to talk the day away out on the balcony with copious amounts of either coffee or wine and cigarettes), but we were really starting to struggle for topics as the minutes ticked by. Finally, a total of 50 minutes after we'd first been seated, our food arrived. And, despite the bad experience so far, it was nearly (NEARLY but not quite) worth the wait.
N ordered the salmon tortellini in a creamy sauce. I had a taste, and it really was fantastic. Maybe a little rich for a main (or a mains-worth of food), but wow. The plate wasn't piled high, but there was ample of this filling pasta dish to appease N's appetite.
I ordered gnocchi in a creamy tomato sauce with pesto. Again, this was just lovely. I couldn't quite finish the dish - as with N's, it was quite filling. I would rather have a good serving of really good food that fills me up and have a little left on the plate, than get a huge amount of adequate food and end up leaving half of it behind.
In contrast to the wait for our meals (hell, forget the meal, what about the wait to be seated, or for our drinks), our plates were cleared and the bill presented within minutes (I mean, like, 2 minutes) of us putting our cutlery down.
Despite the quality of the food, there is no way I would go back here. On a Saturday night, when there are empty tables, I don't expect to be forgotten the way we were. I found, during the years I lived in Canberra, some of the best dining was often out in the suburbs, hidden away behind local shops, or side roads. Unfortunately, this isn't one of those times.
There is also a Delissio in Braddon - Delissio Brasserie (Elouera Street). I'm quite willing to give that a go next time I'm in town. Maybe for after-work drinks followed by a meal. If I can find a date.
You've no doubt heard of Espressino - Mel and I have mentioned this fantastic cafe. Their motto is "Cibo con amore" and today proved it for me, yet again. I wandered in for a final coffee of the day and, on the way out, decided that a slice of their delicious pizza would brilliant for dinner. Enis asked if I wanted it heated up - I said nah, I was taking it home for dinner. She promptly grabbed up the last two slices (these things are HUGE), popped them in a bag, told me the best way to reheat them, and then didn't want to take my money! I tell you, if you CAN'T feel the love at this place, there is something wrong - it just overflows at times :-) Like a hug and kiss on the cheek on your birthday. But that pizza is tasting extremely good right now - a great base, tomato paste, cheese, thinly sliced ham, a huge wedge of a mushroom, some olives, and a slick of oil. Bliss.
But on to my main point. You might have noticed my posting has been rather erratic lately. This was partly because of my trip to Canberra. But also I have to admit that, after 18 months, working 7 days a week is starting to take its toll. Time NOT working is generally spent snoozing, or making a half-arsed attempt at keeping the house tidy! I have a back log of posts - pictures and everything! I'll get around to them...
But I don't want to get all deep and meaningful on y'all. So take care, and I'll see yuz when I see yuz :-)
You know those nights where you simply can NOT be bothered making a wholesome and nutritious meal full of healthy goodness? Yeah, I'm having one of those. And before I tell you all about the food I had in Canberra (for which I'd need to find my camera... hmm), let me introduce you to my Tuesday Night Dinner - chicken kiev on chunky mashed potato.
Well, err, that's basically it. One kiev (fresh, not frozen, from the chicken place near my house - they do GREAT stuff there), one potato mashed up with a dollop of butter and a splort of milk, served up with the spilled garlicy buttery juices from the pan dribbled over the top.
It ain't particularly healthy. It probably isn't all that pretty. But it was damned nice.
Irrewarra Sourdough Cafe
10 James Street, Geelong
Ph: 03 5221 3909
I decided that this year, to treat myself on my birthday, I'd go to Irrewarra Sourdough cafe in Geelong for breakfast. They're only open Monday to Friday, so this was going to be my only chance for a while.
Sadly, things didn't start out well.
I checked the website this morning before I left to make sure I knew the address, had an idea of what I wanted to eat, and what time they opened: 9am - easy. I rocked up at about 9.45am to find the doors still locked. Umm... I checked the opening times in the window... 9am... Umm... a lady then poked her head out the door to let me know that, since Monday, they don't open until 10am. I said I'd take a walk for a while.
It was so tempting, walking past other, open cafes, with their foody smells wafting through the morning air, to ditch my original plan and eat elsewhere. But no - I'd driven to Geelong for this, and dammit, I was gonna have it. I had eyed off the wholewheat pancakes on the online menu.
So, at a bare few minutes past 10am I was once again at the door, which this time was open.
A selection of goodies were on display as I walked in, and all looked incredibly good. A shame prices here are relatively high, as I'd really like to have sampled a few of these.
The muffins in particular looked good, and I ended up grabbing one on my way out.
Wandering in I was told to take a seat while the lady at the counter finished a coffee order. I grabbed a January '08 copy of Gourmet Traveller and made myself comfortable at a table to peruse the menu... which was a pretty cut-down version of what was on the website. No wholewheat pancakes with honeycomb butter and maple syrup *sigh*
I ended up choosing poached eggs with bacon and tomato on toasted sourdough, a mug of decaf flat white, and orange juice. The eggs were slightly undercooked for my taste (I prefer my white to be all-solid, with still-runny yolks - the white was still a little see-through in one or two places), but aside from that I was very satisfied with the meal, even though it wasn't pancakes. The bread is simply superb, and everyone should try it - there's a list of retailers who stock their breads on the website. Espressino has ruined me for coffee - I would have classed this coffee as excellent, if I didn't get my usual fix from Dino and the gang. As it is, the best I can offer is "really good" for Irrewarra's coffee.
The muffin I bought on my way out sufficed for dinner tonight. And I now have a loaf of their spicy fruit 'n' nut loaf sitting in the freezer, ready for a fix whenever I want it.
