Mocan: A+++
Had to google what cavolo nero was… i’m not cultured at all.
I saw Sweet Bones advertising a Raw Food food demonstration or something… on the menu was ‘Massaged Kale Salad’.
I love the extra kick a good massaged leaf has.
^ well given the substantial ribs kale has, you’d want to give it an extra-strength massage
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Not alone. I had to ask…
So I went to Temporada last night, took the wife out for her birthday. It’s a good place - I recommend it.
Food is very fresh and has definitely a Mediterranean influence - it’s sort of ‘fusion’ I guess but there weren’t any Asian influence.
I got little pan fried prawns the way they do it in Spain, and the grilled octopus, also very Spanish. I’m a big fan of octopus and this one was really good - bit of a small serve.
My better half got the cod croquettes and the grilled spatchcock - her stuff was superb. The croquettes in particular were spectacularly yummy.
Dessert was salted caramel donut - super yummy as well.
The service was excellent, quick and not one stuff up.
I don’t really see many cons to his place. I’d say the deco is a bit dull, boring walls and tables and chairs. A pity because the central bar is great, nice tiles and design, but the rest is bit meh. Get a good designer to do something a bit audacious and this place will kick ass!
Price wise: obviously not something you do everyday, but it was better priced than places with similar standing: A Baker, Parlour wine bar and probably others I can’t think of.
I know Mocan keeps getting brought up, but have you tried them for dinner? They have an awesome Spanish pimentos plate on their menu right now which is excellent. You can usually find pork belly, soft shell crab and nice light vegetarian stuff executed really well. Everything’s super fresh, usually sourced on the day and a dinner for two was less than $100 last time I went - not super affordable, but I think it’s a nice extension of their lunch service! (and they’re BYO)
^yep I’m a big fan of Mocan. We’re very lucky to have them.
Yet to try the cupping room brew btw
I have only been there for b’fast - I am not big on a big cook up at breakfast. I really enjoy my muesli, granola, porridge etc. The porridge I got at Mocan was excellent, but the serving was WAY too small. As in 4-5 full tablespoons and it was gone. It was really good though. I ended up smashing some weet-bix when I got home.
you HAVE to try the black rice porridge at Double Drummer. It comes in a latte sized glass but it actually ended up being a decent size serve for $8 or $8.50
I was in the area of mocan last night, but man, i cannot find anything down there. still, had a whisky at hotel hotel lobby and then more at hippo, the latter now having a stonking whisky list.
I think Temporada is front runner for this weekends dinner, and I thank FOA for the input.
Black rice porridge sounds bloody wonderful, by the way.
My workplace is moving into the city next Wednesday, if anyone has any suggestions for awesome/cheap lunches in the area, go for it!
Everyone at work talks up the Burmese Curry House, will have to give it a spin.
Yes, the Burmese curry house is good. Very basic but very tasty. $9/dish I think.
Similar to the Global Cafe (Ethiopian) in that it’s a small cheap joint but better I think. I’d still recommend the Ethiopian cafe though.
I’m in the city too.
Never eaten at the Burmese place but it usually pretty busy.
Best places for lunch ~$10:
$6 ANU food co-op (vego/vegan). They have one option for the day and you have to wash your dishes, but it’s a good size serve, cheap and tasty.
$8 Ethiopian curry at Global Cafe on Northbourne right near Novotel
$10 burger and sweet potato fries at Playground (one of my faves), and $7 sandwiches at the mini cafe next door.
$9 at Treehouse. Haven’t eaten there but the place looks nice and the menu looks pretty good.
$10.90 huge sandwiches at the Street Theatre cafe at ANU. Fresh breads, including pumpkin and spinach, with heaps of filling and made to order.
East bar (at bus interchange opposite Bailey’s corner) also has some cheap dine in lunch options, but haven’t been there yet
There’s a bunch of other $7-10 Asian take-away places around West Row and London Circuit too but they’re all the usual rice and sweet & sour pork/ honey chicken jobs.
Thanks mate - will have to suss them out.
Working in the Canberra office today and colleagues took me out to lunch at the Cupping Rooms. Nice spot, definitely better than anything that was around when I lived in Canberra 10 years ago! Didn’t try a coffee unfortunately (had two already this morning as was struggling after a 5am start in Melbourne…).
Had dinner at Mocan & Green last time (our office is next door). The pimientos were on the menu then too and were delicious until you got a hot one… Needed about 20 minutes to recover. Nice food though and friendly staff that were keen to chat about where it was sourced and why they’d chosen it.
I work just a few buildings down
Yeah I saw your post about your Healthy Living bonus at work, I reckon we might have very similar jobs… I was working in the Nishi building on Friday but my work is moving everyone back to Marcus Clark St soon. Nishi was fun. Standing desks and nice views over the lake. Good cafe on the ground floor.
Had brekkie at Sweet Bones this morning. Good food, really nice coffees, very reasonable prices. Was impressed!
Just had this and it was awesome. 3 curries, rice and injera for $8, you can’t go wrong.
Is it paleo though, Luke?