Canberra
I was recently in the Australian capital Canberra with some friends and came back, happily, a couple of kilos heavier! Whenever I am in Canberra I get shown the best places in town to eat, and this weekend was no exception. A few years ago, as one of my first posts on UrbanDuniya, I wrote about Australia’s culinary capital and today I bring you part two!
Cheese platter by Kate and Gaz
When we arrived our friends had already prepared a cheese platter; crumbly cheddar, camembert, Persian feta and blue served with crusty fruit bread, quince paste, luscious dates and a pot of olive oil with balsamic vinegar. Yummmmmm!
Cheese platter by Kate and Gaz
Breakfast the next morning was at the Local Press Cafe in Kingston, where I chowed down on the Green Brekky Plate. I’m not normally a fan of a green breakfast – especially while I’m cutting loose on holidays – but this was something special. Crumbled feta, quinoa, hard boiled eggs and spices along with a whole heap of sauteed spinach and avocado. It was filing, tasty and wholesome, all washed down with some seriously good coffee!
Green Brekky Plate at Green Press Cafe
This was only outdone in ridiculousness by the breakfast the next morning; Patissez‘s famous FreakShakes. These over-the-top milkshakes started a craze in Australia that has now hit the rarefied cafe atmospheres of Sydney and Melbourne.
Patissez’s Freakshakes
I had the Cookies and Cream FreakShake, while my friend went for the Nutella FreakShake – hers was considerably richer and unfinishable than mine! The others in our party went for a more conventional vegetarian breakfast.
Patissez’s breakfast
Patissez also have a huge range of colourful, crazy cakes too – check out their pastry cabinet.
Patissez’s pastry case
Dinner was also special; we went to Baan Latsamy, a Lao-Thai restaurant with some awesome noodle soups and creamy, rich Massaman Beef curry.
Baan Latsamy Lao Thai
About an hour’s drive from Canberra is the New South Wales town of Jugiong, recommended to me by my parents, for the simple but well-stocked Long Track Pantry. This old warehouse/shed-looking place is home to a cafe, diner, craft shop and sweets stop – well worth a visit if you’re in the area, or a great place to stop if you’re on the way through on the Hume Highway.
Long Track Pantry, Jugiong
Food items at the Long Track Pantry
Back in Canberra, down on Kingston Foreshore, I have also been to 38 Espresso on a previous occasion where the coffee was excellent. I also love their menu board;
38 Espresso Menu
Almost next door is Max Brenner, where I met friend and fellow blogger Anna Johnston! Anna is the brains behind ShenANNAgans, and is a Canberra fan, as evidenced by her guest post on UrbanDuniya earlier this year!
Max Brenner Hot Chocolate
Finally, it wouldn’t be a catch up in Canberra with my friend Kate without some reminiscing about the 1990s! While they’re not only a Canberra special, who remembers Zooper Doopers?
Zooper Doopers. Remember these?!
We do! And we’re planning to have them next time we catch up! And as Kate said, they will probably taste like plastic and give us a terrifying sugar high. Stay tuned for another blog post!
the one on the right, The most ridiculous milk shake i have ever seen!
…and it was SOOOOOOO good!! 😀
WOAH… thanks for the shout out friend. 🙂 You da BEST!
Those freak shakes make me feel a little bit violent, so frustrating that something so ridiculous is making the peeps go crazy. But, great pictures.
Where is Lao-Thai restaurant? Kingston? Looks mighty yumbo.
Why do they charge more for decaf at 38 Espresso I wonder, seems mean. We dont get that bang for buck the real deal gives, we shouldn’t be penalized for it. LOL!
Zooper Doopers are the BEST! They dont taste like plastic, but they sure do give that super sugar high.
Hehehehe sugar high 😀
The Lao Thai restaurant is in Manuka. It was pretty good 🙂 And as for 38 Espresso, it was really good when I was there the first time, but not so much recently – the coffee took quite a while, and it was just ok :/
And THANK YOU for catching up and just being all-round awesome 🙂
I don’t know if you know that, but I’m the biggest fan od dates -they are so sweet and fresh, always add them to my recipes! 🙂
Yep I know – I just finished writing a piece about dates actually – I love them too! 😀