As Nature Intended

Next to the Rydges by the lake, on the ground floor of one of the buildings that are part of the gentrification of Acton, is As Nature Intended, a cafe and grocery shop chasing the bourgeois-green dollar. While not perhaps actually typical of the clientele, one customer we saw on a recent visit seemed to personify the spirit of the place - a middle-aged woman, possibly having strolled from her (and accompanying husband's) new upmarket apartment across the road, wearing a polar-fleece and what appeared to be pyjama bottoms, but with the poise and confidence of possessing a certain amount of wealth.

As well as generally browsing through the (as you would expect) expensive organic grocery section, the other main purpose of our visit was lunch, which was a bit of a mixed bag of experiences. Foodwise, one meal (Beans and Sausage on Toast) was OK, if not outstanding. The other (Thai Scrambled Eggs with Tofu on Toast) was ordered knowing that this would be a gamble, and which turned out ultimately to not pay off. The eggs, though nonetheless excellent, were actually more of an omelet. The tofu was chunky and bland. Further, with both meals we were not impressed with the "toast" appearing to have come straight from a plastic bag, and not being toasted properly - for $15 meals we expect a bit more effort.

The effort of thought was also lacking in whoever chose the music that day - banal, vacuous cafe jazz/trip-hop - that sat uneasily with the underlying premise of the place on conscientiousness in consumerism. On the other hand, we did like the American organic farming journals from the 1960s scattered around. Views on the paintings of Australian pastoral scenes in bright oil paints on the walls will likely be a question of personal taste.

Overall, we would've liked to have liked As Nature Intended more, but it clearly needs to do some work on itself. However, wealthy baby-boomers, who genuinely believe they can eat their way to health, and are otherwise able to suspend doubt, may have a different opinion.

Notes on Adelaide

Back from a quick trip to Adelaide, where of course we had to keep on eating, if whilst sometimes wistfully thinking of Mount Ainslie and properly chilly mornings.

Along with the observation that if you've seen one vineyard, you've seen them all (made after a day in the Barossa), two meals stood out. Both were consumed on Melbourne Road, within North Adelaide, a Red Hill-like enclave of privilege, segregated from the outside world by parks and ring-roads.

The first, at The Himalayan Kitchen, was accutely disappointing. Perhaps extremely small portions of tasteless food may be authentic Nepalese-Tibetan cuisine, but we doubt it. Plus they had the gall to price a Coopers Sparkling Ale for $6.80 and Heineken for $7.50. Plus the front-of-house staff member (who appeared to be a privately-schooled hippy) was entirely unmoved by our protests, suggesting lazily that "you can't please everyone". Walk on by.

The second meal, from across the road at Yakatori Takumi, was at the complete opposite end of the satisfaction scale. Delicious, well priced food, served by supremely polite and cheerful staff. More generally, in the aftermath of this comparatively delightful experience we were also struck by the thought that yakatori is almost always what tapas is inevitably not - tasty, cheap treats, that are the perfect companion to drinking. Canberra would definately benefit from more places like this - preferably within walking distance of our home.

Maestral

Urban myths are funny things and often have two characteristics. First, they are obviously not always true, while perhaps having some factual basis. Second, their origins are always a bit hazy, and you're never quite sure where you first hear a given myth.

For us, we're not quite sure where we heard it, but someone once told us that Maestral, a Croatian restaurant in the Weston shops was John Howard's favourite restaurant in Canberra. However, on a recent visit we busted this myth. After our meal we inspected a framed photo on the wall of the former Prime Minister with the waiters and chefs (that may be the factual basis of the myth). This grabbed the staff's attention. In the chit chat that followed, however, it emerged that Australia's second longest serving PM had only been in there once - in 2001.

Having only made one trip there, it appears John missed the opportunity to fully explore Maestral's extensive menu of Balkan treats. Whether your heart is in Split, Sarajevo, or Sofia and you're looking for comfort food, or whether you just like good seafood and grilled meat dishes, you'll probably enjoy a visit. The prawn and scallop skewers, and tomato soup, are exceptional. On the downside, like other popular restaurants crammed into commercial units in suburban shopping centres, on both times we've been there, it's been a little bit too noisy (and hot) to be fully comfortable. Some visual respite can be found (especially for the nostalgic ex-Balkanese), however, in the slightly faded but still stunning posters of Dubrovnik and the less known, but almost equally picturesque, Adriatic town of Trogir.

A Bite to Eat

For as long we we've lived in Canberra, Silo in Kingston has been viewed among most of our friends (and this being a view which we've shared), of being the best cafe in Canberra. After having visited A Bite to Eat in the Woden suburb of Chifley the other day though, we think it may have a peer. We'd heard good things about Bite, and it turns out those things were all true.

Despite their mutual food excellence (and reasonable pricing) the two cafes have a number of notable differences. Silo is minimalist and monotone in its decor, whereas Bite is bohemian bright and multicoloured - each table and chair set is different to the next. Silo is favoured by the elected representatives, bureaucrats, and lobbyists of the political elite, the main demographic at Bite on our visit on a midweek lunchtime were middle-class women dressed for comfort. Silo makes Canberra's best fresh bread and has a cheese room, Bite has Zierholz beer on tap - and so on.

We ate duck and potato pancakes, and felafels with chili-tomatoes on sourdough - both of which were delicious, and the latter costing less than $10. And importantly, whereas Silo is often too popular and crowded to be easily enjoyed, while Bite was busy, it was in no sense the upper middle class feeding frenzy that Silo can be on many mornings.

Overall, while Bite doesn't surpass its Kingston competitor, it does seem to suggest that the latter does have a rival - and that quality food in Canberra can be found beyond the fashionable suburbs.

The Civic Pub

Your attitude to The Civic Pub in Braddon will largely be determined by your attitude towards Australian working class people and their culture. If you have limited sympathy or interest, you will probably think of it in similar terms to a couple of our friends who (on separate occasions) have described the place as full of "meatheads" and with a "Cronulla-like atmosphere". If this is likely to be the case, we recommend that you keep on walking up Lonsdale Street and join the self-admiring middle classes at Debacle, or turn around and go back to Cream.

In short, The Civic Pub is a quintessential contemporary Australian pub without pretension. In fact it barely even pretends to be a pub, with most of its space being turned over to pool tables, and recently, the self-grilling and eating of steaks. It is poorly lit and ventilated. There is a TV within almost any possible line-of-sight, and this TV will be showing either men playing sport, or wrything, under-dressed pop singers. The beer available on tap is generally served with a smile, although the products themselves are entirely unremarkable. The primary features of the decor are contemporary advertisements for brands of alcohol, and faux-antique posters for Asian brands of cigarettes.

If you like beer and playing pool, and your self-image doesn't rule out the possibility of choosing to be in close proximity to workers in the building trades, car salesmen, office administrators, and less precious students and public servants, The Civic Pub could be for you.

My Rainbow Dreams

Hippies as a social category, we think, have a few unfair, and indeed paradoxical, reputations. While they are widely derided as dirty or otherwise lacking in hygiene, the best (if not necessarily the cheapest) soaps always seem to be made be hippy-sounding concerns. We're talking about those bars you can find in certain shops made from organic goats milk/olives/coconut butter et cetera with quaint packaging, but smell/lather/feel the bestest. Similarly, despite their rep for being simplistic, earthy, and possibly naive types, hippies and hippy cafes, in general, make better, more sophisticated food than the fast food chains and most cafes that feed the mainstream.

With its certain hippy resonances, recently we've discovered and enjoyed My Rainbow Dreams, a cafe in the pedestrianised part of the Dickson shops. Apparently run by some local group within the Sri Chinmoy movement, it offers delicious and cheapish vegetarian food for lunch for the remarkably socially diverse mix of people who can found wandering around Dickson around midday on a weekday. On the wall is a picture of Sri in a down jacket, smiling and gazing blissfully into the distance, among cherry blossoms. Behind the counter are twins, and another woman who seems to have trouble multitasking, all in saris. Everything is pretty good, though the changing selection of quiches are favourites, along with the savoury pies. Possibly not worth a special trip, but a certainly a good place to go for a quick lunch if you're nearby.

Izumi

We've been meaning to write about Izumi for a while, but haven't really had occasion till our motivation was jogged from a visit last week on a evening when we didn't feel like cooking.

Like a lot of other former and present ANU students, Izumi has at times been something of stable stand-by in the feeding of ourselves, being the closest off-campus food outlet, and open in the weekend and evenings. We've eaten there on chilly Canberra winter evenings when the neighbouring carpark seems particularly cold and barren, and at midday in mid-summer, eating Bi Bim Bab while hopelessly trying to swat away the thousands of swarming and fearless black flies.

The food is OK, slightly greasy, but yummy Korean staples. The signage says that it's also a Japanese place, but I've told by people who know the nuances of the these two cuisines that this later claim is really just marketing. In the past things appeared to be overseen by an older couple who we haven't seen for a while - with things now seemingly passed over to students who unfortunately can be a bit surly, and also have had a tendency to cut back on the size of the servings. Overall, while certainly not the-best-place-ever, it compares very favourably to almost anything on offer at the ANU.

Tip Top Gourmet Restaurant

When a VB is the high-point of your meal, and the most prominently printed thing on the menu is the phrase "No added MSG", it should be clear that a place should have been avoided.

Recently, the Always Hungry team was feeling a bit adventurous and walking through Civic decided to try somewhere they had heard nothing about before. In doing so we stumbled upon Tip Top Gourmet Restaurant in Garema Place, upstairs from Clouston's academic remainder bookshop. Upon entering we were a little wary as the place was half-empty on a busy night and the food on the tables of some of the people already there looked a bit average. We decided however to stay - which turned out to be a decision we both regretted.

While the menu was impressive at face value, containing all of our favourites from restaurants in Australia serving dishes in Chinese, Malaysian, and Thai traditions, the execution of these dishes was appalling. Bland sauces, poorly cooked vegetables, and so on. We have never eaten so poorly in Canberra (apart from maybe at the ANU). And while perhaps being on the cheap side, the pricing is certainly not outright cheap.

And the toilets were disgusting.