Charcoal Rooster

Thoughtful planning can make a big difference to people's lives, with a case in point being whenever (or possibly after) they decided to build what is now Fenner Hall, someone thought it would be good to put in a couple of small shops nearby. Sitting on Ipima Street, the pair are seemingly isolated, but are close enough so that the residents of the said institutional accommodation wouldn't have to spend too much time and/or money going into Civic for a block of butter or a slab of VB. Instead, there is now a seemingly constantly busy liquor shop/mini-supermarket, and a similarly well-patronised fast food place - Charcoal Rooster.

Along with its evocative, and possibly (undeservedly) off-putting name, Charcoal Rooster, as we've recently discovered, also offers really-quite-good pide. The bread is moist and fresh, the fillings are superior, and overall its just much tastier than our recent experiences with the Turkish Pide House. Plus, the booze next door is some of the cheapest in the Inner North.

Recommended.

Things Mexican: Zambrero and the Fiery Aztec

Over the past few weeks the Always Hungry team have come across a couple of vaguely Mexican things of note.

The first is the Wig and Pen's new seasonal (i.e. winter) stout, which they have named Fiery Aztec. As a good stout should be it's thick and tasty, although with more of the consistency of Coopers Extra Stout than Guinness. One of us made the observation that it was not unlike chilled, alcoholic coffee. Definitely worth a taste...

The second is the wannabe Mexican-style chain Zambrero. Their first outpost (that we know of) was in Lonsdale Street (Braddon), and they have since opened for business on a corner of the Sydney Building in the Civic bus interchange, where you would think a hospitality business might thrive but for whatever reason, they historically seem not to. We are in two minds about our Zambrero experiences. One of us is enthusiastic about it, and thinks highly of the burritos they've had, while the other is less impressed, thinking the food average and a bit over-priced. You would think that Canberra (and Australia more widely) could support a successful Mexican chain (which it doesn't have at the moment) - however whether Zambrero has got the formula right is less clear. If they up the quality on the food a notch, and knock a dollar or two off the prices for their main menu items we think they might make it.

Flatheads Cafe

The inclusion of "cafe" in Flatheads' name is perhaps something of a misnomer - the place is a fish and chip shop, if with a few frills in the decor and the menu. Located next door to All Bar Nun in the O'Connor shops - it seemed to attract a reasonable cross sample of the suburb's population on our visit on a Saturday afternoon. Sitting next to us in its pleasantly sunny, warmly painted interior were a baby boomer threesome talking property speculation, over from them were a couple of fashionable 20-somethings, behind us was a parent with a couple of kids apres-Saturday morning sport, and outside was an art-student-looking type reading Camus.

Being a fish and chip shop, I imagine that the owners of the place could expect that there would be customer resistance to them charging real-cafe prices, but they seem to get away with it. Quality-wise it was a bit of a mixed bag. The vege burger we ordered was quite possibly the best vege burger either of us has eaten - with an excellent lightly fried patty, crisp salad and buns, and delicious tatare sauce. However, the fish was a bit of a disappointment and the chips were average (and only warm, rather than hot). Specifically, our complaints with the fish were waaaaaay to much batter and the use of fillets teeming with sharp and nasty bones that seriously detracted from the experience. It's a bit of a tough one in terms of making a judgement, but fish issues aside, that burger would probably tempting enough for a future visit sometime.