minibreak part 1 Gundaroo

Grazing

I am a planner and a maker of lists. In fact if we are going away my favourite thing is to plan eating opportunities and then write them down. On Sunday S and I went to Canberra for the night and I had it all worked out. Lunch at Grazing at Gundaroo, dinner somewhere in Kingston or Manuka, breakfast at Silo bakery then lunch at Chairman and Yip (or as my brother calls it the Ghost and Mrs Mao). If I had a chance to but foods at the Kingston bus markets or chocolate at Koko Black I would be ecstatic.

I rang and made a booking at Grazing. We could only get in at 12 and we had to sit outside. As storms were forecast I asked if we would be undercover. Yes, we would be but we could not sit inside on any condition. We arrived just before twelve and were guided through a maze of rooms (it reminded me of the layout of our old house) and seated...inside. Hmmm. We looked over the menu. I saw the words assiette and tomatoes (Grazing have their own fruit and veg gardens at the rear of the restaurant) and looked no further. I wish I had because S ordered the raviolo which was delicious.

raviolo with pumpkin and herbs

There was a lot going on on my plate and it was nice but not great.

assiette of tomatoes

I had suggested that we go with the local wine by the glass options with our meals. Mine turned out to be okay but the wine that S got was as he described it (to the waitress) a bit rubbish. It had a breathtaking aroma of steer urine (And thanks to Bruce and Kevin I am all to familiar with that smell). S checked with the waitress if it was supposed to taste like that (a bit rubbish) or if it was off and she confirmed that it was. She luckily had a good sense of humour and later confided that she thought it was a bit rubbish too. I guess the tip off should have been that it was from a Vineyard called Capital Hill whose wines were called the senator, the frontbencher or the whip. What is with canberrans and these names - remember there was that restaurant called Fringe Benefits?
For our mains I ordered the Chicken pie with pancetta and green olives but got meal envy again when S had the sirloin with cafe de paris butter and frites. Le sigh. I had just been reading about steak and frites in book called Hundred Foot Journey but my eyes saw pie and my brain stopped functioning.

the pie

My pie was nice but the dominant flavour was not chicken or pancetta or olives but celery.The salad was very simple and very, very good.

The sirloin (because I got to taste it and stole a frite or two) was delicious though S said it wasn't as good as the one he had at our local restaurant Graze.
We finished the meal with a slice of chocolate tart with ground coriander which was very good. Then we took a stroll down the main street, which was pretty quiet just like the local library and literary institute. I wonder who they get for book readings?