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Canberra Today 12°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Dining / Foreshore’s taste of the Carribean

WITH its massive, brightly coloured mural featuring a giant parrot on the outside and pink flamingo décor on the inside, Betti Bravo’s, Kingston Foreshore, takes you to the Caribbean.

I was hankering to hang out there because I love the flavours of this part of the world. They’re exotic, often spicy, bold, and refreshingly different considering that Canberra isn’t anywhere near the glittering, gorgeous Caribbean Sea.

Betti Bravo’s is where the Rum Bar lived life for a little while. Its claim to fame is food that is a “little bit Spanish, a little bit Caribbean and a whole lot of delicious”.

Dishes are designed to share, which is exactly what we did and the portions are pretty generous. For the most part, dishes are also easy to share, which isn’t the case in all places that encourage you to dine this way.

Sadly, our first visit didn’t hit the mark, starting with the white bait, which was cold on arrival and pretty light on the promised chilli.

We couldn’t resist the paella, such a classic Spanish dish ($28). It was a generous serve and the saffron shone through. The king prawns, fish and calamari glammed matters up, but we were expecting, and didn’t get, a crusty, crunchy, crispy bottom – you know, the kind that makes paella so fun and rewarding. The flavours were great (nice spice), but the dish was slightly wet and most of the mussels were overcooked.

Jerk chicken is one of my absolute all-time fave dishes from the Caribbean and I’ve had it dozens of times on the streets during my travels. Betti Bravo’s serves “Mamas Jerk chicken” and I couldn’t wait for the dish to arrive ($27). The chicken was blackened on top, as it should be, but my pieces definitely weren’t cooked through and so I left them to the side. I was also looking for far more intensity with the flavours, but thoroughly enjoyed the fresh mango salsa.

Determined to bring back tropical memories, I ventured to Betti Bravo’s a second time. The quinoa, fava bean and mint salad with buttermilk dressing ($11) was lovely but needed a bit more seasoning. The baby calamari, with chickpeas, preserved lemon, romesco and chorizo was the best dish I’ve had so far, although my preference was for spicier chorizo.

The service at Betti Bravo’s is friendly and fairly efficient. Staff need to remember to bring serving utensils so guests can dig into share dishes without any inconvenience.

A good option is the “fiesta menu”, which is $40 a person and needs two or more to share. It’s a nice selection and enables diners to road test a range of tastes. You get even more options with the “escobar menu”, for $55 a person for two or more to share.

Will I be back? Third time lucky, perhaps?

Betti Bravo’s, 6/2 Trevillian Quay, Kingston, lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Sunday. Call 6295 7000.

 

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Wendy Johnson

Wendy Johnson

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