When it’s hard to leave happy…
"It’s never a good start when there are complications with ordering. The pasta ordered wasn’t available. The fish of the day wasn’t available. Hmmm…," writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
Small place big on flavours
"This is a take-away food operation, plain and simple, but it’s a great way to feast with family or friends (goodbye junk food)," writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
Pizzas made to capture hearts
"Italian is the name of the game and it’s fun that the pizzas are named in honour of the streets in the area," writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
Some like it hot… or medium or mild
Some like it hot... medium or mild. Food reviewer WENDY JOHNSON files from Bateman's Bay.
Darling Clementine doesn’t disappoint
"Clementine is Yass Valley’s first hatted restaurant, offering local wines and modern dining with predominantly French and Italian influences," writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
More to Rizla than just the (impressive) menu
"Rizla’s food is amazing, or 'ridiculously amazing' as one of our party pronounced. And everything on the compact but impressive menu looked interesting." WENDY JOHNSON is one very happy dining reviewer this week.
Gungahlin’s little piece of Europe
"At Le Bon Mélange, a beautiful French Patisserie in Gunghalin, you absolutely want to eat everything. And I mean absolutely everything," says dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
Dust settles, ‘amazing’ Ostani emerges
"Ostani's amazing fit-out, by award-winning design studio, Capezio Copeland, is inspired by the Australian alpine landscape," writes food reviewer WENDY JOHNSON
Putting some science into hot chocolate
"Frugii has created butter chicken, seafood laksa, bacon and beer ice creams. One of creator John Marshall’s faves was salted duck egg yolk ice cream." Dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON reports from a dessert laboratory in Braddon.
Dining / Decent Japanese at decent prices
"The dishes at Ogawa came out randomly. We would have preferred to build flavours and start with the carpaccio but it came out last. Certainly not the end of the world," writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON
Dining / Monster’s new menu put to the test
“Monster recently launched a new menu. We were looking forward to the adventure,” writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
Shed opens up some of the best oysters
Winter is a peak season for oysters farmed in the pristine, turquoise waters the Eurobodalla coast is so well known for. The unique microclimate and clean waters create the oyster’s signature taste and appeal (salty, sweet, creamy),” writes WENDY JOHNSON.
Dining / Wunderbar taste of authentic Bavarian
“The challenge is to single-handedly eat a six-stack of chicken schnitzel with ham, cheese and four sides in one hour and you get your meal ‘on the haus’. Lucky that Woden hospital is nearby!” writes WENDY JOHNSON
Italian with welcoming ways
“La Rustica knows its place in the market, is unpretentious and always focused on making tummies happy,” writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
‘X’ marks the dining spot
“I’d love to see more local cafés in this new precinct, as opposed to the several large chains that have set up business in the area but it is what it is,” writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON
Sharing lunch with an old friend
"The Urban Pantry menu has great variety and focuses on local produce and flavours that are anything but wimpy, writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
Assembly dining and the ‘ayes’ have it
"This is a place to hang out with family and friends to do pretty much whatever you’d like; watch sports on the big TV screens, settle into cosy leather booths or head to the sunny beer garden," writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON.
Where friends might graze
"We were thrilled with the creamy duck pate that wore a wonderful slice of limoncello gel on top. It was bursting with flavour and inspired us to duplicate it at home (wish us luck)," writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON as she reports from Civic.
When the answer is no, the question is how hard?
"We cheerfully asked if we could order a half-and-half pizza. We weren’t concerned about asking because the place was virtually empty. The answer? A flat 'no'," writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON
How the chefs keep it all straight is beyond me…
"I asked what the fish was and winced when I was told: 'I’m not sure, I think it starts with an M'. A bit of staff training is in order," writes dining reviewer WENDY JOHNSON after an otherwise enjoyable visit to a newish restaurant at Kingston Foreshore.
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