It isn't often that you dine with a Jewish person and a Coeliac's person. The combined dietary limitations of no meat (not Kosher), limited seafood (needs fins and scales), no gluten, and just for fun no nuts and limited dairy impact dining options. My approach is to order what I want anyway otherwise I won't get to try the dishes that interest me.
Monster is a very stylish place housed in a modern hotel/cinema complex. The Monday night movie special of $10 (combined with the other local restaurants all being closed on Monday, other than Max Brenner) makes movie and Monster dinner Monday probably a common combination for Canberrans with money to spend. The Palace cinema complex with its cheeses, dips and wine also help to separate away the children and youth. It isn't a bad thing for a childless non-youth like me.
Considering Monster is one often features on Canberra's to-eat list, it's quite remarkable the Urbanspoon rating sat in the realm of approximately 58%.
- Yabby jaffle, horseradish, crème fraiche $19 - I assume yabby meat is expensive. Very expensive. Otherwise there should be a lot more of this nice flavoursome mixture in between cheap supermarket-style whitebread;
- Buttermilk fried quail, sriracha $8 - small half of quail, juicy meat and a thick coating. Not bad;
- Oven roasted trout, parsnip mash, capers and raisins - an evening special of exquisitely cooked fish with a touch of rare to the flesh and a seasoned crisp skin;
- Cauliflower, hazelnut, burnt butter, Reggiano, Sutton truffle $28 - expensive dish without any discernible truffle flavour or aroma (given it is truffle season also). The dish was fine but for the price I'd expect protein or more truffle;
- Roast beetroot, shankleesh, onion, almond, dill $19 - simple dish of beetroot and a few additives;
- Twice cooked pigs cheek, burnt eggplant, hoi sin, scallop floss, Sichuan vinaigrette $32 - I struggle to believe this was cheek and not belly. It had a crisp seasoned skin, a very thick >50% layer of fat, a thin layer of meat, and another thin layer of fat underneath. Cheeks should be meat nuggets with fat running through it and not attached to skin. It was confusing and the amount of edible meat for the price made it a bit difficult. The meat that was there was succulent and tasty. Burnt eggplant clumps were distinctive and the floss had nice flavour and texture. I couldn't detect any Sichuan heat or numbness;
- Poached apples, apple crisps, rhubarb, meringue and earl grey icecream $18 - a hybrid dessert for my gluten-free diner that had a nice combination of flavours and textures. Not bad at all.
The couple at the next door ordered a special that was 4 very large grilled king prawns. They blasphemously didn't eat any of the head and cut straight from the start of the head shell. Wasteful. But the dish looked appealing.
Overall the flavours were fine but the dishes didn't seem particularly special. For the prices, the delivery of actual product seemed to lack. I'd definitely give it another go (as I intend to go back to Palace Cinema sometime), but for now my meal at A. Baker another evening exceeds this one.
Next time I would order ideally without dietary restriction - 38-hour pork neck bao (although for $9??), Grazing beef tartare with miso, special dish of grilled prawns (if available), eggplant main and pulled lamb shoulder.