Eat Like Ushi

After running out of opportunity to have fish and chips in Merimbula (apparently Cranky's might have a decent one), it seemed a great opportunity to get some from Tathra on the way out. Luckily Tathra Seafood is close to the beach and happens to have an excellent urbanspoon rating (94%) for fried greatness.

They told me they try to get as much local seafood as possible. On this occasion the flake was from Lakes Entrance, sole and cod from Queensland and scallop from Japan (usually Tasmania when available).

- Seafood basket for one (with extra piece of fish) - the crumbed sole was excellent, soft, well cooked and the crispy thin coating great. The flake was a little tougher. Together with the scallop was coated in an extremely thick batter that was a little too much. The squid was extraordinarily tender but a little over seasoned. The prawns and calamari were good and the seafood stick was fine. Chips were a quality filler. Everything is salted but not ridiculously so meaning I only had to add pepper (which I prefer) and a few lemon squeezes.

Next time I would order mostly crumbed items as I felt they were better quality overall in both texture and taste. However realistically once you sit on the beach and enjoy the smells and tastes I don't think you'll mind what you order.

The Canberra Day long weekend was a good excuse to go down the coast. Given it is just past summer, I decided venturing south would be adequate and save the northern trips for when the season is colder. What sold me on Merimbula was the lucky timing of the annual Eat Merimbula festival. Lots of stalls were created along the fishpen area with a nice view over the waters.

Unlike a lot of food festivals in Melbourne and London and around the world I've visited, this one was particularly good as it wasn't overly crowded, there were bins and people were using them, people were friendly, smiling and engaging and the entire festival was dedicated to local produce. Additionally the food was actually very good and the prices seemed quite reasonable (as compared to the recent Enlighten Noodle Market with apparently $15 noodles...)

- Locally roasted coffee with Tilba Milk by Ragino Coffee Wyndham and Pambula ($4.50) - unfortunately Tilba milk turned out to be Woolworth's Select milk in a very average coffee;
- Beef short rib on puff pastry with beetroot, green bean salad by Hardcore Carnivore ($10) - soft pulled meat on a cold but still nicely chewy pastry with a balsamic salad;
- Brioche buns with marinated mushroom, ‘’soft style’’ Ivy Farm eggs with pinenuts and fetta by Small Feasts Catering ($8) - reasonably soft cold brioche bun with a mildly flavoured omelette;
- World’s best oysters by Sapphire Coast Wilderness Oysters - natural of varying flavours $15 for 12 (Pambula was the nicest and simplest with creamy centre, Merimbula a lesser version, Wonboyn stronger and Wapengo sweeter) but all were good quality and Japanese $10 for 6 (with wakame and mayo) which I didn't like so much the combination;
- Steamed Eden Mussel’s with house-made bread by Merimbula Wharf Restaurant ($8.50) - large mussel flesh sweetly cooked in tomato and chilli. Really excellent. They also had a homemade marshmallow square ($2) which was extraordinarily soft and not as sickly sweet as the typical packet ones;
- Temaki Sushi with local purple sea urchin by Zanzibar Café ($8) - really delicious but only mildly flavoured uni (2 pieces) although the price couldn't be justified;
- Peach, marscapone and passionfruit crepe by KnR Catering @ Glasshouse Restaurant ($6) - more tangy with passionfruit seeds with limited sweetness (surprised they didn't sprinkle with castor sugar) which I don't mind.

I also hoped to finish my market with handmade ice cream using local fruit and nuts by Cobargo Homemade Ice-cream. Unfortunately after seriously considering asking them to put aside a blood orange tub at the start, by the time I got back after eating everything else, they sold out whilst I was 3rd in line. Even though it was advertised from 10am-3pm, it was unfortunate to see that by 1pm two stalls were already sold out (one was already sold out by 1130am!!). When I walked past the scene at 7pm the area was spotless.

It's a little far to go back just for that festival but I'd highly recommend it.

The dining options in Merimbula seem reasonably limited. There's a token Chinese place, a tapas one (that actually looks very good), an Italian in there and quite a few pubs and seafood places. The pick of the lot seems to be Zanzibar Cafe apparently named after a previous owner's infatuation with something African.

Interestingly enough it holds a one-chef hat rating in the Sydney Morning Herald for 2013, 2014 and 2015 and notably is the only place south of Canberra to have one. In amongst the obscurity of the other places it seemed reasonable to make a booking here for a Saturday evening. At first the 6pm slot seemed a touch early, but given it was the only time left and the degustation took 2 hours to complete, it actually worked out very well.

The locavore tasting menu utilises a list of excellent local food sources which makes you feel better overall. Additionally the 5 courses cost $90 (whereas the a la carte 3 course costs $80) which is great for a first appearance there. My meal was washed down with a Brookvale Union Ginger Beer which was my first contact with this brand.

Complimentary Wild Rye's sourdough and soft butter starts the meal off.

- Pambula Lake Rock Oysters - better oysters than at Wheeler's and served with pickled ginger mignonette (mildly sweet with ginger) or wakame & lemon (slightly odd combination with seaweed);
- Parmesan Custard (with figs, walnuts, abamelle, aged balsamic) - strong parmesan flavour in an unusual textural form that reminded me the parmesan ice-cream at Caffe E Cucina in Melbourne about 10 years ago. The contrasting elements all work together nicely including the slightly burnt caramel-type biscuit which I'm told is the abamelle (apparently honeycomb after the honey has been removed);
- Whitefish, Scallops, Carrot Bisque - the scallop half is beautifully cooked and flavoured and a I wanted more. Ling is rolled into discs that give the appearance of a large scallop but sadly not the be. The bisque is outstanding and tastes of seafood butter creamed into a sauce. I wanted a bowl of this soup for a meal with bread! The red vein sorrel added a strong flavour and great decoration;
- Black Angus Beef (with potato puree, roasted eschalot) - I found it odd they didn't ask how I wanted the beef cooked. I was informed it was served as a "well-rested medium rare" and essentially it wasn't possible to have rare which is my preference. I'd hazard a guess the meat was sirloin but wasn't as tender or seasoned as hoped for. Meanwhile the potato puree and caramelised eschalot were outstanding accompaniments but not what the dish is meant to focus on;
- Vanilla Bavarois (with blood plum, coconut mousse, honeycomb, quinoa) - this is one exceptional dessert with all elements (bar the quinoa which is more matter-of-fact). The perfectly soft vanilla, sweet slightly tangy and chewy plum, aerated rich coconut and sweet crunchy honeycomb made this one of my favourite desserts.

The meal was very good with the bisque and dessert taking top honours. The service was a good standard as expected for this kind of place, although I must admit I think the policy on cutlery should be altered - at the beginning I was set out an oyster fork, 3 dinner forks, a spoon and 2 standard knives and a steak knife all at once.

Next time I would order a 3 course menu given I know what I like there now and want it in bigger quantities. The main and dessert are obvious but the entrees are a little harder to pick - I'm tempted to say the Leek agnolotti (Eden mussels, fennel, vermouth) given the quality of Eden mussels. A side of polenta chips (with black beans, sweet corn, lime) would top off my hunger and balance the price of the degustation.

The first stop enroute to Merimbula was Wild Rye's Bakery. For some reason (not surprisingly perhaps) I had no Vodafone reception and hence I was unable to look up exactly why I had marked this place on my Google maps.

All restaurants in the area seem to specifically state they use Wild Rye's bread so given it is a bakery that probably makes sense. Upon entering I was actually surprised at how few things are sold. Maybe they have a morning peak but the cake shelves were quite empty, pies were in the oven and there were a few breads out only.

From a snack/meal point of view, the specialty seems to be pies. All their beef ones use a combination of chunky and mince (they tell me). In the end I selected the Angus Beef & Caramelised Onions. The beef was fine and the onions added a definite sweetness to the mixture. The pastry was a little too thin and flaky for my liking as I prefer thicker with some chew to it. Reading again the seafood pie seems to be popular so perhaps that one next time.

Additionally I took away a loaf of spelt sourdough which is a little drier than the usual loaf but has some good tang to it. I look forward to testing it further.

They are advertising a kingfish and scallop pie at Eat Merimbula today so let's see how that turns out.

The Sapphire Coast is meant to be known for seafood and particular oysters. All along this region, oysters from Tathra, Merimbula and Pambula are advertised as the best. Considering my favourite oysters (and clams) are far away at Richard Haward in Borough Market, I've been keen to find some others where the potency would live up to those I still dream of.

The oysters at Wheeler's are farmed across the road in the Merimbula Lake.

- Natural oysters - a mild flavour with a hint of metallic after taste which I don't mind. I'm not sure if they wash after opening these but the liquor wasn't present and it didn't have the potent ocean flavour I like;
- Hot Shanghai oysters (ginger, kaffir lime, soy, mild chilli & shallot) - quite a strong soy saltiness but left only a hint of oyster flavour at the end;
- Cold Japanese oysters (pickled ginger, cucumber, wasabi dressing) - served with a small dollop of mayonnaise, this was much better with lemon which brought out an additional sweetness;
- Cold Asian oysters (sweet & sour topped with flying fish roe) - didn't like this one. It tasted odd and had a fizzy character to it;
- Cold Thai oysters (nam jim, Spanish onion, chilli) - nice strong sauce but left only a hint of oyster flavour at the end.

Overall I found the oysters disappointing. It reinforced to me that I prefer them natural and freshly shucked with the strong liquor to drink with it.

- Tuscan Bug & Scallop Salad (Balmain bugs & scallops pan-seared in chilli, garlic & fresh herbs tossed with ciabatta croutons, goat's cheese, Kalamata olives, baby spinach & rocket) $23 - 2 bugs and a collection of small buttered scallops which were not overcooked. I prefer my scallops very rare so in these instances larger size really makes a difference;
- Seafood Chowder (creamy seafood soup with poached local fish, scallops, mussels, Morton Bay bugs & tiger prawns with garlic bread) $34 - the soup seemed more mild fish than shellfish base with potato or cauliflower to make it thicker. The scallops were quite small (6 overall), the tiger prawns (2) were mushy rather than crisp and the bug (1) was reasonable. There were no mussels unfortunately. Garlic bread was very crisp (one of the breads was slightly burnt) and it complimented well when soaked in the thick soup. The soup base was decent (underflavoured for me) but $34 for soup seemed high with those ingredients.

I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed overall, especially at the oysters but would try again and see if the natural ones grew on me more. The fish & chips looked and smelled delicious and since it is advertised on one of their welcome signs, perhaps this is the best thing to order. I would come back here to eat as the options for good seafood seem quite limited locally, although the caveats to know about are the price.

Leaving work at 9pm, I felt like I needed something unhealthy. The options were limited to a Brodburger and chips or trying what I'd read about several months ago which was closeby. One of the few food vans in Canberra that seems to have lasted a while is RJ's. Part of the appeal is the 7 days open from 8pm (until 1, 3 or 5am depending upon which day) meaning nasty food is never too far away.

Located in the carpark of Woden Westfield, I should have known what to expect but it took me by surprise. Late teens exemplifying the most bogan in town with multi-coloured hair arrays, wack clothes, balloons attached to cars, drinking cans of cheap booze and eating chips with minimally educated voices to match. What a place.

I felt equally sorry for the American middle-aged lady sitting next to me as we sat in silence waiting for our food and observing the fauna. As I picked up my order our eyes met and we smiled knowingly. "Interesting demographic here," I said. She laughed and nodded.

- Hamburger with the Lot - thin, very well down patty and fried egg both of which had a typical burnt grill edge to it, melted cheese and the refreshing ingredients of lettuce, nice beetroot and pineapple and some bacon;
- 1/2 Chips - a good sized bag of McCain's frozen deep-fried and topped with salt and pepper. Very good and satisfying actually.

The burger was pretty average and filled a hole in my stomach. The chips were the bigger winner. I'd eat here again although Brodburger certainly is more satisfying and has a better atmosphere.

I had a course in North Canberra that required a very early Saturday morning start of 8am. One of the few perks of the course is my meals will be reimbursed. Whereas I'd ordinarily have a mixed bowl of Carman's and 247 muesli before dashing off, I decided it was as good as reason as any to find a North side early morning breakfast.

Options that were open on a Saturday by 7am came down to Mocan & Green Grout, Autolyse, Lonsdale Street Eatery and Good Brother. Autolyse has by far the most interesting food menu with Mocan & Green Grout second (taking into account LSE doesn't have an online menu) and I recall the two times I've sampled Autolyse sourdough were happy moments.

Whilst waiting for my order I couldn't help but observe the mesmerising baker rolling out pastry in the machine then systemically cutting, rolling, decorating and egging various items to place them in the baking queue. I also couldn't help but notice the queue of people who then starting lining up for meals and coffee which remained 5 deep for all of 730-8am. I wonder why everyone is awake so early on a Saturday.

- Soy Chai Latte ($5 small) - mild sweetness with hints of cinnamon and cloves served in a lovely red pot. Fresh ingredients and no syrupiness. If they ever read this, I'd suggest experimenting with added ginger too;
- White Bean, Tomato, Chorizo Cassoulet with Baked Egg ($16.9) - a nice hot baked egg protecting slices of mild chorizo, large beans and tomato pieces. The prevailing flavour was tomato rather than salt which was great for first thing in the morning. It came with an unexpected large half-loaf of sourdough which had beautiful crispy shell, soft (minimally sour however) inside and complemented the dish perfectly.

The cassoulet is an excellent satisfying and warming meal that would have been perfect if I had given myself more time. It took about 25mins to come out and such I had about 5-10mins to eat. I'll go back on a less rushed morning (probably at a later time) to have that, other options (including an ox heart salad which I was impressed to see) and/or bakery items again.

Sometimes you crave a big pizza all to yourself. The last time for me was back in 2013 when I got a 20" (half bone marrow/spring onion/watercress and half pork belly/chimichurri/smoked onions) all to myself at Homeslice at Seven Dials near Covent Garden or the Georgian khachapuri (cheese, cheese, cheese) in St. Petersburg a few months later. On those occasions despite the more unusual ingredients and my greed, I could only finish half each.

Tonight was another of those pizza moments and Arte seemed a good choice. I'd read about it and the menu seemed conventional and nice, albeit a little expensive. Once I went inside the small home business I saw how large a family pizza is and the prices made sense. The small and medium are significantly smaller so don't really seem good value (unless you can't bear the thought of eating day old pizza - shame on you).

- Calzone Traditionale - a huge calzone filling a family sized box with thin pieces of ham (not smoked or cured), tomato, an occasional basil leaf and a load of molten mozzarella;
- Prawn Pizza #1 - 6 high quality prawns (cut in half to form 12) on a thin pizza base topped with cheese and a nice tomato base. Garlic was a listed ingredient but although I chewed through a few granules I couldn't detect any of the flavour;
- Garlic Pizza - very thin crispy like flatbread rather than pizza base with a few chunks of garlic. Prefer much more garlic, some butter and a little burning. Disappointed overall.

The pizzas were decent quality but I did feel slightly unsatisfied (not dissatisfied) at the end. Given the other local options are Domino's and Crust (which I don't mind actually), this is a clear step up above in quality.

My favourite pizzas of all time (other than the simple fresh passata and buffalo mozzarella in Rome) have had anchovies or capers or speck or proscuitto. So I think I probably just like much heavier seasoning/salt with my pizzas. I still have half a calzone, 3/4 family prawn pizza and half a small garlic pizza left. I'll easily get through it and it should satisfy my pizza needs until I decide to recreate Franco Manca's recipe for the 2nd time.

Once upon a time in London I ended up at a place called MEATmarket in Covent Garden up above the stalls. It was a spin-off from one of the best London burger places that had started out as a food van called MEATliquor (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/meatliquor-london-03-2012). Other than burgers, they also had gourmet slick hot dogs on the menu and an exceptional chilli cheese fries that I tried to recreate from their cookbook with limited success. 

If you combine Brodburger and Broddog menus and story, perhaps you have the same fairytale on the other side of the world.

Brodburger surpassed my expectations in terms of burger taste and quality. It is a different burger to those rampaging around London and MEATliquor but not necessarily inferior. Brodburger is a cleaner burger that is a great version with standard ingredients; MEATliquor is a dirty burger with grease and filth. The best hotdog I've eaten (admittedly my experience is limited to Germany, Poland, Australia, UK and Norway) was on one solitary occasion at MEATmarket which consisted a deep-fried bacon wrapped pork frank topped with mustard, onions, danish sauce and spicy relish. I wondered and prayed if Broddogs could deliver something that I could remember 2.5 years later.

The setting is cool - a bright red van serving in the same courtyard as a shakes van, a coffee van, Peruvian van and a few others (all closed on Tuesday evenings if you're planning to visit meaning you can either get a dog or a 10" pizza).

- Broddog (spicy kransky with bacon, coleslaw, pickles, ketchup, corn relish topped with sweet potato ribbons & shaved gruyere cheese) - kransky is flavoursome with a touch of chilli and the other ingredients compliment it well. It's pretty decent overall but not as exciting as in my dreams (or unreasonable expectations);
- Omi Dog (Vienna frankfurt salad with white onion, gruyere cheese & Omi's secret mayonnaise dressing) - didn't particularly like this dog for a few reasons; The frankfurt is sliced and mixed with the dressing meaning that is gets cold really fast. The frankfurt also has less intrinsic flavour than the kransky meaning you get a bit of frankfurt taste, a bit of onion texture and overall a cheese mayo flavour;
- Cheesy Chilli Chips (beef chilli, fondue cheese sauce & grated gruyere cheese) - a good interpretation with Brodburger's good quality chips with some strong beef mince and cheese. Overall the amount of chilli and cheese are too small for the amount of chips meaning most chips are eaten plain.

Next time I would order the New Yorker with Cheesy Chilli Chips or the Chilli Cheese Dog (with kransky) with plain chips. I think my favourite tastes of the meal were the kransky and the parts of the chips that had chilli on them. Overall I think the satisfaction:price ratio is much higher at Brodburger and I'd only cross town for Broddogs again if the other stalls were open so I could try a variety of things at the same time.

In October 2014 I took a taxi to the airport. It's an expensive $25 10 minute trip but what options are there? In any case on this one occasion, the friendly driver Mohammed and I were talking about his background. He comes from Bangladesh. This interested me somewhat - I haven't met a Bangladeshi person (that I know of at least) since leaving Whitechapel. I mentioned how Whitechapel is full of Bengali people and similarly has a large number of restaurants that I had my pet dishes. Mohammed mentioned how he used to work in an Indian restaurant in Canberra and happened to be soon opening a restaurant in Manuka with the best naan maker in town. I was intrigued and promised to visit the restaurant when it opened.

Our conversation took my memories back to the first meal I had in Whitechapel at Royal PFC (Perfect Fried Chicken https://www.facebook.com/pages/Royal-Pfc/146879172016202) and the odd friendship I made with the owner Ripon. The memories of Bangladesh fried chicken and biryani (at Royal PFC) and Pakistani lamb dishes of dry curry and biryani (at Needoo) still fill my dreams.

I finally found an opportunity to visit Taste of Bangladesh (and India). I get the feeling the India part was added to make it more mainstream to the public who probably otherwise would not know what food to expect. I think this is unnecessary but it's advertising. The restaurant is inside an arcade and upstairs which makes it much less obvious and without the foot traffic from the sidewalks outside that every other place in Manuka benefits from, which is a shame because the food is better and cheaper than what is around.

- Sour Lassi - probably the only thing that wasn't to my taste. It seems much more salty than sour, and not quite what I'd expect from a lassi. It is near identical to the buttermilk drink I had in India - a definite acquired sour fat drink;
- Mango Lassi - made from mango pulp, a nice sweet yoghurty drink. I'd prefer it a little thicker and less sweet, but it wasn't syrupy and there was no discernible sugar crystals which is great.

I was only interested in the Bangladeshi dishes, which are helpfully marked on the menu.

- Kacchi Biryani - a uniquely flavoured biryani with tender pieces of goat (I think). Identical flavour to Royal PFC but less oily. Unlike the various Indian biryanis (ie. no vegetables, seeds, fruit). I can't explain the flavour, you just have to try it;
- Prawn Masala - very generous serving of 8 king prawns (for $16.50) cooked with some fresh crunch in a flavoursome grainy curry;
- Duck Curry - two tender duck legs in a very mild understated smooth curry;
- Eggplant Bhorta - roasted eggplant with the skin stripped then pulped. Had a powerful smokey char personality;
- Garlic Naan - very soft, crisp on top, not thick and pillowy (if you like it that way) but very very good. I'd personally prefer much more garlic on top.

The food was excellent and very different flavours to Indian restaurants (and cheaper/better value than those in Canberra also). The biryani gave me a nostalgic smile. I'll definitely be back.

Next time I would order any of the food dishes again and keen to try the other Bangladeshi dishes (Fish Bengali and Goat Curry).