Eat Like Ushi

It's Canberra's truffle season. Who knew that the 40+ degree summers and the 0 degree winters would be ideal cultivating conditions for the Perigord truffles to grow? That was part of the education session from the lucky owner of French Black Truffles of Canberra. He was correct in saying there are cheap imitations - Chinese versions and the much less potent summer black truffles. He neglected to mention the God of all truffles - the white Tuber magnatum (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/tag/Alba). Other than those there's only a few truffle dishes I remember in this lifetime so far - the ridiculously priced degustation at Eleven Madison Park where the truffle supplement was USD100 per head, the 7kg black truffle turkey I made for Christmas in 2011, the French Laundry white truffle risotto I made using the 15g/€60 white truffle I purchased from the Alba white truffle festival in 2012.

After reading about the exceptional quality of The Boat House by the Lake's overall cooking and their reputation for one of the best truffle courses around (especially locally), the $120 food tag didn't seem too much of a risk. Funnily enough on the night I don't think any of the waiters paid any attention to who ordered the $160 wine courses as they were happy to serve anyone. Thanks for the final serving of madeira - brought me back to the tasting rooms in Porto.

Truffle beignets and truffle gougere were served whilst standing around in the foyer. The dark black morsels had warm soft centres and engaged much more than the yellow ones (which I was quite sure were truffle-free cheese).

- Cultured truffle butter, multigrain bread rolls - several servings of warm bread with excellent crusts and soft butter aided digestion throughout the night;
- Truffle porridge, blood pudding, swiss browns, persillade - my adoration of black pudding continued in this dish with crisp flavoursome pieces dominating the other flavours;
- Baked savoy cabbage, raclette, truffle, bacon - to make a cabbage better stuff it with cheese. What a revelation - cabbage has never been so good;
- Pork jowl, truffle soubise, spinach water, apple - a beautiful piece of meat with outstanding flavour and a high meat:fat ratio. The skin was delicious but could have used a little more crispness;
- Truffle spatchcock breast & sausage, parsnip, black tea, pear - probably the dish where the truffle stood out most to me, layered in the roasting of the exceptionally cooked bird;
- Truffle textures, icecream, tapioca, cheesecake - a hint of truffle in the crisps and icecream (which unfortunately was melting too quickly) and a lightly textured cheesecake finished off the formalities.

Petit four (white chocolate truffles) giving credit to the other (less expensive) sort of truffle. If you were wondering, the black stuff wasn't edible. I tried.

There is no doubt the food quality and cooking at The Boat House is excellent. Maybe it's my taste buds but I didn't discern distinct truffle flavour in each dish and for that reason I was slightly disappointed. I think I'd have been happier paying less for the same set course without truffle added. Maybe I've been launching raids on street and comfort food for too long now. 

Nonetheless I'll be back.

Much more simple setting, small buffet with slightly more local-type food, paid for a short walking tour to the local Masai village - be aware of being asked/pushed to pay more to see things or buy trinkets whilst walking.

The Masai Mara itself - how can you compare? River crossings, animals everywhere, a bit of bustle with other vehicles but all in good nature.

A free upgrade to a middle-tier place, stunning setting overlooking the Serengeti, pool, wifi, buffet, local tribe music performance.

First exposure to masses of animals.

This lodge has basic stone huts rather than a tent in the middle of open plains, lots of little colourful birds flying around.

I was very reluctant to come to this park enroute to Serengeti especially given how quiet of animals it was at the start, but turned out to be a park isolated from other vehicles and came across a herd of elephants and pride of lions lounging around then facing off.

Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge where elephants wander through the camp and the room back verandah allows you to watch animals wander in.

The park has nice water holes where wildebeest and zebras congregate.

Manyara Wildlife is unusual in that rather than buffet, it serves a set course dinner. There's a beautiful setting overlooking the sunset plains and nice cooling pool.

Lake Manyara consists of large open plains.

After crossing the border from Kenya to Tanzania, our new guide Freddie drove us straight to Arusha for lunch. This was a stopover to get lunch and some supplies before heading to Lake Manyara.

The setting is quite nice - there's a large open lawn with tables, ornaments, a fountain and the warm sun shaded by umbrellas was very pleasant. I'd have to admit the clientele seemed largely tourist/safari tours and the menu prices of AUD15 mains (albeit already included in the tour price) reflected this also.

- Beef Tenderloin (300g Kenyan fillet medallions served with onion marmalade, potatoes & rosemary red wine sauce) - the relatively local beef was decent quality and nice tenderness. The sauce added well to the otherwise plain fillet beef flavour;
- Schwarma seafood - sauteed prawns & calamari in garlic lemon served in pita bread with greens, tomato, cucumber & onions and a light garlic yoghurt dressing;
- salad of egg, avocado, lettuce, corn, greens.

The pizza and gelatos also looked like nice options.

Stunning complex with the most exceptional breakfast/lunch buffet. Puts buffets in all cities around the world to shame. Dinner is a lovely set course.

Lake Nakuru is a swamp setting, lots of flamingos and other birds.

Put on a great birthday ceremony with a pre-purchased cake. The food spread was great buffets with lots of fruit during all meals.

Amboseli NP is known for the opportunity to take photos of elephants with Mount Kilimanjaro in the background.

It was a depressing evening when I realised my Dimmi points (intended for Soju Girl) had expired. The decision then came to something Asian(ish), bookable on Dimmi for points, and in the Entertainment Book for a nice weekday discount. It had been more than a year since my last trip to The Hungry Buddha, so it seemed appropriate for this occasion. In case you are wondering, the other places that fulfil these 3 criteria are all Thai or Indian.

Warm smells and delicious air greets you on arrival down stairs. There's some tasteful photographs and an excellent landscape painting of what I can only assume is a beautiful part of Nepal.

Rockmelon lassi was a smooth light yoghurt with a fresh hit of rockmelon flavour. Then came the food:

- Mo: Mo: (traditional Nepalese steamed chicken dumpling served with homemade tomato pickle) $9 - interestingly yellow filling and sauce. Not really sure how to describe it. It was fine but I probably wouldn't order it again;
- Khasi ko masu (boneless goat enriched with the flavour of fenugreek, cinnamon, tomatoes, coriander, bay leaves, ginger & garlic) $10 mini serve - a very meaty-edged thin curry sauce rich with the flavours of the tender soft goat pieces;
- Mountain eggplant (& peas cooked in Himalayan spices) $18 - lovely dish sweetened by onions;
- Jhinge tarkari (tiger prawns simmered in the paste of traditional Nepalese spices, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves & coconut milk) $22 - crunchy decent sized prawns in what tasted like a tomato-coconut flavoured sauce (I'm aware the description doesn't mention tomato...);
- Pulao $4 - basmati rice coloured with saffron and small amounts of raisins (but no detected nuts). I don't think the additives were discernible to me more than plain rice;
- Garlic naan $5 - soft pillowy bread topped with very mild diced garlic oil. 

There are so many Nepali dishes left to try. I'll definitely be back for all sorts of things - gorkha beef, jhaneko daal, bheda ko masu lamb or even the other Asian offers such as Sri Lankan roti or Burmese fish. Can't wait.