Eat Like Ushi

After the exceptional meal of 2015, I couldn't leave Canberra without one final booking. This restaurant thoroughly deserved the one chef hat accolade in their first year and I was excited to come back especially after re-reading my previous review (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/lilotang-canberra-06-2015).

I couldn't resist re-ordering my favourites from the last visit. I held off on the pork belly skewers (for no particular reason) but otherwise obeyed my "next time I would order" reminder. The complimentary grilled edamame was flavoursome as I remember and started the stomach juices flowing. Quail kara-age (still succulent, tender and delicious), black cod saikyo miso (still incredibly flavoursome, delicately textured and well cooked) and the Wagyu sirloin (seemed a little more cooked and chewy and slightly less melting than last time). The kaki-age tempura rice was much less moist than last time and therefore much better. One dessert was also a repeat with mochi tofu and green tea ice cream better than I remember and now presented in a glass.

New dishes tried were:

- Chargrilled Baby Octopus, Mizuna, Pinenuts, Mustard Miso $15 - I had to look carefully to see if this was raw. The texture is so soft that it almost feels that way but didn't have any chewy or stringy parts. It's cured in sake and mirin overnight and tenderised to the point that it doesn't require extensive cooking; 
- Chicken Meat Ball, Creamy Egg $13 - nice smooth minced chicken swathed in a liquid egg yolk. The egg isn't the easiest thing to eat with the meat balls but brings a different flavour and texture;
- Sardine Namban, Spicy Tartar $15 - a beautifully presented and exceptional dish of chewy (essentially) de-boned fish that was an absolute pleasure;
- Shitake, Enokitake, King Brown Mushrooms, Selected Special Soy $12 - strong flavours enhanced by a touch heavy of salt on the shitake;
- Roast Fuji Apple, Yuzu Ice Cream, Walnuts, Honey-Infused Umeshu $15 - a warming dessert of slightly tart yuzu icecream that held well without melting too quickly on roasted apples cooked to retain a small amount of internal crunch and walnuts. Excellent. Last time I had the persimmon version which was also great.

Having eaten here twice, the quality is not fluke. The food and flavours are strong, bold and excellent (if you like strong flavour). 

The cumulative dishes I've tried means that my favourites list for next time (which I'm sure there will be some day) are: edamame, quail, pork belly skewers, sardines, black cod, possibly Wagyu, roast apple for hot dessert and mochi tofu for cold dessert. And this is all before I've managed to try the chicken thigh skewers, lamb backstrap with eggplant, pork spareribs, duck sukiyaki or tea pudding with sweet potato. Hmm.

I was really excited to read about Fillos coming to The Hamlet. I'd long yearned for a souvlaki and as good as Yarralumla Pide House is, the flavour is just different to souvlaki (as it should be since they serve doner).

Unfortunately despite it being on my list, it seemed I'd never get there. I'd even removed it from my list given the realms of possibility. But after the hasty last night minute arranging of farewell drinks at Hopscotch, I knew it could be done.

After a few drinks (which is often the best time for souvlaki from a van), I ordered a lamb souvlaki. Overall it didn't live up to my expectations. The meat was from a kebab rather than a yiros and it seemed tough (where my standard is now Jimmy Grants (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/jimmy-grants-melbourne-01-2014) and didn't have the characteristic Greek-charcoal-oregano-lemon flavour (where my standard is the over-the-top flavour at Stalactites).

I'm looking forward to getting back to my favourites in Melbourne.

I've finally left Canberra. Living in Kingston, the easiest and most accessible quick meal (which also served as an indulgence) was Brodburger. Wednesday even turned into The Bachelor and Brodburger night for a while. The mobile ordering app that saved the 30-40min wait there and allowed a timed pickup then the option to sit or takeaway was a God-send to many.

In the 2 years spent in Canberra, I've enjoyed Brod more than any other in town. There were multiple in 2014 (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/brodburger-canberra-2014) and certainly many more in 2015 including once at Broddogs (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/broddogs-canberra-02-2015). And during the final housemate meal on a Wednesday after we'd all slaved away packing our lives for removalists and bursting cars, it seemed a fitting end.

I've enjoyed 4 things particularly at Brodburger and have never been able to stray.

1) The easiest to discuss is the fries. $2.50 for good side serving is great value. Although they look like McDonald's, they are crisper and hotter (make sure you ask for fresh fries if they've been sitting in the bag and soft when you receive them) and less salty but enough seasoning such that they taste similar to the tears of enjoyment of the meal;

2) Brodburger - the simplest burger is the one I ordered 90% of the time. I used to ask for rare (instead of the default medium rare) but I don't think it made a difference and the burger was always enjoyable. A thickish good quality patty and an overall complimentary set of ingredients;

3) Brodveg - I'm not joking when I say there has never been a better vegetarian burger anywhere. The intense salty halloumi, the grilled eggplant, the tangy capsicum and there's more. I always took a few bites of someone elses so got lucky and didn't have to order it myself;

4) Brings me to the mother - Brodveg with beef patty (pictured). A friend suggested this one day and it combines the greatness of 2 and 3 together. Keep in mind, a full size one of these is huge and almost akin to the ridiculous size of Broddeluxe (which I wouldn't advise due to the size and to me disproportionate ingredients) and so a Baby Brodveg with patty might be the way to go.

I'll be thinking of you Brod. Thanks for the memories.

Looking back now, it does strike me as slightly inconsistent that this place is rated TA 4.5/5 and FB 4.7/5 but on Zomato 2.9/5. There's always expected to be some discrepancy and I tend to opt for the Zomato ratings more (even though I don't quite understand how they are calculated sometimes since the change from Urbanspoon).

Anyway the travel companions were TA enthusiasts and to be fair I thought the name of the place showed some promise.

After a 4-day hike to Frenchman's Cap which included battering of my knees, most foods would've gone down quite well. For a cafe, the menu is rather limited. Pies, toasties and burgers with really not much other offerings that the word cafe springs into my mind (sure I've been coloured by the cafes in Melbourne, Canberra and even Hobart just prior).

Pies can be served with a few different options. Being calorie-unconscious, I selected the Mountaineer. The pies that day were limited to only plain beef and beef with onion unfortunately. My beef with onion pie came topped with rasher bacon and thick cheese sauce and served with reasonable sweet potato fries. The pie was quite average with all mince and no chunks of meat that I much prefer.

The Wombat toastie had eggplant, roast capsicum, semi dried tomato, rocket, feta, pesto and basil and topped with a couple of onion rings. I've been spoilt by cafe breads and sourdoughs and so white loaf seemed a bit of a letdown. But the ingredients inside were a nice typical vegetable combination.

Next time I'd probably look harder (and myself) to see what other options are around. If I ended up here again I'd certainly opt for the burger and see how that goes down.