After a long late night out, lunch at Grazing started with a sobering 30km drive from Canberra. The scenery was peaceful with not many cars on the road. A brief walk down the main road at Gundaroo didn't reveal much and so perhaps the restaurant is really the only thing to specifically come here for.
The setting is an a quaint corner house and the menu is seasonal.
- Layered scallop mousse with squid ink pasta, heirloom tomato and micro basil $17 - a beautifully presented dish with intense black and mildly ink-flavoured soft pasta and a lovely distinctive scallop gel;
- Deboned quail with black pudding, roasted pear and parsley root puree $17 - impeccable meat enjoying quail without having to pull it from the bones. The black pudding sauce was potent and rich and excellent;
- Saltwater Barramundi with butter poached prawns, white cabbage, fennel and red wine reduction $33 - perfectly cooked fish, nice crisp skin, well seasoned;
- Pork belly with loin - soft tender meat, quite nice overall, but perhaps overshadowed by my recent memories of the quail;
- Roast pineapple pavlova with sticky meringue, coconut curd and passion fruit gelée $17 - very sweet flavours, perhaps a little too much for me, but nice.
Overall an outstanding meal with exceptional skill and ingredients. I don't know if I'll ever be back in the area but if I am it'll be an easy stop.