Look into any online list of Canberra's "best" restaurants, and nearly every single one has Aubergine listed at the top. Despite this, I must admit the menu doesn't overly excite me (Courgette looks much better as a comparison). Perhaps it's partially due my swing away from fine and more towards comfort food. In any case the newly opened Temporada seemed to be much further up my alley. Given the owners are the same as Aubergine, it could be expected the quality of cooking would be also. I don't know where Canberra delivers news of recent restaurant openings but I'd be keen to know. The Hot Dinners website is still the most informative one I've seen worldwide.
On a quiet Monday night, walking in at 630pm to a nearly empty restaurant was quite surprising. Couples, friends and groups trickled in and by 8pm the tables were all full - not a bad effort for a Monday (maybe assisted by the fact that most other places are closed on Sundays/Mondays?). The room is nicely set with a central rectangular open bar, stools surrounding and chairs on the outside walls against a backing of wooden slats. If the management actually read this one day, I would only suggest possibly turning up the heating a little (big glass windows and a high ceiling made it slightly chilly inside).
- Woodgrilled oysters - I didn't expect these to be so good. The Coffin Bay oysters were beautifully strong and enhanced by warmth and smoked tones. Really excellent. Never thought I'd ever like any form of cooked oyster more than raw;
- Pig's head roll, kim chi coleslaw - sliders have always been a (novelty) weakness of mine. Head/cheek meat is an indulgence Hawksmoor created within me exactly a year ago. This was a nice deep fried patty with slaw (I didn't notice any kim chi flavour). The soft shell crab version on the table next to me wafted over to me also;
- Venison scotch egg, sauce gribiche - little quail egg surrounded by venison mince and deep fried served with a sauce reminiscent of tartare. A refined version that was nice;
- Jurassic quail, grilled polenta, radicchio, pear - grilled quail and grilled polenta with a few lighter flavours for balance. It was good but I didn't feel anything special;
- Grilled lamb ribs, spiced eggplant, lemon dressing - 13 rib bones coated with succulent soft meat, charred outsides and surrounded by the most wonderful mix of eggplant pieces in a dressing with slight lemon tartness and berry sweetness. I think the ribs needed a touch more salt to create the harmony of balance, but I'm not complaining;
- Jerusalem artichoke & mushroom gratin - when you have a crust of parmesan above any kind of baked dish, you'll have food flavours;
- Cider poached apple & quince, quinoa porridge, honeycomb - a dessert I haven't seen before of white quinoa porridge dotted with black quinoa, toasted puffed quinoa clusters, broken honeycomb and a mildly alcoholic-flavoured fruit. Great way to end the meal.
All washed down with a pear & sticky date mai tai. Perfect place for friends to sit around, eat, drink and be merry.
Next time I would order woodfired oysters (4pp may be enough), try the soft shell crab roll, and a main of either lamb ribs or beef ribs. The seafood plate looked nice but pretty standard of prawns/mussels/oysters (although if it's all woodfired, this could be unexpectedly unique like the oysters) and I'm always a bit hesitant to order fish mains at restaurants. There's enough variety to keep everyone interested though.
