I'll be honest and say that going to Urban Pantry in the final weeks wasn't on my agenda. I really wanted to go to X.O to eat their ribs, but unfortunately they were closed for the holiday period and coincidentally the owner Ken was there finalising their Chinese New Year menu.
So the predicament for Wednesday dining came around. It had been a quite exhausting few days and so going to Braddon seemed too much effort. I remember 3 separate occasions of trying to go to Urban Pantry and always realising it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Since then they'd also closed down, renovated and re-opened and friends had been for brunch commenting how nice it was overall. It seemed an easy decision.
Seating was easy even though a reasonably large 21st birthday was happening outside.
- Tasmanian Rock Oysters natural $3.5 each - since I was going to Hobart a few days later this was appropriate. They were small and fine but nowhere near the quality of the ones eaten a few days later;
- Duck Pappardelle (wild mushroom ragout, baked lemon ricotta, pistachio crumble) $32 - quite a subtle sauce with nicely cooked pasta and thick shreds of duck;
- Seafood Lasagna (sand lobster, Crystal Bay prawns, barramundi, crustacea butter, saffron, concasse tomato) $32 - a beautifully presented dish although to be honest I expected something that closer resembled a classic lasagna. The flavours were also much milder than expected with bits of seafood amongst soft (should it be al dente?) pasta;
- Caprese (heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, cucumber ribbons, buffalo mozzarella, EVOO, red wine vinegar) $14 - a simple fresh salad for contrast.
Overall I was a little disappointed. My dining partner on the other hand thought the food was excellent. It could be because I tend to like powerful flavours. The dishes are quite expensive, but with a 2-for-1 main offer from the Entertainment Book, it comes right down. I would go back (with the voucher) but now that I don't live in Canberra anymore, there are places I like more to go preferentially.