Rummage

You will know you've hit Lonsdale Street Roaster by the selection of artfully low-fi bicycles and the array of hipsters draped over milk crates sipping neat short blacks. This cafe has been open since late last year but I only discovered it last weekend which says a lot for my hipster status.

They roast a sharp little selection of beans and make a mean set of panini, I haven't been able to relinquish my love affair with the cuban slow roasted pork chipotle coriander panini to be able to comment on the rest of the menu. Suffice to say if it is anything like the pork chipotle you are in very good hands indeed.

Finish with the homemade hot cross buns and decadent hot chocolate. Could this be the first bastion of a new cafe culture in Canberra? Let's hope so!!

Lonsdale Street Roasters 3/7 Lonsdale St, Braddon, 2612

02 61560975 

I turned 38 yesterday, the girls gave me a set of family hearts that they carved in their makeshift quarry in the backyard. And it doesn't get any better than that in this big, bad world of ours.

 

One of my oldest friends turned up out of the blue and we went to the Yiwarra Kuju Canning Stock Route exhibition and were blown away.

We drank a cold beer at Tilley's and spent some time shooting the breeze. I think I'm going to like 38, the older I get the better I feel in this skin of mine. x

PS Whatever you do, try and get to the Yiwarra Kuju exhibition, it's one of the best art experiences I have had in a number of years. The stories and the artworks are moving beyond words.

Tilley's is the hidden face of Canberra that every non-Canberran should experience. She is dimly lit, with plenty of secluded booths, perfect for a romantic liaison or writing the first chapter of your novel. The famously female-only staff march around moodily to a soundtrack of classic jazz in crisp white shirts and askew ties delivering mountainous plates of food and schooners of local beer. 

 

Never afraid of courting controversy, she originally banned men unless they were in the company of a woman and although that rule no longer applies, she still wears her colours with pride.  

 

She is wood-panneled and mirrored to her eyeballs and wears her dusty velvet curtains as a badge of honour. With a grand piano front and centre on the stage, Tilley's is the grand dame of the local live music scene, although her reputation as a serious venue has meant her performers come from all over the world.

 

Don't leave Canberra without experiencing Tilley's, preferably with a band playing the venue. She is the perfect antidote to the Canberra nay-sayers. Forget conservative and boring, Tilley's is the heart of real Canberra.
 

Tilley's Corner of Wattle and Brigalow Streets, Lyneham Shops, ACT, ph: o2 6247 7753

 

Toy Haus is my favourite toy shop in Canberra, hands down. It's my one-stop-shop for birthdays because the stock is beautiful and different. Their aim is to provide quality, challenging, unusual and hard to find toys.

 

I reckon they're doing a really good job of meeting this aim. They're also lovely, helpful people. And they'll wrap your present up just right.

 

What more could you want in a toy shop?

 

Toy Haus

Unit 6, 83 Gladstone St, Fyshwick, ACT

PH: 02 62391105

The Frenchman and I were at the Hippo Bar on Friday night and thought we should share it with you. If you're asking me for my bar tips for Canberra, this one would head the list.

 

Up a flight of red stairs - check! Floor to ceiling windows looking out onto a fairylight-lit square - check!

 

Cool, efficient and surly waiting staff - check, (the latter we won't hold against them because they were pretty young things and are allowed to pout and ponce a bit).

Makers of Pretty Drinks - check! They make an excellent 'Old-Fashioned', which resulted in the 1000-yard stare that you see above. And below was my view of the facilities after consuming my beverage. We should go together sometime. x

The Hippo Bar - 17 Garema Place, Canberra City

We come to Milk and Honey for a dessert fix. They do big lovely cakes with lashing of cream and ice cream. They are fast and their service is good, (sadly rare in Canberra).

Ground Floor Centre Cinema Building

29 Garema Place, Bunda St

Canberra City.

Ph: 02 62477722

Shogun is a Friday night ritual for us. After the grocery shopping is safely pack away in the car, we climb the stairs to sip tea and stare out at the fairy lights as our meal is cooked in front of us. Unlike a lot of teppan-yaki restaurants, the chef at Shogun is not a performance artist, creating towering infernos from onion rings and flinging prawn tails at your open mouth. Shogun teppan-yaki is all about masterful discretion, the chef might offer to throw you a piece of his delicately prepared omelette but that's as far as it goes. And that's the way I like it, after a hectic week, I am all about the peace and quiet. 

 

Now here's the thing, it's all good but what you really want to order is the seafood and the wagyu steak. Without fail we order the prawns, the squid, the wagyu steak and chef's special fried rice, finishing with a lightly grilled salad.
 

If you have children with you, (and this restaurant is very family-friendly), they will be so enthralled that you will be able to have a few minutes of uninterrupted adult conversation(!!). Chef will also finely slice the meal into delicate little morsels to tempt the smallest and fussiest eaters.

Watch for the chef's signature, upside-down thank you inscribed on the grill in salt at the end of the meal.

Shogun - Bunda Street, 1st Floor Garema Centre, City 2601

Ph: 02 62488888 

Here's another Canberra secret but you have to promise not to tell anyone. The first Sunday of every month the Spanish Club puts on a traditional Spanish breakfast for the punters. You can have churros and thick, thick chock-o-LAHT-tey cal-ee-ent-aye. The coffee is meh but I have it on good authority that there are excellent Spanish and Portugese sherries, to chase it down if you are so inclined.

 

All this is delightful but the clincher is the Spanish smallgoods van that comes all the way from Sydney to sell their spectacular wares. Mouthwatering chorizo, salami, prosciutto that is cut while you watch in deliciously fine cobwebs. NOT the pre-cut, doorstop dried out bits of leather that one usually gets in Canberra. There are cheeses, there are olive oils, artichoke hearts and all manner of intriguing smallgoods.

The Frenchman nearly burst a blood vessel with excitement on our first visit and had to be restrained from elbowing a couple of elderly señoras out of the queue. He now comes prepared with knuckle dusters and a large esky to house the spoils.

And of course the pièce de résistance is the babyfoot table. Apparently not as good as the classic french Bonzini table but still entirely playable.

I might see you there next time, look for a skinny guy hunched over the babyfoot using rude French words with an esky at his feet, I'll probably be close by.

x