Canberra 2011: Grazing at Gundaroo

Grazing

Cnr Cook And Harp St

Gundaroo, NSW 2620

Ph: (02) 6236 8777

Website

For lunch on the Saturday of our Canberra trip, we drove out to Gundaroo, a small historical village about half an hour out of the city.  The restaurant, Grazing, came highly recommended by a friend of a friend, and is a popular lunch spot for daytrippers from Canberra.

Grazing is connected to Capital Wines, with a cellar door out the back.  Capital Wines are also available quite cheaply in the restaurant by the glass, and they fill up the glasses quite generously. Wahey!

Bread - $2 per person; Capital Wines ‘The Whip’ Riesling 2011 - $8

The white, fluffy bread rolls came out warm, and tasted just like home made.

Capital Wines ‘The Abstainer’ Rosé 2010 - $8

I thought the rose was absolutely gorgeous, a perfect drop for a sunny day.  I didn't realise until after we left that they only sell it at the cellar door - I'll have to remember to go and buy some next time I'm in Canberra!

The meals are all simply priced too: entrées are $17, mains are $33 and desserts are $16.  (Vegetarian mains are $28).

After having had rather substantial breakfasts, two of us decided to order entrées as our mains.  I picked up this tip whilst in the Barossa - apart from being cheaper, entrées can often be a bit more interesting then mains, and importantly, allows you to try a greater variety of foods before you get too full. Huzzah!

An chose a fish dish.  From memory, kingfish wasn't available that day, and it was replaced with snapper.  I wasn't sure if fish would be a good choice, considering how far we were from the ocean, but it was by all accounts very fresh.

KINGFISH - Barbecued yellowtail kingfish with five spice salt, Asian style gremolata,spicy prawn dumpling and soy mirin jelly - $17

Oh dear, I only just realised the, er, awkward angle of the above photo. Hehe!

KANGAROO - Kangaroo tail and beetroot tortellini. Garden beetroot, goat’s cheese and wattleseed burnt butter - $17

I loved my main, in all its beautiful shades of mauve.  Accompanying the tortellini were an astringently-dressed grated beetroot salad, creamy goat's cheese and nutty wattleseed burnt butter.  It was a lovely combination of flavours and textures.

RISOTTO - Risotto with garden herb roast butternut squash and its puree, toasted pinenuts, sage and Italian parmesan - $28

Sandra's main, the risotto, was rather bland and not particularly noteworthy, which we felt didn't really justify the $28 price tag.

Much better however, was the dessert!

PEACH TARTE TATIN - Almond infused house made puff pastry and peach tart with honey and vanilla syrup, vanilla ice cream and pistachio - $16

The peach tarte tatins are made to order, all crunchy pastry with sticky-soft peaches, and vanilla bean ice-cream.  My only criticism of the tart is that it was very sweet - I think the honey and vanilla syrup were a bit OTT.

Now, I must admit that before the lunch, I was a little apprehensive about visiting Grazing.  In my pre-trip internet research, the menu seemed quite expensive, and being a touristy spot, I wasn't sure if the food and service would match the prices.  However, the service was lovely, the food was well-made and (excluding the risotto) was good value for money.  Definitely worth the trip!

Grazing

Cnr Cook And Harp St

Gundaroo, NSW 2620

Ph: (02) 6236 8777

Website

For lunch on the Saturday of our Canberra trip, we drove out to Gundaroo, a small historical village about half an hour out of the city.  The restaurant, Grazing, came highly recommended by a friend of a friend, and is a popular lunch spot for daytrippers from Canberra.

Grazing is connected to Capital Wines, with a cellar door out the back.  Capital Wines are also available quite cheaply in the restaurant by the glass, and they fill up the glasses quite generously. Wahey!

Bread - $2 per person; Capital Wines ‘The Whip’ Riesling 2011 - $8

The white, fluffy bread rolls came out warm, and tasted just like home made.

Capital Wines ‘The Abstainer’ Rosé 2010 - $8

I thought the rose was absolutely gorgeous, a perfect drop for a sunny day.  I didn't realise until after we left that they only sell it at the cellar door - I'll have to remember to go and buy some next time I'm in Canberra!

The meals are all simply priced too: entrées are $17, mains are $33 and desserts are $16.  (Vegetarian mains are $28).

After having had rather substantial breakfasts, two of us decided to order entrées as our mains.  I picked up this tip whilst in the Barossa - apart from being cheaper, entrées can often be a bit more interesting then mains, and importantly, allows you to try a greater variety of foods before you get too full. Huzzah!

An chose a fish dish.  From memory, kingfish wasn't available that day, and it was replaced with snapper.  I wasn't sure if fish would be a good choice, considering how far we were from the ocean, but it was by all accounts very fresh.

KINGFISH - Barbecued yellowtail kingfish with five spice salt, Asian style gremolata,spicy prawn dumpling and soy mirin jelly - $17

Oh dear, I only just realised the, er, awkward angle of the above photo. Hehe!

KANGAROO - Kangaroo tail and beetroot tortellini. Garden beetroot, goat’s cheese and wattleseed burnt butter - $17

I loved my main, in all its beautiful shades of mauve.  Accompanying the tortellini were an astringently-dressed grated beetroot salad, creamy goat's cheese and nutty wattleseed burnt butter.  It was a lovely combination of flavours and textures.

RISOTTO - Risotto with garden herb roast butternut squash and its puree, toasted pinenuts, sage and Italian parmesan - $28

Sandra's main, the risotto, was rather bland and not particularly noteworthy, which we felt didn't really justify the $28 price tag.

Much better however, was the dessert!

PEACH TARTE TATIN - Almond infused house made puff pastry and peach tart with honey and vanilla syrup, vanilla ice cream and pistachio - $16

The peach tarte tatins are made to order, all crunchy pastry with sticky-soft peaches, and vanilla bean ice-cream.  My only criticism of the tart is that it was very sweet - I think the honey and vanilla syrup were a bit OTT.

Now, I must admit that before the lunch, I was a little apprehensive about visiting Grazing.  In my pre-trip internet research, the menu seemed quite expensive, and being a touristy spot, I wasn't sure if the food and service would match the prices.  However, the service was lovely, the food was well-made and (excluding the risotto) was good value for money.  Definitely worth the trip!