Certainly one of the nicer places to eat on the ANU campus. Presentationally, everything looks impressive. But I worry that their ambitions to creativity in the food have led them a little bit astray. The pumpkin chickpea burger was pretty but bland: onions, garlic, herbs, or *something* needs to be added. Pumpkins with chickpeas do not a burger make. The "patty" crumbled out of the burger with every bite; a bit more research about vegetarian burger patties might be in order. The fries were great.
The pepperato salad is basically a bunch of heavily oiled arugula (rocket/roquette) with feta and tomatoes . . . but underneath, SURPRISE: sweet potato fries! What an idea. I actually enjoyed this (it's hard to go wrong with arugula, olive oil, and feta). But I probably would have liked it even better if the fries and salad were served side-by-side, the way God intended, instead of layered.
The worst thing I've had here was the "nachos." As an American and sometime Californian, I've made the mistake of trying to order this quintessentially Tex-Mex food in many countries, including France (where among the chips and cheese you're likely to find peas because France in the early 2000s didn't have pinto or black beans), Scotland (where instead of basic tortilla chips, nachos are served on Doritos), and now Australia. Which was the worst. What the hell, Vanilla Bean: why would you put so much damn sugar (possibly even honey) in the salsa? And why sweet chili sauce on top of the guacamole? This is just plain wrong. Nachos are not supposed to be cloying. There shouldn't be the tiniest bit of sugar anywhere near nachos. Don't even put a sweet onion in the salsa. It was like some sort of Mexican/Thai/dessert fusion. I just don't understand how this could have happened.
I will go again because the ambiance is pleasant, it's a nice place to work in the afternoon, and honestly, there aren't better options. read more
