It was a cold and blustery day in Canberra. The wind was trying to blow the branches off the trees and Piglet’s ears would have streamed behind him like banners if he had been there (see A.A. Milne’s book, The House at Pooh Corner), but we had promised ourselves a special lunch with my sister and her family and we were not about to be deterred by an unusually stiff breeze. The One & Only had come down with Man Flu, but the boys were game, so one team drove the car across town, while the other took bikes and we all arrived on Kingston Foreshore only to discover that the restaurant of choice was closed on Mondays.
Apparently, the ACT government envisions that this new development ‘will bring together the city and the lake, creating a waterfront haven and a vibrant, cosmopolitan environment.’ It has been planned as ‘a Mixed Use waterfront precinct with a strong arts, cultural, tourism and leisure theme. The overall vision
for Kingston Foreshore is to rejuvenate… an industrial area and to create a mix of retail, commercial, residential and recreational areas.’ Located on the south-eastern rim of Lake Burley Griffin, the Kingston Foreshore has so far received mixed reviews. Touted by one as the latest dining trend in Canberra, another writer claims the long-awaited development is an eyesore and a tragedy, and lives up to Canberra’s reputation as ‘a city without soul.’ I am inclined to agree, although I would add that it may yet be improved with some landscaping and tree planting. At the moment it is still stark and new and very chilly, and the buildings are modern and raw, but there is an attractive wedge of park at the end of the promenade, and the whole area may yet come into it’s own on a warm summer afternoon, among a crowd of happy diners, cyclists and walkers and, hopefully, some greenery.
On this particular June day the promenade was almost empty, but luckily for our rumbling tummies, Chong Co Thai was open. We initially received a surprisingly cool welcome, perhaps because we were a bit late for lunch, but the staff gradually thawed out as we started ordering ridiculous quantities of food. Our small niece, like a mini magpie, collected anything edible she could reach from her high chair and has us in stitches as most of it collected at the foot of her high chair. It was like watching Casper’s uncles in a feeding frenzy, when the food just drops straight through their ghostly bodies onto the floor.
Then we also went into an over-excited feeding frenzy as we explored the menu and ordered everything in sight. Our two waitresses made prompt delivery of all our dishes, while we enjoyed the view across the water.
The first thing to catch our eye was the stir-fried kangaroo with Thai spices, chillis and green peppercorns. While the boys pooh-poohed such an offering as hardly traditional Thai, my sister and I went ahead cheerily with the notion of indigenized Thai and I can only say it was the best dish we ate. Unfortunately the heat rather spoiled our taste buds for the subtler flavours of pad Thai and larb gai (minced chicken salad). We should have known – the menu graded its hotness with three chillis. Meanwhile, Little Casper was cheerfully sifting rice through her fingers.
As the waitresses struggled to find room on the table for everything we had ordered – and still keep it out of reach of Little Casper’s eager hands – we cleared the appetizers (satays and fish cakes) like steam shovels. I am always a little dubious of fish cakes, as they have a tendency to be rubbery, but luckily these were pretty good, and any slight chewiness was disregarded once we bit into a mouthful of unusual zingy spiciness. Both the fishcakes and the satays vanished in a matter of moments. We then piled our plates high with rice and noodles, barramundi and a slow cooked mussaman beef that fell apart at the touch of a fork . The waitress had kindly left the rice bowl, lurching drunkenly to the left, so we could top up as we needed it.
The barramundi, another indigenized Thai specialty, was pan fried and topped with tamarind sauce and fried onions. This was quickly demolished by the pescetarians once we had worked out how to dodge the rather hefty bones. But the kangaroo still remained the favourite – well for those of us who weren’t gasping for water with tongues hanging out like Miley Cyrus!
It may not have been the longest lunch ever indulged in – it was certainly the messiest – but it was fun to find a new corner of Canberra, and to explore an Aussie take on Thai. We left, giggling our apologies for the lake of leftovers beneath the high chair. Well you never know, our Little Casper might just be a gourmand in the making!
With thanks to No.1 Son for his food photography and Google Images for the pic of Kingston Foreshore apartments.