Our Canberra weekend not only coincided with Easter, but was also right before both mine & my mum’s birthdays so we decided to have an extra special meal for Easter Sunday, and so headed out of Canberra to the small town of Gundaroo to eat at Grazing.
Gundaroo is only 30 or so minutes out of Canberra (and is actually in New South Wales, but that’s ok!) and is a gorgeous country town full of old country charm. Grazing is located in the historic Royal Mail Hotel, with veggie patches galore behind the old pub. The building retains all it’s old charm, with lots of little dining spaces inside making it feel private despite it actually seating probably over 100 people.
As it was Easter Sunday they were just doing set 2 ($50) or 3 ($67) course menus, and whilst there was only one vegetarian option for both the entree and main course they both sounded delicious so that was a-ok by me!
My entree was asparagus served with manchego custard, almond crunch, broccolini and green peas. It was a beautifully presented dish and was absolutely delicious. The bed of almonds were incredibly tasty, and provided some of that crunch factor that I always love in a dish. The manchego custard was something I have never had before, but it was light and creamy, and I loved it. We were off to an excellent start!
For the main course I had a baked eggplant dish with spiced chickpea moussaka and peperonata and topped with fresh herbs. This was another delicious dish, with the eggplant perfectly cooked and stuffed with crunchy chickpeas. It wasn’t overly rich either, which I often find with a moussaka, with the herbs adding wonderful aromatic touches too. Another winning dish!
We ordered a serve of the steamed greens with salsa verde to share with our mains which proved the perfect addition to all our dishes. They were simple but still provided a little burst of flavour thanks to the salsa verde, and added some freshness (and colour!) to the main course.
We then decided to share three desserts between the four of us, mainly because they all sounded so delicious rather than actually having much room left for more food! The first was the chocolate souffle which was a twice baked chocolate and beetroot souffle, served with ice cream and toasted milk crumb. The souffle was light and oozy and wasn’t too rich either which was particularly good at this point of the meal!
The second dessert was a pineapple pavlova, which consisted of roast pineapple pavlova with sticky meringue, coconut curd and passionfruit jellies. This was a gorgeous looking dish and had a great combination of textures and flavours. I particularly loved the coconut curd and the pieces of roast pineapple, and this made for an overall light and delicious dessert.
The final dessert was probably the pick of the bunch, a frozen caramel and salted hazelnut custard with chocolate parfait, chocolate aero and pastry bits. It was creamy, sweet, salty and delicious, with chunks of chewy caramel within the parfait and crunchy aero pastry on the side. It was a perfect way to end the meal!
The staff at Grazing were fantastic, friendly and attentive when needed and very knowledgable about both the food and wine lists. It was a simple but sophisticated meal that left us feeling very happy and well looked after. There is definitely good reason why Grazing has won award after award for their food and overall service – I would definitely go back!
If you’re looking for a delicious meal in the Canberra region, I highly recommend giving Grazing a try!
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I Spy Plum Pie is Liz, an early 30s kiwi-born, Melbourne raised girl who is passionate about the environment and sustainability, food, exploring and learning new things. Join me on my journey to a happy, sustainable life!