Rocksalt, Hawker
E took me on a surprised date-night a fortnight ago. He found and booked a table for us without me knowing - sneaky :) Adorably, with my current picky-eating condition, he gave me a copy of the restaurant's menu to make sure that it is acceptable <3
He made the booking pretty early, at 6pm, which is when the restaurant opens. We were the only people there, for a long time. The waitresses were also still setting up the place, but that means we get ALL the service and attention. After the seeing menu the night before, I came prepared knowing which dish to order. However, when we got there, we were given the Specials menu and that totally changed my mind.
This was E's choice - Eye fillet with rosemary and goats cheese hash, wild mushroom ragu wilted baby spinach finished with truffle oil ($30). I have not eaten any red meat for a looooong time now, and E is forever convincing me to eat some. I never really was a red meat person and with my ever-more sensitive sense of smell now, beef and lamb really put me off eating. Interestingly, I love love love this dish! I love the wild mushroom ragu, which went really well with the hash and the bitterness of the spinach. The meat itself wasn't smelly at all, and really tender. I actually loved this dish so much that I swapped meals with E towards the end. Bless him, he let me have as much meat as I want, as he really wanted me to have red meat <3
This was what I picked for the night - I can't remember exactly what it was, but it is duck with red cabbage and spinach and some sort of mash. I didn't mind this dish, but I was so taken by the beef that this didn't taste as good anymore :) E isn't really a fan of duck, but he finished it, perhaps so that I don't feel as guilty for making him eat it :P
After essentially eating 1.5 serve of food that night, I really didn't need dessert. So I told E that I would have a bite or two of whatever dessert he chooses. However, in the end, I probably ate about 1/3 of this pannacotta :) It was so nice and creamy, and it went so well with the blueberries and strawberries. If you look closely at the pannacotta, you can actually flecks of real vanilla beans in them. It was so yummeh! I could have had the entire thing if E didn't start teasing about not wanting much of it :P
Apparently, E chose this restaurant because he has seen a lot of people recommending this place at work. I would go there again, though perhaps I would choose somewhere else first, seeing that it's on the other side of town from where we live :) Rocksalt opens for breakfast, lunch AND dinner.
Rocksalt Restaurant
4/78 Hawker Place
Hawker Shops
http://www.rocksaltcanberra.com.au/home
