August 2013 - Pod Food, Pialligo

"If you look the right way, you can see the whole world is a garden"

- The Secret Garden

One thing that I quickly learned about Canberra since moving here, is that you can feel a world away after a very short drive.

 It was chilly and overcast Canberrean morning, when I first visited Pod Food for a nice long brunch and a long overdue catchup with friends.  

"Are we lost?" said K. 

Indeed, it did seem like a fairly bizarre place for us to have brunch. 

Pod Food is located in Pialligo, in a little turnoff just before the airport. As we drove along, the road got narrower and bumpier as it curved through a series of nurseries, orchards and garden supply shops. 

At last, we turned into what seemed like another nursery into a small rubble-strewn parking area and parked under a cherry blossom tree, just on the cusp of budding. 

Leisurely, we made our way down the garden path to the little restaurant nestled peacefully amongst the plant-life. It's like we're completely removed from all the industrial starkness of nearby Majura Park and have stepped into a lush, green slice of country-side.

We had made a booking online previously, so we were quickly ushered in upon arrival by an attentive waitress who also hung up our coats on their little coat rack by the door. The restaurant is pretty small, but cozy and well lit. Beautiful long stemmed red roses adorned each table in simple vases.

With thoughtful prodding, we concluded yep, they're definitely real.

Coffee was decent and arrived soon after ordering, but we had more trouble deliberating over what to order from the menu. 

Normally, I'm a sucker for a good salmon eggs benedict, but the smoked river trout and its promise of avocado caught my eye this time.

Above left: Beautiful fresh roses. Top right: M's Salmon Eggs Benedict ($18). 

Middle right: Smoked River Trout, avocado, beetroot, onion, radish, soft free range eggs, miche bread ($18).

Bottom right: Gooey eggy goodness.

The service wasn't particularly fast, just long enough for people to chat and catch up. But not a place to go if you're in a hurry to get elsewhere.

When the food came, to be honest, I was a bit surprised at my dish. It was very artistically arranged, but I ended up staring at it for a while, trying to figure out where the trout went O_O. 

Turns out the trout was in mousse form next to two (very nicely gooey) eggs (took me a little while to figure out). It was very nice in all, although I was hoping for some actual smoked trout slices based on the menu description. The caramelized onion was sweet and tasty and played well with the creaminess of the egg and avocado, but the trout mousse was a bit light on the trout flavour. But I am definitely a fan of that nice, just set egg :)

Had to google what 'miche' bread was. Turned out to be a type of French sourdough. I found it alright, although a bit tough, but K wasn't that much of a fan. 

M had the Salmon Benedict that she said was pretty good as well. It looked a bit small and compact on the large plate though. 

But then, we did eye some of the other tables ordering what looked like a very nice brioche french toast with berries and ice-cream :P. 

So this is definitely a place we'll visit again!

~~

Pod Food

12 Beltana Rd,

Pialligo.
www.podfood.com.au/