Saturday, 30 July 2011

Lanterne Rooms

On a chilly Saturday evening in July, we set off for what would be a very interesting evening at the Campbell shops’ Lanterne Rooms. The presence of the much-adored L and T, some of our very favourite friends who’d come to visit for the weekend, had Barney and I in particularly high spirits.

 

Amused that our interstate guests had just likened the Campbell shops to a European square, we invited them out of the European cold and into the softly lit, oriental curtain draped dining room. Lanterne Rooms is owned by  Josiah Li and Jeffery Shim , who are already well loved in Canberra courtesy of their other enterprise, Chairman and Yip— a firm Canberran  favourite. The food here is described as Nyonya style with Indian and Chinese influences. The concept is, the waitstaff will explain to you, that food should be shared.


The dining room has a lovely atmosphere. The bamboo roof, dark wooden beams and slowly turning fans made me feel I was in South-East Asia. The room was dim but, true to its name, lanterns provided gentle lighting. The tables were elegantly set and there was a gentle hum of conversation throughout the room. The restaurant is licensed and has an interesting wine list including some options from the local wine region.


The bottles range from $32 to $180 but most are between $40 and $60. Glasses are about $10. The maitre d knew the wine list well and was keen to chat about it. Alternatively, it’s also BYO. The $9 corkage charge per bottle is pretty good, especially if you’re a big group. Conveniently, there is a bottle shop a couple of doors down, so if you run out of wine half way through the meal like we did, you can replicate Barney’s tasteful dash down the road and grab another bottle.


The $58.50 banquet option didn’t tempt us so we set out to start choosing dishes. On the a la carte menu, mains cost around $30, desserts around $13. Entrees are priced between $16 - $18 but the system is a little complicated.




Our waiter explained it like this: the menu price for entrees is usually for two or three pieces. Casually, he explained that we should indicate our food preferences and intolerances and the kitchen would make the appropriate quantity accordingly. This seemed perilously vague.


Confused and drawn to several of the entree options, we finally decided on tom yum prawns and quail. Although I love the concept of sharing, I didn’t think the construction of the entree menu was suited to it. It may be easier to navigate if entrees were priced per piece or offered a better indication of how many pieces per serve. Careful, I suspect this is how eating here could get really expensive.  That being said, don’t overlook the entrees, there’s some great dishes and I’m sure a lot of the brilliance of Lanterne Rooms lies here.



Our prawns arrived first and were absolutely delicious. They had been delicately battered, deep fried and covered in rich coconut cream with a tom yum flavor and small pieces of cantaloupe and slivers of sour green apple. The prawns were cooked well and the sauce was so rich and creamy, with chilli, lime leaves, curry leaves, lemongrass, ginger and something fishy. The melon worked beautifully and I thought the dish was creative and clever.


The serving style throughout the evening was interesting and wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste. The entrees you order are made up together in one dish, and the waitstaff serve each person individually from the bowl.  The leaning over can be a little awkward but I didn’t mind it. It unfortunately also creates potential for a dish, already sitting in its sauce, to look slopped onto the plate rather than ‘plated up’ delicately.


The quail had been pan fried in a sauce that tasted like soy and something sweet. It was accompanied by a salad of cucumber, yellow melon and water chestnut in something like a prawn sambal. It was nice but not that exciting and far from our favourite of the night. We had eaten the duck rolls on our previous visit and I can confirm that they were excellent.


Next came bream fillets with a pineapple relish which, unfortunately, we hadn’t ordered. We were, however, waiting on a salmon fillet in miso broth. The bream made its way back to the kitchen and before we knew it our twice cooked beef ribs with black vinegar and palm sugar sauce were upon us! 


Strangely, our pork ribs seemed to be pork belly— the rib bones themselves had been removed. That was fine but if the meat was going to be served off the bone, some crackling would be nice. M was also saddened that he’d been robbed of an opportunity to gnaw on a bone in a nice restaurant. The meat was tender and fatty and I liked the way the sauce was sweet but sour. The pork was sitting on a pretty salad of caramelised pear, beetroot and little soy beans- which were all fantastic. The dish was a really nice combination of colours and flavours. 


The Wagyu beef curry had a marbling grade of 9+ (oooh!) and sure enough, none of us could stop commenting on how tender the meat was. It fell apart when touched. The sauce was coconutty and spicy, with chilli, oil, lemongrass, curry leaves and an array of aromatic spices. It was very rich, had a beautiful earthy colour and was admired by the whole table.


Kapitan duck curry (Penang Nonya A-ma Style) arrived last, as an uncharacteristically generous portion. The sauce was somewhat similar to the Wagyu curry but spicier, a little bit sweeter and slightly sour. It wasn’t as coconutty or fishy as the Wagyu but also contained a variety of spices. We each got one duck leg with delicious tender meat. The duck was sitting on some sort of yam-like vegetable (we guessed cassava). I really liked it; it was creamy and delicious and had a really soft texture.


By that point we were so full that when the missing salmon was finally broached with our waiter, we didn’t really need it anymore.


For dessert, we had cardamom kulfi with pineapple, crushed peanuts and sweet potato chips. We were instructed to sit for at least fifteen minutes before touching the kulfi to allow it time to soften. I thought this was quite nice; we chatted and finished off our wine. The more impatient diners among us, however, commented that the kulfi probably could have been taken out of the freezer a little earlier in preparation.


The table was split on this one. My disappointment was that the kulfi was icy (even after it had softened significantly) and canned pineapple doesn’t really work for me. On the other hand, I thought the ice cream was nicely spiced and creamy and that its soft, cold texture worked really well with the crispy sweet potato and crunchy peanuts. L found it too cardamom-y, not sweet enough and didn’t enjoy the combination of flavours.




Generally, I have to say that I found the wait staff way too keen. They cleared wine glasses as we were finishing the last sip, took empty plates when the rest of the table was still eating and worst of all, as the last duck leg was taken from the bowl, it was whisked away still full with delicious rich curry sauce. We gazed in collective dismay as it disappeared.


We agreed the food was great, the ambience was lovely and that overall, Lanterne Rooms is a pleasant place for a nice meal out. When the bill came out there was a slight disagreement but this was quickly ironed out and our group of six ended up paying around $50 each. 


Full and happy, we bundled back into the car, unanimously voting for port at home over the Saturday night line at Knightsbridge. And now, as Betty and Barney’s adventures continue, we can only pine away until next time L and T arrive for a weekend of Canberra feasting!




Lanterne Rooms

3 Blamey Place

Campbell shops

Canberra ACT

Ph: (02) 6249 6889


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