Life with Bees

This weekend we accidentally went to dinner at the E.U. Cafe. We planned to go out to dinner with Al and Simex and try a new restaurant. Our first pick, the Austrian restaurant Vienna, had closed since we added it to our list of places to try. And I only found out after listening three times to their garbled answering machine while trying to make a booking (“... and finally, please note Vienna restaurant has been closed for two months”). Our second choice, Ethiopian comfort food specialists Fekerte's, was closed for renovations all week. And the third choice, Iori, had already been visited by Al and Simex. So I randomly booked at E.U. Cafe, which has a very solid rep for good pan-European food but which I didn't think the guys would really be interested in.

And it was a corker! TK's interest was piqued while we were still walking toward the restaurant, when he spotted their outdoor sign with “Waffle Wednesday” printed on it. Inside was a tapas list so appealing the guys couldn't decide which to order. “Stuff the mains, let's just get everything on the tapas menu,” TK eventually announced. So we (mostly) did.

Plate after plate filled our cramped little table. Golden arancini with prawn risotto and corn salsa ($10). A dish of sauteed mushrooms with garlic and chili ($8). Tarts of caramelised onion on puff pastry with anchovies ($8). Seared prawns with sweet smoky chorizo ($10). Melting squares of unctuous pork belly ($8). Hungarian-style meatballs with tomato and a dab of sour cream ($8). Piles of chillied tiny calamari rings with toasted bread crumbs and pine nuts ($9). And a bowl of shoestring fries with garlic aioli so moreish that TK's quick visit to the facilities became a tactical error (Al and Simex left him exactly one chip.)

I was hungry and didn't want all the tapas so I ordered a small plate of Venetian spaghetti ($16), with fennel, shreds of crab, scallops and mushrooms tossed in olive oil. It was light and tasty and there was enough to share with Simex.

Desserts were beautiful despite a disappointing chocolate and espresso parfait ($12). TK had a slice of immensely satisfying Oscar torte ($7), a dark chocolate and hazelnut cake. But all the competition was for Al and my shared mascarpone and vanilla panna cotta with champagne strawberries ($12). The panna cotta was jellied and creamy, speckled through with vanilla bean. The only odd note was a triangle of decorative puff pastry, but Al appeared not to care.

With seven tapas dishes, a small main, and four desserts, the bill came to $146 for the four of us, or about $36 each. Pretty reasonable for such a good feed, and you'll eat a lot worse in Canberra for twice the price. We plan to be back for their popular, hearty-sounding brunches – and Waffle Wednesday.

E.U. Cafe, Griffith Shops.
Food: 4/5
Service: 3/5
Value for Money: 5/5