Date attended: 24 April 2016 Style: All-Day Café Cuisine: Modern Australian What to look out for: Their daily specials of the day
“I can see why the locals rave on about this place – and with good reason. Each dish we got was so visually appealing; well prepared and well presented.”
Back in Canberra again, only this time it was primarily to visit one of my close friends. In our spirit of deciding things on the fly, she took me on a whirlwind food adventure around the main parts of Canberra – all within 24 hours. Coincidentally, my other group of friends decided to also do a day trip in Canberra and had more friends join us. So in our party-of-10, we all decided to visit the one place the locals rave on about – Penny University.
Their menu cover!
Eggs Your Way: Poached Eggs w/ Bacon and Toast – the lazy persons’ order, or when one is not game to try something else…
P.U. Jaffa Crepes: Orange Whipped Ricotta filled Chocolate Crepes, Homemade Raspberry Sherbet Marshmallows, Jaffa Sauce & Raspberry Sorbet
Japanese Salmon Fishing in Yemen: Yuzu & Miso Cured Huon Salmon, Chargrilled Dark Rye, Cannellini Bean Hummus, Asparagus, Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, 65/65 Egg & Hazelnut Dukkah
Banoffee Croissant French Toast: Banana, Crushed Peanuts, Vanilla Whipped Mascarpone, Caramel Popcorn, Salted Caramel and Shaved Chocolate
P.U. Brekkie Dog: Toulouse Sausage in a Brioche Bun, Herbed Gruyère Scrambles, Caramalised Onions and Homemade Tomato Chutney
Special of the Day – Green Eggs and Ham: Scrambled Eggs in Spinach and Peas with Ham
Special of the Day: Black Bean Porridge with Bircher Muesli, Yogurt, Grilled Fig and Persimmon
Drink Special of the Day – Chai Shake: Chai, Bonsoy and Vanilla Gelati
What Lexxie Says: Oh. My. Word. I can see why the locals rave on about this place – and with good reason. Each dish we got was so visually appealing; well prepared and well presented. Surprisingly so, we didn’t wait long for it either. Let’s break it down.
Japanese Salmon Fishing in Yemen – Sadly, I did not try this but it was definitely one of the things on the menu I would’ve ordered. I’ve been assured that it looks just as good as it tastes!
P.U. Jaffa Crepes – I’m not a massive fan of jaffa however these crepes were pretty decent. It definitely needed the acidity of the raspberry to balance out the chocolate. Their homemade marshmallows were the bomb: soft, fluffy and very flavoursome. But the real hero of the dish in my opinion, was that raspberry sorbet. A friend and I agreed that we could’ve had a whole tub of that on its own.
The Banoffee Croissant French Toast was so moreish! When you take that first bite, you instantly want more – essentially wanting to stuff your face of it! Every element on that dish brought each other together. There isn’t a downside to this dish but if there were, it’s primarily for those who isn't a sweet tooth – in the fact that once you get half way through the dish, it may become too much for you and want a piece of bacon, or something savoury to even it out. But I’m a sweet tooth, and it’s just a dish without complaints – right down to the very last bite!
The P.U. Brekkie Dog sounded relatively ordinary at first but was I ever so wrong! The sausage was quite flavoursome. The gruyère scrambles were fluffy and you can taste the gruyère come through. But what really brought the dish together was their caramalised onions and homemade tomato chutney. It was the right balance of acidity and viscosity for the dish.
Specials of the Day – Green Eggs and Ham and Black Bean Porridge. My friend and I were highly impressed with green eggs: clearly a homage to my favourite Dr Seuss. It’s an amazingly simple concept which I’m sure others have done – I guess we are just easily impressed that peas were added to the eggs which made it all that worth while.
My favourite dish among the lot was the Black Bean Porridge. The beans weren’t dense and it wasn’t soupy or cluggly as you would imagine from the word ‘porridge’. It was quite wholesome. The extra condiments like the muesli and yoghurt made the dish quite special.
Why I haven’t visited this place earlier is beyond me. But I know I’ll definitely be back here again!