Poachers Pantry

There are so many nice cafes and restaurants that I want to visit in Canberra. Poachers Pantry is definitely one of the top on my list. It is a bit tricky because we can only go there on the weekends since the café is only open from Friday to Sunday. When I sent them an email to enquire about the opening hours to make a reservation, the café is booked out for dinners for wedding and other events, hence we can only go there for brunch or lunch. On top of that, it is around 40 minute-drive from where we live so we can only go there on the weekends.

We had two shared entrée. I visited this café with Jeff and two friends.

 Entrée: Seared scallops with poachers smoked duck breast, cocoa nib pine nut crumble and pomegranate dressing. The scallops were juicy, the duck breast was decent, and the dressing was alright. I would expect a tiny bit more for the price we paid.

Shared plate: Smokehouse Charcuterie Board – a platter of hot and cold smoked meats served with a selection of dips, lavosh, bread, pickled vegetables and fig and quince chutney. I am not sure how do I feel about this plate. Nothing on the plate impressed me, everything was pretty average and I expected the portion to be a bit bigger.

Liz had the poachers smoked lamb rump with honey heirloom carrots, du Puy lentils and Bredbo black garlic relish. Maybe because I only took a tiny piece of lamb, I thought it was a little dry. But Liz enjoyed her food so it should be good.

Judy had the verjuice poached Tasmanian salmon with kipfler potatoes, leeks, baby prawns and pea puree. I don’t think I have ever had poached salmon in a restaurant before, it is always either pan fried or grilled so it was something new to me. The salmon was soft and juicy but I think I still prefer salmon to be either grilled or pan fried.

Jeff had the poachers smoked chicken sour cream pastry pie with Gruyere cheese, creamed sweet potato and red onion jam. I was tossing between the pie and the turkey breast for my main, was delighted when Jeff decided to get the pie as his main. It was a pretty good choice. I like the way the chicken pie was made, there were cubes of chicken pieces instead of shredded chicken and I liked it that way. The creamed sweet potato was sort of like a mash which was pretty good too.

I had the poachers smoked turkey breast with maple roasted pumpkin, jewelled quinoa, cranberries and candied pecans for my main. The turkey breast was cooked until it was soft which was really good. However, the turkey breast itself did not have much flavour, but everything else on the plate were really yummm. My favourite was definitely the maple roasted pumpkin, it was bursting with flavour, and the outer bit was burnt and crispy. The quinoa and pecans were delicious too. I was happy with the dish.

As for dessert, Jeff and I shared the warm ginger cake with local honey and vanilla semi-freddo, glace pear and cinnamon liqueur. I love ginger desserts because they are always unexpectedly delicious. This was not an exception but it was a tiny bit too sweet for my liking. The ginger cake was moist and soft, the semi-freddo was good, I wished they gave us a bigger scope, the pear was too sweet and the berries syrup was definitely way too sweet for Jeff and me.

Liz had the dessert which was on the specials – orange panna-cotta with berries syrup. I am not sure if I remember the name correctly but it was something like that. That was my first time having panna-cotta, I don’t know why but I haven’t ordered panna-cotta for desserts before. The dessert was decent, the panna-cotta was smooth and creamy, but the orange was too sweet for my liking and everything else was pretty average.

Judy had the kaitifi baklava and pistachio gelato sandwich with strawberry reduction. This is not like other baklavas which normally taste really nutty and sweet. This is more like a museli made baklava, it was definitely something different but it was just not my kind of dessert.

The food was good but I thought it was a bit more on the pricey side. It is definitely worth going at least once but I am not sure whether I will visit this place again, mainly due to the travel time and price. 

How I would rate this place:
Ambiance: 7/10
Food: 7.5/10
Presentation of food: 8/10
Price: 6.5/10
Service: 7/10

Poachers Pantry
http://www.poacherspantry.com.au/

431 Nanima Rd, Hall, NSW 2618

(02) 6230 2487
Opening Hours:

Monday – Thursday: Closed

Friday – Sunday: 10.00am – 10.00pm