Breakfast Degustation @ Podfood

Pod Food in Pialligo recently introduced a breakfast degustation to its weekend menu. 4 breakfast courses (two sweet and two savoury) for $40. I’ve only been to Pod Food for lunch, during my pre-blogging days, and I remember loving every course of the 3-course set lunch menu. I’ve been meaning to go back but never got around to organising another visit. Where else in Canberra can you get a 4-course breakfast degustation? I couldn’t wait to try it out with some fellow foodies.

When you reach the restaurant, it feels like you’re no longer in Canberra. Located on a plant farm, the restaurant is a fully restored 1930’s cottage, painted blue on the outside, and is surrounded by lush greenery including herb gardens and a new garden plot.

I am overcome with a sense of peace and zen when I make my way down this beautiful path surrounded by lush greenery and a bird bath in the middle of it all.

After walking through the archway, I see the outdoor deck with some of the plastic blinds rolled up to let in the crisp cool air.

I headed to the main entrance to enquire about my booking.

There’s a lot of natural light inside with plenty of windows allowing sunlight to shine through. The use of simple clean decor makes the room look spacious and welcoming.

Fresh yellow roses adorn each table adding a splash of colour. Water is poured into my glass as soon as I sit down.

I understand that the new Head Chef at Pod Food is Daniel Lambert, formerly of the Boathouse by the Lake. This upped the ante of my expectations here. Menus are provided but not necessary as we were there for the breakfast degustation. Drinks were ordered (not included in the degustation). A freshly squeezed orange juice will set you back $6.

My soy mocha ($5) had melted chocolate at the bottom of the glass. A yummy chocolatey coffee hit.

So onto the food! Course 1 – the brioche french toast with jamon, quince jelly, poached rhubarb, starfruit and rosemary ice cream. I loved each element on this dish. The poached rhubarb was perfect. Everything from the tartness of the starfruit to the saltiness of the jamon worked brilliantly with the sweeter items. Words cannot describe the luscious rosemary ice cream. It was oh so refreshingly creamy. The vibrant rosemary provided this irresistible freshness to balance the richer elements on the plate. This was my favourite dish that day.

Course 2 – puy lentils, beetroot, kipfler, caramelised onion, hazelnut and fetta. What I love about degustations and set menus is discovering dishes that I wouldn’t normally pick. This was a delicious dish with so many different textures. The fetta really tied everything together.

Course 3 – the 65 degree egg with chorizo, mushrooms and goats curd on rye bread. I loved the perfectly cooked egg and the large juicy mushrooms.

Course 3 – ricotta pancakes with caramelised banana, sheep’s milk yoghurt sorbet topped with crushed muesli. I love that every dish is expertly balanced. I wasn’t expecting the sheep’s milk yoghurt sorbet so the sourness took me by surprise (not that it was a bad thing). This was great in balancing out the sweet bananas. Yum.

My friend had the gluten-free version of this course – replacing the pancakes with seasonal fruits.

I’d actually dined at Pod Food a few weeks earlier for the breakfast degustation but didn’t realise it was only valid from 8.30am-10am. We missed out and ordered off the normal breakfast menu instead. So I thought I’d put these photos up too. I had the full serve of what was course 3 – soft 65 degree eggs with a mix of mushrooms, chorizo and rye.

A friend had the 65 degree eggs with speck, kale, dijon and sourdough.

And my gluten-free friend was really impressed with the full serve of what was course 2 – the puy lentils, kipfler, beetroot and fetta.

Since we were too late for the degustation, the restaurant kindly provided us with a complimentary taster of one of the courses. This was a version of course 3 – pancakes with caramelised banana and glorious rosemary ice cream. Thank you Pod Food!

Pod Food’s menu provides diners with a varied choice on how to eat. A la carte menus are available, as well as set lunch menus ($40 for two courses, or $50 for 3 courses), and the Chef’s Choice dinner degustation (5 courses for $80). I think these are very reasonable prices for the high quality of food and presentation offered.

Located near the airport and Majura Park, you can plan your outing with visits to various nurseries in the area, or head to Majura Park to do some grocery shopping. It’s open for breakfast both Saturday and Sunday, lunch Tuesday to Sunday, and dinner Thursday to Saturday. Remember the breakfast degustation must be ordered before 10am.

Note: 10% surcharge on Sundays and public holidays

Keep an eye out for Podfood’s events that are coming up: a Majura Valley Experience ($150) starts 21 June to mid-August as part of the Truffle Festival.

Foodgasm 8/10