You may have dined in at Dickson’s Highroad trying various items for their brunch and all day menu. Well get ready, Highroad have launched their dinner service. We are invited to dine in and check it out.
There’s champagne and cocktails floating around. I ask for something non-alcoholic and am happy when they have some non-alcoholic wines (big tick). Out comes a sparkling rose, the la vie en rose from local Canberran brand Altina, which is one one of my favourites.
Firstly there are speeches from the Highroad team. This all came about when the team didn’t want to have to drive into Braddon or Kingston to get a nice dinner. The Highroad dinner service was born. I also get the goss that there is something new in the works as the Highroad team takeover the old LSR spot in Braddon in the next few months.
Now onto the actual dinner.
The entrée of chestnut and celeriac soup with shaved truffles is so creamy (without the cream), and has a perfect harmony of sweet and savoury. It’s a rather big bowl so I only stop myself from finishing it because I know there are so many more courses to come. I’m happy to write that as my first time having a chestnut soup – this is an utter treat and I’m so glad this dinner starts off with a bang. Bring on the next courses!
The grilled king prawns with gochujang butter and nori pesto are delicious swimming in a pool of butter.
The pate de campagne is a solid slice of meat loaf consisting of various minced chicken and pork fat bits served with chargrilled focaccia, port and cognac prunes, French mustard and cornichons. Honestly, the cold meatloaf is not my favourite thing in the world. I do really enjoy the super thick slices of focaccia with a wonderful char on them smothered in the maple bacon butter.
The first of the mains is a chicken roulade with a vin jaune sauce, swiss brown and chantarelle mushrooms and kale. My mouth waters as soon as I smell the beautiful aroma. It is so good and I’m so happy that it tastes absolutely incredible. The chicken is completely tender and the mushroom mix enhances the sauce with an extra burst of umami goodness.
I haven’t had a good chicken roulade like this since Louis so it’s definitely one of the top two in Canberra in my opinion. Highly recommend this dish.
The whole roasted prime rib (served with the bone intact) with dutch carrots and potatoes is sitting in a pan of red wine jus. Again, this is cooked medium rare and is perfectly tender and juicy. I only have one slice as I’m so full but this is fabulous. The potatoes aren’t crispy but I can forgive that.
The side we receive is the pomme algot. If, like me, you have never heard of this before – it’s mashed potato mixed with hot cheese sauce in a pot. It has the consistency of a thick fondue and oh so cheesy and stringy. It’s a great side with the prime rib but way too much for our table of four – we aren’t even able to finish half of it.
Dessert is the Ona ‘cappuccino’, a play on the fact that Ona does not do cappuccinos. We receive a long piece of almond and orange biscotti with it, and dip the biscotti straight into the bottom of the ‘cappuccino,’ which consists of hazelnut crème pâtissière, espresso syrup, and vanilla custard. This is so silky and sexy, everything works superbly together. The only thing that would make this better would be chocolate! I expect a very hard biscotti, so am pleasantly surprised to find that this one soft and chewy. If you like tiramisu, I think you’ll love this.
We share an apple and rhubarb crumble among the four of us. Each of us also receives a bowl with vanilla ice cream. A classic dish – no complaints.
The courses were paired with wines from Nick O’Leary, Yarrh, Mt Majura and Ravensworth.
Overall, dinner at Highroad is highly enjoyable – comforting, appetising with good portion sizes. I highly recommend it. I don’t think this is a kid-friendly dinner so leave them at home!
See my reel of the experience below
Highroad
1 Woolley St, Dickson, Canberra
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