How very slowly the wheels of change turn. I think Chris Uhlmann has been calling for somewhere to have a coffee by the lake for something more than 20 years. Yes, there is the museum, which has kind of offered dining near the lake. And the Kingston Foreshore, which is more canalside dining than lakeside. The National Gallery's Sculpture Garden had a sporadic Friday pop-up bar.
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But now, we share the happy news that you can have an actual drink and good, casual dinner right there with a grassy verge and a soothing water outlook with little to interrupt it other than the occasional kayaker. And so lovely is this scene that I think, or perhaps I imagine, that the gently splashing of the oars is audible.
We're at Armada, which is named for its watery location and its parent restaurant, the Boathouse by the Lake. So this is a quiet location, largely by itself here in an undeveloped part of the lake. Not to get controversial, but long may it stay that way.
The Boathouse has built a large wooden platform for this new lakeside eatery and after surprising and persistent downpours installed a marquee roof so you can stay dry. The set up is casual, with plastic chairs and high as well as low tables, There's a water bowl which looks to be for accompanying dog friends, which is excellent.
We are visiting Armada on one of its first openings, so things are a little chaotic tonight. But it's friendly chaos and that's my preferred state of affairs in any case.
It's a place where you order and pay by app, so yes, it's straight to the mobile phones. Click on the dishes, pay the bill and submit your order. The odd thing about this is that everything arrives at once for us. So our very small high tabletop can't really cope with the load. I guess this is a casualty of the ordering system, and the fact that this is a bar as much as a restaurant, so most people are probably ordering a few dishes rather than the entire three-course menu.
The menu sits with many of today's upmarket, casual places, a little like Monster in inspiration. Which of course means soft bao-style buns ($13 for two). One version comes with a crumbed slice of eggplant, another with duck. With slices of pickled cucumber and mayo, they are good, tasty and simple bar snacks.
Manchego fritters ($16) are unusual. Little squares of the fried cheese, strong tasting, with jamon that has been fried quite hard and a smokey salsa that doesn't really appeal. This is the right idea for bar food but perhaps the wrong execution.
The pork katsu sandwich ($17) is a white-bread sandwich, crusts off, with a big piece of crumbed meat, a simple coleslaw and mayo. It's good, we really like this, and again, it's on message for bar food. Fried but not greasy or carelessly done, and easy to eat by hand.
The wagyu beef tartare ($24) doesn't work as well, suffering from what might be an attempt to glam up this classic, or perhaps to render it full proof in the food safety sense. Raw beef and raw egg is, after all, a nail-biting dish for any restaurant to serve. Here, it's a risk averse version. Instead of the egg, the chopped meat is sitting on top of a sauce that reminds you of Hollandaise, and renders the entire dish very rich and sauce-like. It's also very salty. Slices of what we guess is white radish tops the meat, along with pickled onion and capers. While I get you might not want to serve a classic beef tartare on a hot evening in a causal outdoor bar, for us, this version doesn't come near the classic.
Fish and chips ($28), though, surpasses anything else we've had in Canberra in a long time. The fish is cooked so delicately, it's a proper rendition, with a cabbage slaw, tartare, lemon and chips. Perfect. It reminds us of the meals we had just a few weeks earlier at the Tuross boatshed, such a rickety building, such a precarious and excellent setting.
The wine list, too is good, and no doubt helped by being able to piggyback off being connected with the bigger restaurant. Majura Silurian bubbly is not only local but really good, if a little pricey here at $19 a glass.
Among the four dessert options, two are described as "puffs" ($10). They are Paris-Brest style choux pastries, filled with butterscotch ice cream and chocolate sauce, or with "matcha cheesecake". They're pretty good, and while we are a little sceptical about the idea of a green-tea flavoured "cheesecake" filling with berry jam, it tastes good. I mean it turns it all into something like a fancy scone, but we're fine with the outcome.
As it happens, the thunder arrives as we're eating, then a downpour and wind that whips around the marquee roof. The rain pelts on to the speaker that it sitting outside on the grass for music, and drenches the staff as the rush back and froth from marquee to kitchen. It's dramatic and it's nature, which is quite brilliant in the circumstances since it reminds us that we're eating by the lake in the outdoors, and we're so happy for it.
Armada Outdoor Bar
Address: The Boat House, Grevillea Park, Menindee Drive, Barton
Phone: 6273 5500
Hours: Friday to Sunday, from 3pm
Owner: James Souter
Chef: John Leverink
Noise: No problem, it's outdoors
Vegetarian: Some snacky options
