Delicious AfterDARK dinner and tour, Botanic Gardens

My parents are in town, so earlier this year we worked out a number of fun events to take them to throughout their week in Canberra. It wasn’t hard: with the Canberra long weekend there was plenty to choose from. Mum’s a big nature lover, and we all like food, so the Delicious AfterDARK dinner and tour at the Australian National Botanic Gardens seems like a winner.

We misread the ticket (which states that gates open at 6.30pm and close at 7pm sharp) and arrive just before 7pm. The Floresco in the Gardens cafe is packed… which I find bemusing. There’s no free table, let alone a reserved table for four people. To their credit, the staff bring in another table from outside quickly, but jam it against another table which is already full so we’re one long table. Interesting approach. We’re handed a glass of the Wallaroo Sparkling Riesling which is poured at the front of the room, and head to, uh, our table.

Fortunately we’re seated with a lovely group but it is a little awkward. The menu is a ‘grazing’ one; I’ve in mind platters on the table which we graze from. Instead, the platters are held above us by (very friendly) waiters and we pick selections from them.

Sparkling riesling matched with oysters in a champagne and shallot dressing

Oysters and champagne? Always a winner. The oysters are tasty but a very cold – like they’ve just only just been defrosted. While we get just one to start with, the waitstaff circle us a few more times with full platters and we end up with three each.

Poached salmon in a tarragon cone with creme fraiche

The poached salmon looks a little weird, but this is my favourite ‘dish’ of the night – the savoury cone is the perfect complement to the salmon. I could eat 20 of these.

Poached prawn cutlets with thousand island dipping sauce

Platter of poached prawns to pick from

The poached prawn cutlets are tasty enough, but no match for the salmon cones.

Smoked salmon and brie quiche with chive sour cream

Brie and salmon quiches

I love the brie and salmon quiches: they’re buttery (really buttery), flaky and soft and match beautifully with the tasty riesling (which we also have to collect from the bar at the front ourselves).

BBQ pork rice paper rolls with Thai dipping sauce

The rice paper rolls are, sadly, average – there’s nothing terribly special about them and I don’t think they match the red we’re served well.

Rare beef, asparagus and horseradish

The rare beef, asparagus and horseradish, on the other hand, have the right amount of textures and flavours to serve as a tasty complement.

Arancini balls with porcini mushrooms

But it’s the arancini balls which really get my attention… give me these, the salmon cones and a few oysters for balance and I’ll be one happy lady.

It’s an interesting way to spend an hour, and we agree the food and wine is excellent and worth $50, even though the weird approach (or non-approach) to the tables has us perplexed throughout the meal.

I also thought we’d be seated amongst the plants which would be softly lit up with different colours. My expectation about this was managed as soon as we entered the cafe, but I’ve now got high hopes for the tour. We’re assigned numbers and head in the direction of others of the same number. We’re all together (thankfully – it would be awkward if we weren’t!) and set off with just a torch with our ANBG leader and with the person at the back of the group.

It’s been raining earlier in the day, so it’s damp, but not slippery. Sadly, there’s not too much I can report from this hour-long tour. There’s a lot of shining at trees (including to see possums, which I find a little weird – we are mostly Canberrans, after all) with not much result, and, while we need to stay relatively quiet, no one wins if we can’t hear the guide. The best parts for me were touching some unusual grass, rubbing and smelling lemon myrtle leaves, and tapping a tree to watch spiders jump out – but I suspect most of the tour could have been done in the day, and a little more comfortably.

In sum? An interesting concept, and the food and wine was worth the cost, but would love to see a little more light and something different to the daylight experience. Animals and wildlife can’t be relied on, so I’d expect ANBG to take the reins…

Date: Friday, 7 March 2014

Where: Australian National Botanic Gardens

Cost: $50 per person

Worthwhile factor: While not what I expected at all, the food and wine were worthwhile and good value for money. The concept as a whole needs improving.

Want more? Try the ANBG website for more.

Advertisement