Dining at MUSE in Canberra 享受身心靈美食

A heartwarming dinner in Canberra, Australia
在坎培拉與家人共享美食

While working in Canberra back from 1999 to 2003, I used to go to Kingston and Manuka after work. What attracted me most were cafes, restaurants, bookshops and various stores there.
1999年至2003年，我在澳大利亞首都坎培拉(Canberra)工作，上班之餘，時常光顧 Kingston 和 Manuka 幾家有名的食堂、書舖、咖啡坊和商店。

My daughter @snooway, arranged to fly my wife and me to Canberra for a week-long family get-together early this month. Hence the trip brought back many good memories and we had a truly wonderful time there.
今年10月中旬，小女@snooway 特地安排我和內子@helenliu 前去坎培拉舊地重遊，共享天倫，我們有了長達七天的難忘時光。

On the eve of our departure, she took us to a restaurant named MUSE on the ground floor of a Hotel, located between Kingston and Manuka.
16日晚上，她帶我們兩老去一家別緻的餐廳用膳。地點是位居上述兩區之間的一家旅館內的餐廳，名為繆思(Muse)。

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This restaurant not only caters to food lovers and bar visitors, but also serves as a bookshop and literary salon—a venue/space much loved by tourists, office workers, event organizers and local literati.
這家餐廳除了供餐之外，也附設酒吧，並兼營書店，是來坎京出差的商務客及附近的上班族的最愛，既可看書買書，又可小酌品餐，同時補充精神和肉體的糧食。不少作者也常借用場地舉辦新書發表或與讀友聚餐交流。

Upon entering the bookshop inside the restaurant, we were attracted by the aura of the room, with carefully selected new books on display in the shelves and on the tables. A long table with tableware already neatly set up foretells a coming literary event on the site.
我們一入門，就被濃濃的文藝氣息所吸引，書店的空間不大，但架上陳列的都是精選的新書。中間已擺好餐具的長桌顯示今晚有文化活動。

The menu’s design follows the table of contents in a book: prologue, chapter 1, chapter 2 and side notes.
餐廳食單的設計頗有書卷味，依序是前言、第一章、第二章和旁註。

We ordered one entree and three mains to share.
·Roast aubergine, housemade black garlic, harissa dressing, pine nuts, natural yoghurt, basil
·Grass-fed Black Angus sirloin steak, watercress, baby spinach, whipped horseradish & chive butter
·Fish of the day (Kingfish), coconut cream, roast peanut, mint, coriander
·Poached housemade black garlic chicken breast, sautéed kale, white quinoa, orange, almonds
我們共點三種主菜和一種前菜。先上桌的是燒烤茄子的前菜，後上的主菜有：安格斯沙朗牛排、烤石首魚和黑蒜鷄胸肉。

To me the eggplants, well prepared, tasted a bit too salty—I prefer mild flavored. The black garlic chicken breast was well executed. With quinoa, kale, orange and almonds, it made a healthy and satisfying dish. Of course, we loved exquisite fish and sirloin steak dishes—no wonder the restaurant has been highly rated on the web.
前菜的茄子味道不錯，只是有點鹹。三種主菜均十分可口。黑蒜鷄胸肉搭配藜麥、羽衣甘藍、橙子和杏仁片，是健康的美食。石首魚和牛排也是十分精彩。難怪這家餐廳一直佳評不斷。

To dine in a good restaurant occasionally gives us opportunities not only to savor tasty food but to get close to our loved ones. It’s one of the most cherishing moments, isn’t it?
偶爾上館子，除了嚐美食之外，最重要的，我想還是親情的凝聚。家人團聚的時刻最美好，不是嗎？

All photos taken with my iPhone5 camera.

@tungjungchen