Those who haven’t tried dining at a hospitality training restaurant are missing out. Not just for the opportunity to help the students practice their cooking, waiting and sommelier skills, but also to eat food which is gourmet standard, beautifully presented, and great value. Lunches, while casual, are generous – a three course lunch for $15 can’t be turned down, nor can a 3 course fine-dining dinner experience for $35. It’s not open regularly, as hours are dictated by student availability.
A work colleague and I tried the special diets menu last week (and we’re going back this week, and again next week). Starter was a ploughman’s platter to share – an unusual choice for special diets, given it contained cheese, crumbed arancini, and non-gluten free soda bread. When asked, no gluten free bread was available. But there were plenty of other things on the platter to eat, and knowing it was only the first course didn’t make the unavailability of bread a problem.
There was a choice of four options for main – I had the Vietnamese Beef Pho, which was delicious, and very filling. My colleague had the Soy Poached Chicken, served on brown rice and, while delicious, looked rather stodgy as there were no vegetables or salad. I’m going to try the Mexican Sweet Potato this week, and the Fish Tacos next week.
Dessert was a tasting platter with orange and rosemary polenta cake (divine), vegan chocolate tart (delicious, but very rich), and a raspberry ruffle bar (which looked like a chocolate and tasted oddly of something artificial).
While this particular lunch review is not overly positive, the overall dining experience was great, and the fact that we’re going back again shows we’re up for giving it another try and seeing if our feedback has made any difference to the menu.
Either way, the value, quality of food, and opportunity to help the students means I’ll keep going back whenever the limited opening hours allow.
Prospects – follow-up
I had the pleasure of a three-course dinner at Prospects this week. The menu offered a choice of three entrees, three mains, and two desserts. The only unfortunate thing was that my friend and I ordered the same things, limiting our tasting options. We started with grilled aubergine with bocconcini and basil pesto – delicious. Main course was scotch fillet with seared asparagus and béarnaise sauce – the fillet was perfectly cooked, the meal was simple, but each element was done perfectly. And we finished with a honeycomb semifreddo. I licked the plate. I highly recommend this dining experience as a chance to not only support the hospitality students, but to have a stupendous meal at a very reasonable cost.
diners. There were so many menu choices I had trouble deciding – not usually a problem, given my food issues, which usually reduce the options to one. The servings are huge – so turn up hungry or bring a Tupperware container. I had the zucchini and bacon slice, and eyed off the Thai red curry, and the corn fritters (the size of a plate). The ‘light’ option – soup – came in a large bowl, with bread on the side. All were delicious (I managed to sample a few leftovers when the others couldn’t finish their meals). The staff were fantastic, and they’re open every day, so I’ll be back regularly to work my way through their extensive menu. Contact Bodega Cafe on phone 
I’ve been here a few times now and tried various things on the menu. During summer one lunchtime a friend and I shared a divine roast cauliflower salad with some sort of sauce that had me licking the plate, and the lamb and lentils, which was also nice, but forgetful, compared with the cauliflower. What a shame it hasn’t been on the menu since.
