An afternoon at Alter Ego Canberra

They had me at pork belly… moist, juicy perfectly cut squares sat on my plate with a celeriac remoulade in the middle and a dark muscavado lime dressing drizzle circulating it all.

I was at Alter Ego, a chic new restaurant on the corner of Bunda and Genge streets. A farewell work lunch to be precise was the reason I was there, but couldn’t help take a photo of my food when it arrived. It’s hard to suppress the blogger in me when plating presentations scream out for attention.

Not having my usual partner in crime or friends in tow, my order was fairly simple. One oyster to whet my palate and a half-serve of pork belly.

Therein lies my biggest lunch mistake… the regrettable half-serve.

As my knife sliced through the soft, buttery morsel of pork belly, I knew instantly it was going to be perfect. To me, pork belly is essentially “better bacon” and I tried to console myself that I was out with colleagues and a half-serve would do the job.

Delightfully crispy yet succulently tender resonated with each bite: why oh why did I do this to myself? I can’t up my order now! How would that look? The only course of action was to eat as slowly as I could and to savour each bite with an extra 30 seconds chew.

To be honest, that didn’t work. Even my colleague sitting opposite from me wished she had ordered the pork belly.

It had been approximately seven months one week and three days since my last pork belly. And at that juncture of my life, I wasted the moment on a ridiculous half-serve decision.

Have you been to Alter Ego yet? What did you try?

Rose

Welcome to Travel and Beyond where the art of exploration intertwines with the allure of history, gastronomy, and culture.

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