Who me? I’m innocent…
One of the things I miss most about living in Mosman is the birdlife. Living near Balmoral Beach on the top floor of an apartment block meant that we had kookaburras, cockatoos and rainbow lorikeets visit our balcony on an almost daily basis. None of these birds however stole a sandwich from me. Until now of course. And a confession? I liked it!
Queen Viv and I are Afternoon tea lovers from way back and we’re headed to Gunner’s Barracks to take part in their afternoon tea and new Winter menu. We’re late as of course anything involving Queen Viv and I always involves an element of tardiness. Constructed in 1873, the sandstone building was originally a place for the military. Since October 2005 it has been serving afternoon tea to lucky locals and visitors. We take in the sweeping views of the Harbour and realise instantly why it is always so booked out by wedding parties. We’re shown to our table outside with little heaters positioned strategically to take the almost Winter chill off.
Spiced quail and chestnut soup, spinach, baby coriander $19
We take a look at the regular menu. Today we’re sharing a combination of a High Tea and a three course meal which of course we’re happy to share. We start with a dish that just surrenders to Winter. The Quail and Chestnut soup has two plump pieces of quail in the centre atop a creamy chestnut soup with a distinct curry taste to it via coriander seeds. There’s some sauteed spinach sitting under the quail. The dish is warming both by virtue that it’s a hot soup and also via the curry flavour.
Roast rump of lamb, shepherds pie, carrot, parsnip, garlic and thyme jus $29
Being a lamb lover, Queen Viv was especially keen to try this and it comes as two separate pieces. In a small oval dish is a shepherd’s pie and on another dish is the sliced roast rump of lamb which is tender with a lovely light thyme jus (you know me, I don’t like thyme but this isn’t strong in it). The split dutch carrot and parsnip are too firm though. The star of the plate however is the gorgeously rich shepherd’s pie redolent in red wine and the juices from roasting the lamb. You can absolutely taste these extra touches and we scrape the bowl clean while declaring that we could eat a whole bowl of it by itself. There was almost bowl licking too-almost!
Green leaf salad $7
The green leaf salad is well dressed although the dressing could use a touch of sweetness from a mustard vinaigrette or balsamic as it’s a touch too zesty.
Spiced marzipan filled pear, mulled wine ice cream $15
Although we knew that we had an afternoon tea to sample I couldn’t resist the marzipan filled pear. The pear itself isn’t cooked in a red wine but the marzipan inside it has been mixed with red wine so that it is red inside-at first glance I think it’s red bean paste as it has a similar texture. The pear itself is quite soft and I prefer pears firmer. The red wine component comes via the velvety mulled wine ice cream drop.
Traditional Afternoon Tea $40
Our “dessert” is the afternoon tea. On Royal Albert china, there are three tiers to this Afternoon Tea. The sandwiches are egg, mayonnaise and chive; roast beef with dijon & rocket and smoked salmon, horseradish & cucumber. All are interestingly on brown bread and they’re all very fresh my particular favourite being the roast beef. On the savoury plate are also an asparagus tart and a chickpea samosa with a spiced yogurt.
Scone layer with asparagus tart and chickpea samosa
Cream and homemade jam
There is a date and a plain scones with home made berry jam and thick cream. I’m a huge fan of their scones and I think these are the best I’ve ever had (I’ve also had these at the QVB tea room) and I even try wrestling a recipe out of them…
Dessert layer
The top section houses a orange and chocolate macaron, a cheesecake which has a light honey flavour, a chocolate and coffee opera slice which remands us of a tiramisu, an apricot and lemon thyme cupcake which has an unusually appealing flavour and moistness and a mango panna cotta with lychee tapioca balls which is just fruity and fresh.
Just ignore me he says…
When our waitress sets it down she tells us that the tiers usually come with a white napkin covering it which we had assumed was to protect the food from wind but is in fact to prevent naughty kookaburras from pinching the sandwiches, Apparently there is a gang of four hungry kookaburras that know to visit at 11am and 3pm when they know that sandwiches will be out and make no mistake, they’re only interested in the sandwiches. Our waitress tells us that they’ve even stolen them out of the hand of one customer who was about to take a bite.
Ready to pounce…
Incoming!
And spot on 3pm the first kookaburra arrives. He sits on the ledge trying to look as nonchalant as possible and looks at each side. After a minute when we’re all convinced that he’s just happy sitting there he swoops in and ducks under the neighbouring table’s napkin covered stand and grabs and sandwich from the second tier and flaps away.
The crust is mine!
Score!
Everyone is stunned at their accuracy – somehow it knew which layer to attack. He takes off and we hear squabbling and grunting noises as the sandwich is divided up between two of them. We had a tiny portion of crust left on our stand and before long he swoops in for ours too. It’s a tiny 2cm x 1cm piece but with deadly accuracy he swoops in and picks this from a plate of savoury morsels. Crafty, clever little bugger!
I sip my cup of blueberry muffin tea (more blueberry and not quite achieving the muffin part) and enjoy the vista and chuckle at the sound of grunting sandwich stealing kookaburras.
So tell me Dear Reader, what has been your most amusing or surprising encounter with wildlife?
NQN and Queen Viv dined as guests of Gunner’s Barracks
The Tea Room at Gunners’ Barracks
End of Suakin Drive, Georges Head, Mosman, NSW
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66 Comments | Add your own
OMG! But hey,at least the bird obviously has a good taste! Hehe
Personally, I try to avoid any encounter with wildlife as much as possible…
Great action shots of that thieving bird! And I’d have trouble getting past that chestnut soup – something I rarely get to eat, so I’d order it in a shot!
Amazing shots of the kookaburra! And I love the Royal Albert! Lovely afternoon tea!
bwhaaahha! Cunning little fellow! Great pics! The gourmet fare looks great too. I really must eat breakfast!
We have a nest of baby birds in the backyard!
Tell you what. You come over and we’ll have a tea party and bbq and all sorts of pie.
That afternoon tea looks so good. We had birds come in once and take steaks off a bbq, and they were pretty big steaks. Great shots of the kookaburra swooping.
Afternoon tea is such a civilized (and delicious!) tradition. Oh, and these pictures are absolutely stunning
I would be so freaked out if a kookaburra came in a stole my sandwich! I’m not a huge fan of birds :s ! I really liked Gunner’s Barracks too
The tea room definitely have the best scones at a high tea in Syd!
oh.my.
I would have run so far away if a bird did that too me…I have the HUGEST fear of birds!
Great shots of your sneaky guest, Mr kookaburra. I have to admit I love when things like that happen…except when seeing rats in a pub!! Chestnut soup is drool worthy
The Kookaburras sound lovely much cuter than aggressive packs of seagulls intent on stealing my hot chips.
hahaha.. you must’ve been really quick to be able get those kookaburra shots!!
LOL – I love kookaburras, even sandwich stealing ones. Look at those desserts – yum!
Great post. But I have to ask – how you eat out so often and still stay in shape.
I love your posts, but would never be able to eat out as often as you do, I’d be the size of a house!
Share your secrets! MC
Just like the Kookaburras at Gunners Barracks, I have had a cheeky seagull swoop through and steal a piece of calamari from my hand as I was about to eat it!!
Got to love the Tea Room. By the way I don’t know if you have been to ‘Burnt Orange’ but it is further down from GUnners Barracks. I highly recommend it for an afternoon lunch. They have cute shops with homewares and food! Do check out!
Hi L, love the location. Great find. xo M
I know that kookaburra; he took my last piece of pork pie in Lane Cove River Park, and my best piece of fish at Balmoral.Right out of my hand both times.
Still love them though.
It looks like a lovely meal. The kookaburra is cheeky.
oh my gosh- those Kookaburras are clever. I have to say the Goannas at Noosa National Park (of which I am ridiculously afraid) get much too close for anyone’s comfort when eating a picnic.
I love afternoon/ high tea! and this looks super cute.
Blueberry muffin tea sounds delightful. I love how you captured the exact moment that the Kooka got the sandwich! For someone who is used to their subjects being still life you’ve got a great reflex
Marvellous review.
Yes, we love kookaburras, too!.
At our beach house, they will regularly steal cooled sausages of the grill if you let them, but they prefer their meat rare.. so always-always cover up before you start the bbq ! ha ha..
High-tea looked great !
The food looks fabulous Lorraine! I have not actually gone and had a High Tea yet anywhere yet, Mum and I have always talked about it but I think whenever we visited we had forgotten the conversation by that time
Having said that we always make time for a visit to Adore Tea which is just fabulous and if you like teas it is a bit of a mecca in Gold Creek ACT.
I miss the bird life at home so much we have few here. You can here them but rarely see them, ok apart from the little brown birds of course.
Well I have a cockatiel- Rex, who is currently being “birdsat” at my Mum and Dad’s that LOVES pasta, mashed and roast potatoes as well as allsorts of other foods. I had another cockatiel who loved Licorice also and biscuits dipped in tea
When we lived in Adelaide we had Magpies that would sit on the decking when we had BBQ’s and would wait patiently for tit-bits, I have shared muesli with them also
Look forward to the next adventures Lorraine
We have a possum who lives on a tree just outside our back yard. The kids put bits of apple, potato or whatever on the fence at dusk and he/she comes down, grabs them and eats them. Sweet …
A very similar thing happened to me during afternoon tea at Taronga zoo, except it was a rainbow lorikeet. Good bye caramel slice
Great pictures of the bird in action! (Although I have to admit I have a small fear of birds (pigeons, to be exact) dive-bombing me…perhaps something happened as a child that my mom should tell me about?
)
The food looks fantastic, especially the afternoon tea. I love how you asked for the scone recipe, that is something I would definitely do!
Oh, the lamb looks sensational! Good thing the kookaburra wasn’t keen on that…!
hehe your story reminds me of this news article:
http://www.news.com.au/weird-true-freaky/sausage-addicted-kookaburra-too-fat-to-fly/story-e6frflri-1225872729208
kookaburras are getting fat!
My old flat mate Jus loves to remind me of the time we were sitting looking out over Wollongong Harbour after a night out – enjoying some fish and chips – or in her case, tempura prawns – when a seagull swooped on the half eaten prawn in her hand (or if you believe her, she was just about to put it in her mouth!!!) I apparently just laughed but perhaps I was just tired or stunned. She was sick for a little while afterwards and has forever blamed it on that nasty seagull.
Finding a huge, incredibly scary-looking, non-safe-huntsman spider in the basket of laundry I was about to fold was the BAD kind of surprising. Ugh.
I wish I’d had a date scone to calm myself with…
The kookaburra is so cute…. it must be laughing cheekily.
ooh what a crafty kookaburra!
I got chased by the geese at Daylesford lake when I was little… still havent forgiven them!
I love how you had afternoon tea for ‘dessert’ – great thinking, 99! And those are great shots of the thieving kookaburra, it looks like they’ve had lots of practice
Too funny about the kookaburra! Our most amusing bird experience was actually in Sydney, where a less gourmet ibis very skillfully worked his way into the bottom of a trash can and pulled out a bag with fast food; then all the little inferior birds came around requesting to share its lunch
Love the photos of the Kookaburra! I’m an afternoon tea lover too. Love scones.
I haven’t had a wildlife experience like that yet.
How polite of you to share your lunch with the wildlife. heehee. Gawd, that bird had a feast that day.
My most interesting encounter with wildlife? I was on my honeymoon in Alberta province in Canada. My husband and I came out of our cottage in Jasper one morning to find a humongous elk standing on the front lawn. We weren’t sure whether to stand still or flee. But we just slowly walked past it without a problem. Guess we were too boring for the elk to react.
Wow you got excellent photos of the Kookaburra stealing your sandwich. What a beautiful place for lunch.
You had an uninvited guest at your lovely tea:) You sure got some great photos of the little thief!
Love the shots of the kookaburra – very cinematic! How on earth did you fit in all that food? I hope you wore elastic-banded trousers, haha.
What a naughty bird. I guess we are not the only ones who enjoy a nice afternoon tea LOL. Great photos.
*kisses* HH
I have had sausage stealing emus at Tidbinbilla in Canberra. They are a little more intimidating than kookaburras, they don’t ask permission they just bully you!They took them straight out of my hand even though I valiantly defended my sausage. The emus were bigger than me!
I love birds. I have pet Geese, Ducks and chooks, plus we have lots of wildlife here in the mountains. But I draw the line at Emus. Can’t trust a bird that I can make eye to eye contact with without stooping. Had one steal some sausage almost out of my mouth years ago at Dubbo Zoo. It came up behind me so I didn’t see it coming. My brother did and he thought it was hilarious! I am still in therapy LOL. Thank you for your wonderful Blog. Look forwaed to it every day!!!!
Haha, that thief od a kookaburra! But quite entertaining, indeed! At least it wasn’t a teeth-barring monkey. I’ve been attacked by a monkey a few times, and it wasn’t pleasant!
the food looks gorgeous as always! I am forever drooling over your blog! Sorry, you might have to clean up after me…;-p
I love afternoon tea and I’ve fairly recently discovered the delights of going somewhere that they make it for me instead of me making it
This looks like a good one with the added loveliness of the view and the wildlife!
The story about those hungry, daring kookaburras was so funny.
And that pear…! Sexy, sexy!
Kookaburras are lovely! My husband’s job involves audio recording; here’s our encounter with a kookaburra during breakfast at Crater Lakes (Atherton Tablelands rainforest) in Far North Queensland
http://www.digifishmusic.com/public/images/TapersSection_HRKook.jpg and http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=57664
how awesome that you captured the entire episode of thievery in pictures! greedy birds, but really, how can you get angry at something with such an awesome name?
I once had a piece of deep fried bread stolen from me by a monkey in Malaysia. it was the funniest thing. My gosh i love animals!
Fantastic action shots of the thieving kookaburra! I was once woken up at some ridiculous hour by a baby mouse that had fallen into my rubbish bin and wasn’t quite strong enough to jump out but that didn’t stop it trying! A rather shocking thing to be woken by at 3 in the morning!
The bird knows good food! Great shots of it in action.
Love the look of the afternoon tea! The scones are huge!
kookaburras have no fear when it comes to taking food. i once had a hamburger taken from a friends hand in hyde park. they are scary when they look at you with their huge beak
Wonderful post Lorraine.One of my friends told me of a monkey that she saw do “his business” in his owner’s ears; grossed me out of monkeys forever!
Hi Lorraine…catching up here!!! OMG look at that afternoon tea…worth it all if the kookaburra Only takes a sandwich!!!
I am going to crash your tea party like this kookaburra!!! How hilarious that happened. Although I think I would be terrified.
Wow.. that was awesome to catch the kookaburra attack on camera. I would have chased him to get my sandwich back.
wow,I remember seeing that ‘kookaburra sits in the old gum tree’ song in brownies and have always wondered what a kookaburra looked like and now like childhood prayers have been answered! lol!
lorraine i love the pictures u got of the bird haha… thats just too funny!!!!!
i havent been here yet but its on my places to go list it looks really lovely
i greatly enjoyed this post.
Cheeky thing! I was once camping in a campsite on the river at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe when my friend, who was washing tomatoes for our salad under a tap, had a monkey race up to her and grab the tomato right out of her hand. Once we all got over the shock of it we spent the next 5 minutes falling about laughing at its audacity!
Ooh I love the sound of the marzipan-filled pear with the mulled wine ice cream (whenever I poach pears in red wine and spices, I reserve the mulling juice, reduce it to a syrup, and keep it in my fridge to pour over ice cream or apple crumble later). And the apple and thyme cupcake sounds delicious (I might hunt down a recipe), as does the panna cotta – mmm!
Miss B xx
Love the Afternoon tea,I want to try the Pannacotta, sounds too good.
We have King parrots that sit under our pergola and carry on until one of us goes outside to give them some seed.They’re quite persistent and will empty my pot of pebbles one by one until they’re fed! Sooooooo annoying but at least they don’t want our food. lol
Hi Maria -Hehe he did !
Hehe wise move especially as far as sandwiches are concerned 
Hi Celia -Thankyou! Luckily he made it quite obvious when he was about to strike
Great minds! 
Hi Theresa -Thankyou so much!
Hi Liss -Wasn’t he just?
Hi Blond Duck -Aww how cute! Do they pinch sandwiches? Done!
Hi Linda-Ooh steaks? Wow they must have been hungry!
Thankyou!
Hi Lawyer Loves Lunch-Absolutely, I couldn’t agree more! Thankyou!
Hi Betty-Hehe really? I was rather delighted
I know, they are SO good!
Hi Lisa-Oh really? I thought that it was rather gorgeous but then again I love birds
Hi Shanks -Isn’t he naughty? OMG rats ina pub is definitely less charming
Isn’t it!
Hi sandra -Absolutely, seagulls aren’t anywhere near as cute!
HI YW-Luckily he was being very obvious when he was about to do it!
Hi Cakelaw-Me too!
Hi MsCritique.com-Sampling my dear! Tasting but not finishign everything necessarily. Thankyou very much!
Hi Alphie-Oh out of your hand?
That’s game!
Hi Einna-I’ve heard it is very good! I must go soon
I love the concept 
Hi Big M-Thanks M! xx
Hi Brian-Naughty bugger isn’t he! Hehe they know they’re cute
Hi Mary-He is! And very picky too
Hi gastronomy gal-Aren’t they? Oh no and aren’t they huge too? Thankyou!
Hi Shan-Thankyou!
Aww shucks you are too kind!
Hi James&Kerry-Thankyou!
Ahh good tip indeed! 
Hi An Expats Wife-Oh it’s so much fun, one of my favourite pasttimes
Aww Rex sounds like a little darling! 
How nice of you to share your muesli! Thankyou so much!
Hi MrsDesperate -Hehe how fabulous!
That is very sweet 
Hi KayB-Oh they can be very forward! We used to have some visit us and demand food!
Hi Faith-Thankyou!
OH yes perhaps something did happen! 
Hehe I know, these scones are the absolute best!
Hi Tina -Haha I know!
Hi isLa-Thanks for the link! How fascinating! Poor lil thing!
Hi Ange-Oh no, illness through seagull! Maybe you were stunned! I would be!
Hi Hannah -Arrgh now that is frightening!
Absolutely, good plan!
Hi Andreas-I think it is!
Hi Sarah-Indeed! Oh no, that is frightening! I still have fear of dogs for the same reason!
HI OohLookBel-For maximum eating
Thankyou! I think they have!
Hi 5 Star Foodie -OH really? Perhaps we have slightly bolder beasts here?
Hi Camilla-Hehe me too!
If you there you might 
Hi Carolyn-Hehe I was happy to
Haha an Elk with those huge antlers would be rather intimidating to say the least! 
Hi Katherine-Thankyou! It was
Hi Sue -Hehe they’re for the police lineup
Hi Christie-It’s called restraint!
I don’t do those!
Hi Heavenly Housewife-Hehe I guess they were sick of being left out
xxx
Hi InTolerantChef-Emus huh! They’re definitely more intimidating! Oh you poor thing!
Hi Dianne-Haha! Aren’t they pushy! That’s no good at all! Aww you’re more than welcome!
Hi sophia-I know, he’s going to kooky prison no doubt
Yes I can imagine a monkey could do a lot more damage! Hehe no problems! 
Hi Sarah-Aww isn’t it fabulous!
Hi Midge-Thankyou! Hehe aren’t pears so sexy!
Hi Laura-Oh thankyou so much! Ahh they’re fairly quiet there!:D
Hi grace-Thankyou! It was for the police
I know, they’re too cute and they know it!
Hi Amy-Haha me too!
Hi Moya-Thankyou!
Oh no! How strange a thing to be woken by! 
Hi penny-Why thankyou!
Hi Phunk-Aren’t they massive? But fabulous too!
Hi Simon-A whole hamburger?
Hi Joumana-Thankyou so much! In the ear? Ack that is so horrible!
Hi Dzintra-Hehe I agree!
Hi pinknest-Hehe you’re welcome to!
I think we weren’t so frightened as they told us about it 
Hi zenchef-Thankyou so much! Haha now that would be great to capture!
Hi The Curious Baker-Yup that is it!
I keep forgetting that we are the only ones with a kookaburra!
Hi Betty-Thankyou!
It’s really gorgeous there!
Hi JO-Thankyou!
Hi Lisa-haha absolutely, that’s all you can do isn’t it! Laugh!
Hi Miss B-Oh that sounds like a great idea! I’m going to do that next time!
xxx
Hi Matilda-It’s such a lovely, light flavour
Wow very persistent indeed (and with a lot of time on their hands too!) Yes best they go for that than your food!
I work in an outdoor cinema and we sometimes have people get injured from super cheeky kookaburras thieving food from their hands, or as it is on the way to their mouths. They have no shame!
What a fantastic sequence of photos of the kookaburra! The food looks pretty good too…
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[...] place that does a terrific scone is the Tea Room at the QVB and Gunner’s Barracks (scene of the infamous kookaburra sandwich stealing incident). In fact they do my favourite scones [...]
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