Popping in at Edgars Inn

A few years back I started to post reviews to Google Maps. It was just for fun and because it’s good to acknowledge the local businesses that help make your everyday life worthwhile. I recently heard from Google that the photos with my reviews had been viewed over 460,000 times – who would ever have guessed? It was ironic then that I had never mentioned the place I go to most of all – Edgars Inn at Ainslie shops in Canberra.

This is a location that has gone from strength to strength over the 20 years I have been going there. It now has the downstairs pub – the longest-running venue – and two upstairs venues, The Inn, a restaurant and bar, and Wakefields Bar, with more of a lounge feel. It also has a private dining area upstairs and Mama Dough, a pizza outlet downstairs. It’s in the heart of the Red Centre, so-called because supposedly at one time, it had the highest Labor vote in the country. 

Breakfast of poached eggs and smoked salmon on muffins with spinach and hollandaise sauce.

‘I’ve been going for 20 years and even though I have now moved to the opposite side of Canberra, I still keep coming back regularly. The proof of the pudding – or the burger – is in the eating.’

Even better in real life – the magnificent Maison Jazey

Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about an exceptional place on France. I don't know how I found tiny Semur-en-Auxois, and then the magnificent Maison Jazey, from Australia months before we went there, but I'm glad I did. It's one of those places that looks fabulous online, and then turns out to be even better in real life.

We discovered Maison Jazey at the end of a trip that included a cruise up the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel, when we spent a week and a half in Northern Burgundy before a finale in London. There have been a few exceptional places like Maison Jazey – our first ever (and possibly almost our last) Air BnB in Vaison-la-Romaine in Provence in France, a Landmark Trust gatehouse in Saddell on the Kintyre Peninsula on the West Coast of Scotland and a National Trust stone fishing cottage in Port Quinn on the West Cornish coast – but not many. They are places you remember – again and again – forever.

The magnificent Maison Jazey.

‘It's a beautiful apartment in a beautiful building in a beautiful town, not much more than an hour by car to all the sights of Burgundy,’

The hosts were terrific and very welcoming. It was like living in a very liveable museum or your very own chateau. The place is extremely roomy, with high windows with shutters, filled with light, and warm. The kitchen is terrific and the parquetry floors – a personal favourite of mine – are amazing. We stayed nine days and could easily have stayed longer.

 

Like living in a very comfortable art gallery or museum.

Beautiful apartment in a beautiful building in a beautiful town
It's a beautiful apartment in a beautiful building in a beautiful town, not much more than an hour by car to all the sights of Burgundy (and many are only twenty minutes away). On top of that there are lots of places in walking distance in the town. There are some high quality shops (I still have a substantial belt that was cut to length as I stood in the shop) and a very reasonably priced Michelin-starred restaurant, La Fontaignotte, which was exceptional and had magnificent views from its terrace.

'The Romans decided they could move from the hill fortress to the plain since once they had defeated everybody, there were no threats to guard against.' 

View of vegetable gardens and the river valley from Michelin-starred restaurant, La Fontaignotte.

It was a real treat in a part of Burgundy where we hadn’t previously been. Dijon was a revelation and after we came back I was reading about its first class art museum and exclaimed ‘I wish we had seen that’, then realised we had, we’ve seen every corner of it it for hours and hours. It was exceptional.

Interior of Maison Jazey – the dining room with the parquetry floor that was throughout the apartment.

Rediscovering France – and French

Northern Burgundy seems to be close to everything. We drove to the ancient Celtic hill fortress of Bibracte, the site where, after defeating the Gauls, Julius Caesar wrote his book, The Gallic Wars. Then we headed down the hill to the site of what became the Roman capital of the region, Autun. The Romans decided they could move from the hill fortress to the plain since once they had defeated everybody, there were no threats to guard against. We bought a top notch locally made umbrella there and it is still doing its job back in Australia.

Walking through the medieval quarter of Semur-en-Auxois in the rain. 

I also had the chance to rediscover my French, especially in the tiny, well-stocked shop next door to our chateau. I studied the language for six years in high schooI in Tasmania, so I did pick up quite a bit (J’ai étudié le Francais pendant six ans a l’ecole). I realisd though that while I read French reasonably well and speak a limited amount of French reasonably fine, I understand spoken French badly – there’s just too many words at once. My education was good, but it didn’t prepare me as well as I would have liked. Still, practice makes perfect.

© Stephen Cassidy 2025

See also

Echoes of Tasmania on the island to the North – chilling out in summer in the Snowy Mountains
‘Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about a location a mere two and a half hours from Canberra. The Snowy Mountains are one of the best reasons to live in the national capital. We've been there more times than I can count. I've reviewed some of our favourite places, but have yet to add a few more, even though we've been to them numerous times. Thredbo is an obvious drawcard, but there are many lesser known spots, like Tinkersfield, on the way to Thredbo, for accommodation, and Wild Brumby Schnapps Distillery for terrific food and drink (some of which they distill themselves). It's as close to the centre of Tasmania, where I grew up, between Cradle Mountain National Park and Lake St Clair,’ Echoes of Tasmania on the island to the North – chilling out in summer in the Snowy Mountains.

The short road to Sydney – out and about in Surry Hills and Bowral
‘Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about Sydney and the Southern Highlands. Given Canberra is increasingly moving closer to Sydney – it used to take four and a half hours to drive to Sydney and it’s now down to three hours, door to door, we have developed a habit of recent decades of driving to Sydney for wild times (more recently, mild times), followed by a wind down in the Southern Highlands on the way home. This means that posts about both places often sit well together, even of the visits are always at the same time’, The short road to Sydney – out and about in Surry Hills and Bowral.

Moss Manor – on a rise above Moss Vale

‘Continuing the series of posts about places we've visits and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about a relatively new place to stay in Moss Vale. Moss Manor was a newly-discovered place for us, even though we have been visiting Moss Vale for years. It only opened the year before we visited. It was very impressive and a great addition to the Southern Highlands. We had a fantastic time utilising a special offer on a three day break from daily life. Even though, now they are established, the special offer seems to have ceased and we can't afford to go back, it's extremely high quality and highly recommended’, Moss Manor – on a rise above Moss Vale.

Echoes of Tasmania on the island to the North – chilling out in summer in the Snowy Mountains

Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about a location a mere two and a half hours from Canberra. A mere two and a half hours from Canberra, the Snowy Mountains are one of the best reasons to live in the national capital. We've been there more times than I can count. I've reviewed some of our favourite places, but have yet to add a few more, even though we've been to them numerous times. Thredbo is an obvious drawcard, but there are many lesser known spots, like Tinkersfield, on the way to Thredbo, for accommodation, and Wild Brumby Schnapps Distillery for terrific food and drink (some of which they distill themselves). It's as close to the centre of Tasmania, where I grew up, between Cradle Mountain National Park and Lake St Clair.

Holed up in Thredbo Dec 2024/Jan 2025
The Thredbo Alpine Hotel is an alpine heritage gem. After our stay, I rated everything highly, even though as a heritage hotel, some things are showing their age, despite upgrades and refreshes. We also missed the hotel sunken bar, which was closed during the quiet season when we were there. None of this detracts from the charm of this historic place. We love staying here and keep coming back during the summer quiet period (and sometimes the not-so-quiet summer period) when it's not too hectic – all those car parks must get used sometime – and the rates are usually good.

Winter at Thredbo looks pretty good – but summer is our time.

A Chef’s Tour – roaming Bangkok foodie spots

Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is only the third Asian city I have been to. One thing you can say about Bangkok – it never seems to stop. It’s sprawling, crowded, busy and boisterous – and at times as you encounter the traffic, seemingly life-threatening. We wouldn’t normally have chosen to come to Bangkok, but our flights worked through the city, so it was an unexpected bonus.

We arrived very early in the morning at the tail end of a trip that included a cruise up the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel, followed by a couple of weeks in Northern Burgundy and a finale in London. The airport was fairly chaotic, through I did comment at the security desk on the way out of Bangkok, as we boarded the Thai Airways flight to Australia, that it was the fastest fast lane I’d ever encountered. With a long history of enjoying Thai food all over Australia – like most Australians – we discovered a food tour of Bangkok and decided that we couldn’t visit the city without going on one.

The first of many stops on the foodie tour.

Everything was ready
The Old Siam Chef's Tour was fabulous and absolutely topped off our visit to Bangkok. We went to so many markets and tiny restaurants, jumped on a canal ferry and a tuk tuk and a bus, and ate so many varied and marvellous dishes. Our champion guides, Annie and Champion, were like a well-oiled machine, ensuring everything was organised in advance and guaranteeing that the food was fresh and fabulous. One roamed ahead of us and made sure that everything was ready and everything, like bus fares, was paid.

The short road to Sydney – out and about in Surry Hills and Bowral

Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about Sydney and the Southern Highlands. Given Canberra is increasingly moving closer to Sydney – it used to take four and a half hours to drive to Sydney and it’s now down to three hours, door to door, we have developed a habit of recent decades of driving to Sydney for wild times (more recently, mild times), followed by a wind down in the Southern Highlands on the way home. This means that posts about both places often sit well together, even of the visits are always at the same time.

Franquette Creperie, Bowral June 2025
Franquette Creperie is a gem of a place in the main street of Bowral. It describes itself as a contemporary creperie and it is. On a cold winter night we had a quiet corner. It worked well for our party of two, but it is obviously also a huge hit with family groups – and you can see why.

Pulled pork with cheese, potatoes and onions in a mustard sauce

We had two galettes - the duck breast with orange and the pulled pork with cheese, potatoes and onions in a mustard sauce (I won't try to capture the French letters on this keyboard). Wednesday night was a special, so we followed with crepe suzette (more orange, but can there ever be too much orange?).

Moss Manor – on a rise above Moss Vale

Continuing the series of posts about places we've visited and reviewed on Google Maps, but which have never been posted to this blog, my next post is about a relatively new place to stay in Moss Vale. Moss Manor was a newly-discovered place for us, even though we have been visiting Moss Vale for years. It only opened the year before we visited. It was very impressive and a great addition to the Southern Highlands. We had a fantastic time utilising a special offer on a three day break from daily life. Even though, now they are established, the special offer seems to have ceased and we can't afford to go back, it's extremely high quality and highly recommended.

Moss Manor was luxurious, well renovated, top quality and very comfortable. Heated bathroom floors were a bonus. The renovated function rooms/dining rooms and lounge at the rear were a very effective addition to a heritage house (and double glazed, which is good, because one of the other great attractions of Moss Vale is its trains and they passed behind very close).

The front door to Moss Manor in the former Council Chambers.

Nearby activities
Just down a short hill are all the attractions of Moss Vale – more excellent furniture, design and homeware shops than you can count and Mosaic Wine Bar, so good it should be my local.

Short note: wine bars, wineries and restaurants I have known...

Over the years I have posted many short reviews to Google Maps, to the point where now I have had over 30,000 views of my reviews and over 460,000 views of the accompanying photos – and they keep on growing. I realised that many of these have never been posted to this blog, which is my main outlet for news about food, drink, produce and places to visit.

Short note: Wine Room Braddon Sep 2023
I discovered the little bar and restaurant, the Wine Room, almost by accident, well by word of mouth, which is the best accident of all. Someone told me about it and I've already told other people about it and so on it goes. Tucked away in a lane you could easily miss, behind coffee shop Gather – which has a good reputation of its own, though I've not tried it yet - this is a serious addition to the Braddon vibe. I've eaten there – and been very impressed. I've drunk wine there – most recently half an hour before I wrote these words – and enjoyed it immensely. 

They have a good focus on local winemakers but also a taste for the unusual and the interesting beyond this region. I had a rosé which was very different to any rosé I have had before and my companion had a sauvignon blanc which stood out from the usual generica that passes as sauvignon blanc. Whether you make a night of it or, as we just did, have a quick drink on the way through, this is a place with a beautifully designed fitout that's worth spending time and dollars in. The world needs more places like this.

View across the vines from Margan Winery, Hunter Valley.

Short note: Birch Sep 2022
We went here for a quiet birthday dinner and were extremely impressed. Moss Vale really has become the place over the years. Sometimes you feel that the food in restaurants like this can be merging into similar territory but I didn’t find that at all.