Cork Street Gallery Cafe in Gundaroo is a lovely spot for lunch on a sunny day.
The gourmet pizzas are good value and have a gorgeous thin crust. (Half and half toppings available.)
BYO only and corkage is low.
The setting and atmosphere is relaxed, casual and child -friendly.
Great pick for a weekend lunch and worth the drive (39km from Canberra).
(25% discount for Entertainment Book holders).
The Public is a good spot for a meal with friends or a drink, but does get busy and noisy. Two for one pizza night on Mondays is good value.
Moroccan Lamb Pizza $22
Salt & pepper squid salad $21 Shredded iceberg, fresh chilli, crisp basil & nam jim dressing
Slow cooked lamb $23 With quinoa tabouli, mint yoghurt, fresh pomegranate & pistachio crumble
Burger $20
Me & Mrs Jones on the corner of Giles and Kennedy streets is one of my favourite spots for lunch. It is helpfully open 7 days for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I particularly like that is serves breakfast until 2:30 on weekends as plenty of breakfast options are also suitable for lunch. (10% surcharge Sundays & public holidays).
It has a good atmosphere that projects style and class and professional, efficient service.
Prices are standard Canberra prices and corkage is $5.50 per person (bottles of wine start at $39), If you have the Canberra Entertainment Book, it generously offers a complimentary main meal.
If you are eating ‘light’ Vodka Cured Salmon is a good option with interesting flavours.
Vodka cured salmon $22 with bavarian rye crisps, lemon fennel jam, baby capers, shaved tuscan onion, fresh ricotta and watercress
But I particularly like the option to order breakfast until 2:30 on Saturdays as plenty of breakfast options are also suitable for a’ light’ lunch.
Smashing persian $16 smashed avocado, persian feta, soy linseed toast and poached eggs
Or construct your own dish by adding some sides to your style of eggs with sourdough toast
two free range eggs cooked how you like on toast $12
with any of the following: baked garlic mushrooms, confit tomatoes, chat potatoes $2
or: bacon, sausages, smoked salmon, avocado, baby spinach, white bean cassoulet, grilled haloumi $3
At $14, the Boneyard Burrito is great value. It is a generous serving and a good choice for sharing between two.
It combines sweet potato, kale, white beans, sour cream, chipotle pecan pesto, queso, brown rice and fajita mix.
A vegan dish (as all are at Sweet Bones) it has well chosen, tasty flavours and textures. The side of corn chips with salsa, in a lovely texture and visual addition.
Indoor and outdoor seating is available.
CLOSED Monday
Lonsdale St Traders 27 Lonsdale StBraddon, ACT 02612
Woden Westfield Mall is not blessed with the same number of nice lunch spots as the city so Chong Co Thai restaurant in the Woden Canberra Southern Cross Club is a great find.
At lunchtime it is quiet and relaxed. Service is graceful and stylish, matching the more upmarket setting, but still efficient and timely.
The serve sizes and quality reflect that of Chong Co’s sister restaurant on the Kingston foreshore and newly opened Woden Westfield location.
Ordering one dish and one serve of rice from the dinner menu can be enough for two modest appetites at lunchtime. The food is so rich in flavour and texture, savouring it slowly is a treat.
Two dishes with two rice is plenty for four people.
Three dishes with three rice is a good amount for six people.
This pattern of ordering works out at around $11.50 per person which is excellent value for delicious food and a lovely seeting.
Alternatively, if you would prefer not to share, but don’t want the dinner menu serve sizes, there is also a lunch menu with a smaller range of dishes that is priced lower ($13-$16 including rice).
If the number in the group is uneven, it can work to order one main and rice per two people and the smaller serve of the Chicken Cashew Stir fry with rice from the lunch menu.
Wine is available by the glass, and starts from $5-6 if bought at the bar downstairs.
Access is open to the public not just for members and their guests.
Open daily for lunch 11am-2:30pm and dinner 5-10pm.
Both indoor and outdoor seating
Beef Massaman $20.90 (the best I’ve ever had) Chicken Laab $18.90 (Excellent)
Red duck curry $20.90 (very delicious) Rice is $3 for a generous serve
Vegetarian Massaman Curry (not as good as the beef) $16.90
Green chicken curry – excellent $18.90
Chicken and cashew nut stir fry $18.90 Chicken Penang Curry $18.90 (very good)
Chicken Pad Thai $16.90 (good) Saffron rice $4.50 per serve (a little sweet which is very nice for variety)
New menu starting November 2015 will see the Beef Massaman Curry served with roti. The roti is excellent making the Beef Massaman Curry even better as the top pick here.
Local Press was a good pick for breakfast on the Kingston Foreshore, inspired by Kate Freeman’s review of healthy Canberra cafes.
It’s full of energy and has a great atmosphere. It would be lovely in sunny weather as it’s nice to sit out alongside the lake…. and the coffee is good.
The Green Breaky Plate $18 (Za’atar coated hard-boiled eggs, kale, almonds, avocado, quinoa tablouleh, asparagus, dill yogurt and feta) had lovely flavours. It’s quite light so good for eating lean, but not so good for sharing.
The Green Pea Pancake or Poached Eggs on Rye (see Kate’s photos) would be better picks to share.
Open daily, except Mondays, breakfast is available until 12:30, when the lunch menu starts.
It’s very popular, so worth arriving early.
Wilbur’s at the Hackett shops is a good value, easy, family friendly restaurant with a warm open fire and comfortable atmosphere. Wine is well priced with a range of bottles at around $23.
Meals are well sized making sharing easy. A large pizza, salad and mezzo platter offered a good variety of flavours, textures and colours for four adults and a child to share.
Mezze Plate $21.50
Warm lamb salad $20
Capricossa Pizza $20
Fine Eating 