Poppy’s Cafe, Australian War Memorial, Canberra

Poppy’s has a great location, setting and outlook.

Parking is easy and there’s plenty of options on the menu.

But it also gets busy and there’s no getting away from the cafeteria feel.

Good for a coffee if your sightseeing , but not worth a special trip.

Molly, Hobart Place, City West – a quick look

This cute bar downstairs under Hobart Place is full of style and charm – a great spot for a drink…

….and a share charcuterie platter $25…

Hours 4pm-2am Monday through Saturday.

Manuka’s Public – some excellent lunch salads!

The Public Bar and Dining Rooms in Manuka has secured a great spot on the corner of Franklin and Flinders.

It’s menu offers something to suit everyone. At lunch on a weekday, that might well be one of the main meal salads that are well sized and perfect for sharing.

Two of the best include the Poached Chicken and roast root vegetables $22…

…and the Slow cooked lamb shoulder with quinoa $23.

Both are delicious. The lamb salad is richer and the chicken salad more subtly flavoured so it’s great to share both for balance.

If you have a Canberra Entertainment Card then you only pay for the more expensive salad making it great value as well.

Not BYO but wine by the glass his reasonable.

Monday is two for one pizzas.

Another very handy spot to have on your list of ‘go to’ eateries in the inner south of Canberra.

Maple & Clove – another look at lunch

Maple and Clove is tucked away in the Realm precinct overlooking a lovely grassed space between the Burbury and Realm Hotels.

Very helpfully it is open 7 days for breakfast and lunch although it does pay to book as it’s popular.

The menu on-line does differ to the one available in house, but similar dishes are offered.

It’s a perfect place for sharing dishes and the dishes are designed to be a little lighter, yet tasty so they leave you feeling satisfied but comfortable.

A good combination is a small Maple Raw Green Salad $12 – Baby kale, avocado, baby spinach, broccoli, asparagus, activated almonds + lemon, sesame dressing.

A meal size is also available for $18 and you can add a slow cooked egg for $4 extra.

It has a nice crunch from the nuts and a good balance to the Turkey and Zucchini Burger $19 -Lean turkey mince and zucchini patty, served with sumac yogurt dressing on a polenta roll with sweet potato wedges. This is a very good choice with good flavours and textures. The polenta bread is particularly good.

Maple and Clove is an excellent spot for a week day lunch in the Barton area and offers an interesting menu suited to sharing, good value, good service and a very lovely setting and atmosphere.

Courgette, Canberra City – very fine dining

Chef James Massillon continues to creates magic with food and service at Courgette on Marcus Clarke Street in Canberra City.

Indeed Courgette’s wait staff are the finest in Canberra – familiar faces who develop an instant rapport while behind the scenes, seamlessly choreographing the meal to ensure a perfect evening.

Each of the three ($66) or four ($88) courses offers a choice of beautifully presented dishes carefully matched to the serving ware.

The flavours and textures of each dish are clearly carefully chosen.

Courgette also very helpfully takes bookings and offers BYO wine at $18 corkage per bottle.

The current choice of dishes differs a little to the Four Course Dinner menu on-line.

First course is not as strong as the other courses and offers a choice of…

Meredith goats cheese cloud, heirloom tomato, basil pesto, green olive, toasted seeds, sundried tomato crisp which is beautifully presented on a very appealing natural piece of wood, but it misses out on creating a memorable flavour….

…whereas the Prawn cannelloni, sweet bell pepper, baby cos, smoked paprika, radish, tarragon oil is very flavoursome and nicely textured (particularly the cannelloni) making this the better choice of these two dishes on offer.

Second course offers a choice of four dishes.

The rare roasted Mandatory creek venison, baby capers, carrot gel, pickled cucumber, reggiano, bush pepper has great flavours and is a good choice.

The seared scallops, smoked cauliflower purée, fennel crunch, fermented black garlic come on the most the amazing background dish but again, lacks a wow flavour.

The chicken liver parfait, brioche, quince onion jam, sultanas, spring flowers and herbs gets much praise from Memoirs of a Foodie and would be well worth a try.

Third course

The Cowra lamb cutlets, lamb shank, tomato chilli jam, baby fennel, celeriac, fresh mulberries are truly delicious and an excellent choice. The pulled lamb shank meat is mixed with the other flavours and is wonderful.

The black kingfish fillet with smoked salmon, avruga caviar, courgette blossom, charred leek and pea puree is very good as well.

Fourth course

The Japanese citrus pannacotta, cinnamon crumb, mandarin gel, lemon and ginger consommé….

…..and Baked chocolate mousse, banana fritter, honeycomb, salted nutty ice cream are both good choices and have a better flavour than the…

Seasonal berries, shortbread, toasted Italian meringue, mango sorbet, coconut curd and slivered pistachio nuts.

Overall, it’s a lovely experience and every care is taken to make you feel special. Dishes appear just when you’d like them, as if Courgette was already expecting you. Even your own BYO wine is decantered and served with care.

It’s the perfect place for a very special occasion.

Bookplate, National Library, Barton

Bookplate is a popular spot for lunch (served 12-2pm) that’s close to major Canberra tourist attractions.

While it gets busy on the weekends, weekdays it’s quieter (although parking can be tight).

Choose between a shaded table outside with a great view of the lake or an indoor table where you can admire the Leonard French stained glass windows.

The full menu has a range of interesting choices.

These include the BBQ Beef Bao’s $19.80 – chinese soft buns filled with texan style pulled beef with housemade BBQ sauce and coleslaw…good flavoured beef, but the coleslaw is fairly plain and the bun a little tough.

The specials board includes a nice looking Chargrilled Atlantic Salmon $24.50 with Asian style red rice, mango and peanut salad …

…and a Cold Zucchini Soup $12.50 with mustard seed and mint (but also a bit too much cream).

Wine by the glasses starts at a reasonable $7.

There are still some very tempting, made in house, cakes and slices on offer….

…but just before Christmas you could also combine a dessert with the Salmon in a very good Christmas Lunch Special for $29 (good for sharing between two with an extra glass of wine).

And don’t forget to check out options on the breakfast menu that are served until 2pm.

Opening Hours

Mon – Thurs 7:30am – 5pm

Fri 7:30am – 4pm

Sat – Sun 9am – 4pm

Public Holidays 10am – 3pm

Bicicletta, New Acton – always open!

Because Bicicletta is the restaurant for the Peppers Gallery Hotel in Acton it is very helpfully open for three meals a day, seven days a week.

It has a good Italian menu and a specials board… (the salmon fillet and the marinated sirloin both looked excellent!).

If you are a group ordering together, it can be good to share the Pan Di Pizza to start followed by a mix of salad, pasta and pizza.

For a group of five or six good choices are……

ANTIPASTI

Pan di pizza Rosemary & extra virgin olive oil or garlic & chilli $13

PASTA

Tortellini di yucca – Homemade tortellini stuffed with roasted pumpkin in a creamy gorgonzola sauce finished with toasted pine nuts & parmesan scales $26….

….but it may have been better to order the very good Fusilli alla bolognese – Traditional pasta with Nonna’s 3 meat bolognaise sauce $23
Pappardelle al rage d’agnello – House made pasta with braised lamb in balsamic, thyme & grated pecorino cheese $27 (delicious)

INSALATE + CONTORNI

Arugula e parmigiana – Baby rocket leaves, corella pears, beetroot chips, shaved parmesan in a mustard & balsamic dressing – $16…..

……But maybe next time it would be good to try the

Insalata al salmone – Smoked king salmon with crispy mesclun, potato rosti, Spanish onion, cherry tomato in a seeded mustard dressing $18….

PIZZA

Campanula – Buffalo mozzarella, Italian pork sausage, potato, wild mushrooms & basil $24

There’s pleasant seating both inside and out as well as a very cozy and stylish bar area.

Service is efficient and helpful.
Prices are reasonable and Canberra Entertainment Book holders are offered a 25% discount.

There’s not a BYO wine option but wine by the glass is around. $8.50 and you can order a bottle for around $38.
There’s a regular 10% service charge added to the bill.
Open public holidays there is also a 10% surcharge.

OPENING HOURS

Dine in or take away

Breakfast

Mon – Sun: 7am – 11am

Lunch

Mon – Sun: 12noon – 3pm

Pizza Window

Mon – Fri: 12noon – 3pm

Dinner

Mon – Sun: 5pm – 10pm

1/15 Edinburgh Avenue

Canberra ACT 2601

02 6262 8683

Fine Eating’s Top Canberra Restaurant for 2015, Space, Woden – an illustrated menu!

When Space opened on 8 October 2015, it was Fine Eating’s most popular post for the year.

Woden CBD had been longing for a new eatery – stylish, creative, exciting!

Space is all that and so much more. Each dish is both a work of art, and full of surprising but wonderful flavours and textures – both beautiful and delicious!

The all day breakfast dishes and the gourmet salads are still the highlights of the menu with great coffee and good wine by the glass to back it up. (And yes wine goes very well with these breakfast dishes).