Located at Griffith shops, the parking is easy. Gryphons is also open at very useful times, e.g. lunch Sundays, breakfast.
The pulled pork burger is delicious, $18. The pizza (e.g. Little Tokyo pizza, a special, $20 with prawns, pumpkin, karaage chicken and katsu sauce), also good.
The couches and lounge chairs are a cozy option. Not BYO, but the Forest Pinot Gris $8.50/glass is consistently good. Good to know if ordering steak, be aware that it seems to often be more rare than expected.
Wild Duck is definitely elegant and full of style. The decor is warm, tasteful and relaxing and service is very polished and professional.
All this makes it a good pick for a special night out.
BYO is an option at $10 corkage per bottle.
The menu has interesting dishes on offer.
The Lamb Shank in Golden Sands entree $16 is like a cross between shantung lamb and san choy bow but probably needs a dipping sauce). The Roast Duck Rice Paper Rolls entree $16 has nice flavours but they are similar to other restaurants.
The King Prawn and Green Papaya Salad entree $17 has a lovely flavour.
The Dragon Cut Baby Eggplant was delicious and good value at $26 (a more generous serve than other mains and does not need rice to accompany it).
The Pork Belly in Lotus Leaf $30 has a very tasty thin layer of meat but is quite small in size and quite fatty.
Rice serves are also very small.
The Black Sticky Rice and Vanilla Meringue dessert $14 is also a small serve and the sticky rice may not be quite sweet enough.
The small size of the dishes (and rice) make it very hard to share in a group and also mean several courses are needed even for a modest meal.
This can make it quite an expensive night out especially if you’re hungry.
(The Canberra Entertainment Book offers a 25% discount)
This Monday to Friday stylish cafe is within walking distance of Woden Westfield and one of the best spots for a weekday lunch.
It recently changed hands, but has maintained a similar menu, specialising in inexpensive gourmet burgers and interesting salads.
Large serve of three salads $9 Small salad and quiche approx $9
Also open for breakfast.
Eighty Six in Braddon, has been immensely popular since it opened.
The menu is not available on line, but is up on the blackboard on the wall.
It changes seasonally, and includes a very varied range of interesting dishes like smoked beetroot risotto, bag salmon with pickled ginger…….
scallop with black pudding and fennel $8 each, black chicken with butter milk slaw $34 for two Marylands….
lamb shoulder (1 kg lamb for $64), ceviche with pita crisp…
Caramel Popcorn Sundae $14….
Bananoffee Pie $14 (both rich and delicious, and best shared)
Dishes are designed for sharing and it’s best to go with a group so that you can try a whole range of different dishes which are usually a lot more interesting than they might first sound, so to be adventurous.
Prices vary, but most dishes are around late $20s early $30s.
Wine though is quite expensive, double many other places at around $16-17 a glass, and bottle prices match. There is no BYO option.
So that makes it a very expensive meal if you include wine.
A great place to go with a group of friends who want to share tastes of a wide range of dishes, but gets expensive if including a lot of wine.
One of the great things about Canberra are the restaurants and cafes tucked away in the suburbs. Paparazzi at Garren shops offers a nice range of breakfast and lunch options at good prices.
Even though busy, the service was quite quick and very helpful.
The outdoor seating, though limited in outlook, is good for sunny days and there are cozy tables in side.
The roast veg toasted wrap with camembert cheese and the toasted wrap with pumpkin and feta are well priced at $9 each and a good size.
Coffee comes with a lovely piece of almond bread on the side, a very special touch.
Little Thailand regularly offers special deals (including 25% for the Entertainment Book) and bookings are happily appreciated by the restaurant.
The restaurant is busy and popular (possibly due to the deals) but service was still timely and helpful .
The house red wine was very good and it’s a bargain at $5 a glass.
While flavours were not exceptional serve sizes were generous and well priced, making the meal excellent value.
Decor
Prawn satay entree (double serve) ($12 per single serve)
Seafood laksa $17
Good house red $5 per glass
Beef Massaman curry $16
Black sticky rice with coconut and ice-cream $5
The crispy chicken dish looked good for next time as did the chicken and cashew stir fry with chilli jam.
The Burmese Curry Place has always looked inviting and like incredible value for money ($7 for two curries and rice take away, $8 eat in).
But it is only open until 7pm-7:30pm Monday to Friday.
Serve sizes are generous, particularly for eat in, and service is warm, friendly and quick (instant).
There are just nine curries to pick from, which keeps the choice easy.
Sweet Pork and Chicken and Beans with rice $8 eat in.
I liked the Chicken and Beans (No.8) and Sweet Pork (no. 3) best, followed by the Chicken and Prawn (No.7) and then the Fish Curry (No.5) and last the Vegetarian Curry (mainly shredded potato) (No.9) which I wouldn’t get again.
Reading a few more reviews, I’d like to go back and try the egg curry, fish cake curry and beef and potato curry (and why not try the Chicken and Potato too).
Probably better suited to warmer weather when it’s nice sitting outside as the ‘eat -in’ option is a good one and the dishes are more enjoyable served on a plate. No licensed and no BYO.
Chong Co in Belconnen shares the same gracious staff, menu, generous serve sizes and delicious recipes as it’s sister restaurants on the Kingston Foreshore and in Woden at Westfield and the Woden Southern Cross Club.
While it has some charming corners that would be lovely on a quiet night, unfortunately the atmosphere on a busy night tends more towards food court. Sadly the decor and ambiance may be the least of all the Chong Co’s and does not compete with the space and outlook of the Woden Southern Cross Club venue.
The BBQ Lamb is flavoursome, but you do need to enjoy lamb chops.
The Chicken Penang Curry is good, like all the Chong Co curries, but probably the Beef Massaman, followed by the Chicken (or Tofu) Green Curry and then the Roasted Duck Red Curry are the best that the Chong Co’s do.
Da’ Nunzio is a Gungahlin cafe with a lovely outlook over the lake and nice outdoor seating.
In nice weather, this is a great spot in the north for breakfast or brunch or coffee.
In addition to a full a la carte menu, it has specials, gelati and some baked goods to go with coffee.
Staff are friendly and warm.
Calamari salad $19 Gnocci with porkbelly and veal ragu $26
Sprout Cafe is a casual eating spot co-located with the more upmarket Conservatory Restaurant at the Arboretum.
It’s great strengths are the amazing 180 view, great playground outside for kids and the child-friendly nature of the surroundings (road is far away, room to roam, child-proof exhibits, good vision of open areas).
It also has some very good value, nicely presented, made to order meals.
The best of these are the salads for $10. The Atlantic Salmon salad (like a Ceasar salad) was very good and the Ceasar salad looked similar (also $10 but with crispy proscuitto in the place of the salmon).
The gourmet burgers (vegetarian, beef with crsipy bacon or chicken tandoori for $8.50) also looked good options at great value.
The corn chips with chilli con carne ($10) and 6″ tomato & cheese pizza ($6) were exactly as described on the menu (and smallish serves) and probably not as good an option as the salads and burgers.
Extra mixed leaves are complimentary and these can also accompany a pre-made savoury pastry/pie or wrap.
There are also attractive cake and coffee options to enjoy with the great view.
Wine is available by the glass starting at $9.
Downsides are pay parking ($2 per hour) and that it is quite busy on the weekend and this can give it a bit of a food hall atmosphere.
To get around this, go during the week or consider the Conservatory Restaurant in the corner.
Fine Eating 