Canberra

French bistro cuisine, modern Australian fare or pan-Asian classics - there's a restaurant to cater to every palate in the nation's capital. Here are the crème de la crème, as featured in our 2019 Restaurant Guide.

REVIEW By day, in its café incarnation, Močan (they pronounce it ‘mochan’) pumps, locals lining up outside and packing onto outdoor seats. By night, it’s quieter, which gives you some elbow room to mix the egg yolk into your Crookwell steak tartare. Raw scallop is served as is with lightly charred chorizo, and Narooma oysters […]

REVIEW Five years on, Eightysix continues to impose its disruptive and noisy self on Canberra’s dining scene. The youthful ebullience of floor staff hasn’t waned and it’s still difficult for walk-ins to get a seat. The menu – chalked up on a blackboard spanning the elongated space – has also proven a touch too resistant […]

REVIEW While the name evokes images of checked cloths and wax-encrusted Chianti bottles, Italian & Sons is a niftily modern affair. Pendant lamps cast a glow across a buzzy, sleek, timber-panelled space, and the wine list contrasts edgy naturals with the legends of Tuscany and Piedmont. The kitchen turns out classic pizze and pasta, but […]

REVIEW The setting for celebrations, dalliances and political manoeuvres, this Canberra stalwart has tradition woven into its fabric. The long space opening onto greenery and a water feature fosters serenity, no matter how busy the action on the floor, and the staff’s dignified, warm demeanour speaks of a justifiable pride. The noise is all in […]

REVIEW A peaceful lakeside setting, a decorous welcome; this wedding conference- restaurant destination emanates Old World charm. But it’s in the hushed, spacious dining room with clinking cutlery and low voices that you get the big reveal: a bold menu and extensive wine list showcase the region’s best in a modern way. Cowra pork belly […]

REVIEW “Dining hall” has something of an undergraduate vibe, but rare is the cafeteria that offers wallaby, let alone served cured, rolled up in pickled vine leaves with dollops of burnt-onion purée. The bones of this diner still reflect the room’s former Belgian-Beer-Café life; service is more friendly than professional, and the drinks list is […]