12 restaurants and cafes that prove Canberra is one of the best cities to dine

First came the news that high-flying Melbourne restaurateur Chris Lucas had pulled out of the ACT with the closure of hatted Carlotta in December. Then celebrity chef Matt Moran pulled the pin on his Canberran-Italian steakhouse, Compa, a few weeks ago.

In years gone by this might have sounded like a death knell for dining in the nation’s capital. But maybe the locals are so preoccupied with the vast offerings from independent operators that the big guys never stood a chance.

Just take a squiz at Campbell, where Paranormal Wines has won its first Good Food Guide hat on the back of precise, innovative cooking and great booze. Yes, Good Food Guide Restaurant of the Year nominee Onzieme closed recently, but wine bars are still popping up in Kingston, new cafes are brewing matcha and bakeries are expanding. Meanwhile in Pearce, Rama’s Fiji Indian is quietly celebrating its 35th anniversary.

All this is backed up by the launch of Lunetta, a reimagining of the starship-like modernist building on Red Hill. Canberra does small and intimate well, too, from the jewel box that is Minima in Yarralumla, to the 12-seat sushi counter at Mu Omakase.

Big or small, snacks or dinner, canteen or cafe, drink-in or takeaway, Canberra delivers. Here’s the low-down on the best of the new crop, plus some old favourites to keep on rotation.

Tintino

Tintino is as perfectly pitched for walk-ins just looking for a snack and a drink as it is for a proper night out. The lights are low, the bar and tables are packed, the shelves are stacked with bottles to drink in or take away. From the open kitchen, expect plenty of one- or two-bite snacks, from octopus gildas or cannoli filled with tuna crudo to grilled prawns hit with ’nduja and kosho. Mondays welcome burgers and Beaujolais, while Wednesday to Saturday is the time to settle in for the likes of grilled Ulladulla swordfish or Little Joe steak to share. Old Kingston meets new Kingston in the best of ways.

4/11 Kennedy Street, Kingston, tintino.com.au

Lunetta Trattoria

Maybe you’ve been to Lunetta. Gone deep on Tristan Rebbettes’ wood-fired menu. Gazed over the capital as the sun sets. But did you know that when proprietor Tracy Keeley revamped the 1963 dodecagonal building on top of Red Hill, that she also slipped a trattoria in on the ground floor? The locals do. They’re here for aperitivo hour, when spritzes, gnocco fritto and arancini come with the orange, red and purple hues of early evening, which transform into a constellation of city lights underneath the night sky. Stick around, and it’s for wood-fired snail-shaped pasta lumache alla vodka, casarecce with peperonata and prawns, and secondi that include a one-kilogram bistecca alla Fiorentina.

60 Red Hill Drive, Red Hill, lunetta.au/trattoria

B-Side

Run by the team from exceptional Campbell cafe Intra, B-Side is no afterthought. In fact, it has some of the team’s greatest hits. Stop by the Scandi-minimalist space on Lonsdale Street in Braddon for breakfast plates of sourdough topped with peanut butter, cucumber and chilli oil (it works!) and an (Intra) espresso and tonic. Or stick around for lunch, where dishes such as pan con tomate topped with white anchovy join a wine list built with diversity and interest in mind. Service stops about 2pm, but come summer, look out for extended hours into the evenings.

G01/35 Lonsdale Street, Braddon, b-side.com.au

Bar Outro

An up-to-the-minute vinyl bar, wine bar and diner run by the crew behind Terra and Recess. Bar Outro is less listening bar than wine bar, with plenty of outdoor seating in the thick of Braddon’s buzz complementing the jazz, soul and disco playing inside. On the plate? Warm oysters with a Sichuan kick, sticky lamb skewers and a dry-aged cheeseburger with a sauce roquefort au vin blanc worth writing home about. The wine list works hard, but don’t skip the cocktails, including a nicely balanced strawberry and clarified tomato gimlet seasoned with saltbush. Sit on your drink and admire the rippled mirror finish on the bar.

3/9 Lonsdale Street, Braddon, baroutro.com.au

Recess

Looking for Canberra’s fluffiest pancake, its gooiest brekkie muffin? Look no further than Recess, an up-to-the-minute cafe in Griffith Shops from the Terra and Bar Outro team. Pull up to the front and there are mid-century lines in the reeded glass, the Pitt & Giblin speakers and the replica Marcel Breuer chairs. Head to the back and a courtyard is set for the crush of locals who descend on weekends for coffee roasted by co-owner Scott Brewer and a menu of classics done justice – from Under Bakery sourdough with cold-smoked trout, pickled fennel and labneh through to banana bread with mascarpone and dulce de leche. The rest? Cheese oozes over folded eggs on the brekkie muffin; the buttermilk pancake is a double-stack; the lunchtime lasagne (allegedly) packs 100 layers. Check the shelves on the way out for coffee gear, indie mags and more.

6B Barker Street, Griffith, recesscoffee.com.au

Under Bakery

It feels like a lifetime since Lachlan Cutting, fresh from a stint in Copenhagen, started baking bullar to sell at the local farmer’s market. In reality that was only 2019, but the six-or-so years since have seen Under Bakery go from small-fry to the most celebrated independent bakery in the ACT. Whether it’s at the HQ in Mawson, or the new site at Fyshwick’s Dairy Road precinct, yeast-risen, twisted cardamom buns and sourdough remain the signatures, but equally appealing are darkly crusted croissants, sesame tin loaves, pear-filled danishes and seasonal specials made with organic Woodstock Flour and chased with batch brew from Barrio. Hit up their shopfronts, or look for their goods at the likes of Bar Rochford, Intra and more.

1/30 Mawson Place, Mawson; 1 Dairy Road Fyshwick, under-bakery.com

AK’s

How does a teeny counter outside the Ovolo Nishi manage to pack so much flavour into such tight dimensions? That was the question when Ethiopian diner Fekerte’s took up residence and drew lunchtime crowds for fragrant doro wat. Same goes now that AK’s has inherited the space. Run by former XO chef AK Ramakrishna, the menu draws on his Malaysian Indian roots, offering just a handful of daily specials served over rice. Make a beeline for chicken cooked to his amma’s recipe, sweet and sour fish, green beans in XO and curry puffs with enviable lamination. Modern spins on classics? Tick. Old family recipes? Big tick. This is soul food with great tunes, lunch only, weekdays only.

Shop 2, Phillip Law Street, Canberra, instagram.com/aksdiner

Rebel Rebel

Sean McConnell’s tendency to buck convention has delivered Canberrans some great meals – no more so than at his first family venture, Rebel Rebel. It could be his gumption to back in a dish of wagyu tongue lifted by green Aleppo peppers. Or it might be his confidence in transforming a humble sugarloaf cabbage, its charred exterior and steamed inner leaves imparting nutty, sweet and smoky characters amid a lively dressing of tahini and harissa oil. Flexible dining hours also break with formula, accommodating a pre-concert cocktail with rock oysters or an epic lunch of charred, rare chunks of rib-eye doused in wakame butter. An edgy wine list and consistent service supports the journey.

23 Marcus Clarke Street, Acton, rebelrebeldining.com.au

Minima

Is this Canberra’s most personal dining room? It has to be up there. The 22-seat space is anchored by a marble bar fronting the kitchen, with glowing lights and a dining nook for two that’s a backdrop for objects that speak of home. Home is the key word at Minima, too, referencing Mork and Benn Ratanakosol’s experience as third-culture kids, the one-page menu drawing on their childhoods, among Thai, Chinese, South-East Asian and European influences. Pick the $85 tasting menu, and it could mean a Vegemite profiterole filled with bottarga cream for starters, followed by textural cucumber and jellyfish salad, then dumplings lolling in bone broth. Dishes can feel a bit assembly-line, but there’s no arguing with the flavour in a lamb rendang-massaman mash-up for main course. Nor with the care and consideration given to the wine list.

Unit 3/29 Bentham Street, Yarralumla, eatminima.com.au

Bar Rochford

A labyrinth of light-rail works may well have added to Bar Rochford’s mystique, if not the commitment of its patrons. Good vibes and the warmth of vintage vinyl continue to entice passers-by up the narrow staircase to a sepia-tinged space of high ceilings and polished concrete. Take a hunter-green stool at the central bar for the latest house cocktail or something oxidative or orange from the progressive wine list. Meanwhile, Alisdair Brooke-Taylor brings Yorkshire gastropub smarts following the recent departure of long-term chef Josh Lundy. Thankfully, Rochford’s signature potato galette survives, albeit with a bolder kimchi garnish. Wild kingfish crudo, dressed with lively mandarin and finger lime, might lead the larger snacks, and nicely crusted pork collar is lifted by mint and sorrel. One of the best all-rounders in the country.

65 London Circuit, Canberra, barrochford.com

Paranormal Wines

Max Walker (not that one) didn’t set out to run a restaurant. The MoVida Aqui and LP Quality Meats alum is passionate about wine, and sought to share his love for lo-fi drops with the good people of Canberra via a sparse, warehouse-chic bar in residential Campbell. He didn’t even have a chef when he opened five years ago. So it’s all the more impressive to find that the Paranormal Wines of today is a purveyor of such fine food: creative, skilful plates from chef Reece Inkpen that work perfectly with a similarly considered wine selection of locals and imports. Pair beef tartare and miso “tonnato” sauce with a chilled Macedon Ranges red blend, or try braised leeks with sorrel, shaved mushrooms and blue cheese sabayon with a juicy Loire gamay.

G27/6 Provan Street, Campbell, paranormalwines.com

Such and Such

The younger city sibling of suburban two-hatter Pilot, Such and Such is as playful as its name suggests. But Malcolm Hanslow’s cooking is serious enough for a date night and sufficiently relaxed for walk-ins seeking pre-theatre snacks. Nostalgia meets modern technique in a jammy and unctuous hash brown “prawn toast”. A “pasta and friends” section transcends geography with selections spanning orecchiette with cime di rapa to Tibetan chicken dumplings. Mains rely more on classic European influences – salsa verde butter enriching gently grilled flathead. Expect wine to swing from Jura terroir to Burgundian barn ales.

220 London Circuit, Canberra, andsuchandsuch.com

To stay

Booking an Airbnb (the company provided us accommodation to help write this guide) gives you flexibility in both style and location. An art-filled apartment above Lonsdale Street, say, puts you within walking distance of one of Canberra’s buzziest strips, while a heritage home complete with cosy fireplace is a change of pace, especially after a visit to the local wineries in winter.

Hotel options abound in the capital, with QT and Ovolo Canberra the pick of the bunch for modern style and convenience. Hotel Kurrajong comes with a large slice of Canberra history, while Little National strips things back to the essentials. But then there are options out of town, like the farm stays and yurts on offer at Beltana Farm, which also happens to have a cracking restaurant.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.