Canberrans love their food and wine and, fortunately, we are spoilt for choice.
From delicious bread to great coffee and the best laksas, our reviewers have gnawed their way through mountains of food just to give you the inside scoop on what’s hot and what’s not.
Here, we’ve pulled together 17 of your favourites. Take a look back at the most popular Canberra food and wine stories from 2023.
17. Hot in the Suburbs: Evoke Bakery proves that happy bakers make great bread
by Lucy Ridge
Jayson Brockman and Tom Lambert are two friends who have opened Evoke Bakery together. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Jayson Brockman and Tom Lambert opened the doors of Evoke Bakery the day after Boxing Day, hoping to do a ‘soft launch’ of their products and get a feel for the neighbourhood.
“So we thought we’d just sneak in quietly and just start doing a few things … but we didn’t realise that we were going to be the only place open that did takeaway coffee!” Tom told Region.
Despite the initial shock, they hit the ground running and have quickly settled into their corner of Curtin Shops.
16. Try authentic Mexican crispy tacos at Tacontento
by Lucy Ridge
Alex created Tacontento because he missed the street food of his native Mexico. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Have you spotted the bright yellow food van in Belconnen or at the Old Bus Depot Markets? It’s Tacontento – and their crispy tacos are worth pulling over for!
Irving Alejandro Rodriguez Nava, who goes by Alex, came to Australia with his wife in 2016. While he’s a big fan of Canberra’s lifestyle, he found that he missed the food of his home state, Guererro.
15. Welcome to a one-stop shoppe for Canberra’s pantries
by Morgan Kenyon
Proud owners of The Nut Shoppe in Fyshwick, the Elmirs believe working with family is a gift. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
Spending all day, every day with your parents and siblings might seem nutty to some, but this local family loves working alongside their nearest and dearest.
The Nut Shoppe first opened its doors at Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets in 2008, when Mohamad (Moe) Elmir and his parents, Wassef and Ghada, decided to create a business together.
“Mum and Dad moved to Australia in the 1980s. Dad started up Canberra’s first mixed-use market shop back then, selling goods similar to The Nut Shoppe,” Moe says.
14. Meet the home brewers of Canberra
by Lucy Ridge
Brewing supplies shop Colin Marshall with one of his grandkids outside his shop. Photo: Fran Marshall.
Home-brew beer might conjure images of milk crates filled with mismatched brown bottles in the back of a shed. The risk of explosion? High. The quality of the brew? Low. But the art of craft brewing is changing as improvements in equipment and ingredients are creating communities of highly skilled brewers.
For many Canberrans on their home brewing journey, their first stop is Brew Your Own At Home, a brewing supplies shop in Kambah. Colin Marshall has been running the shop for 30 years, helping generations of home brewers through the process.
13. First Looks: Three Mills Bakery launches Cooyong Street cafe
by Lucy Ridge
The cafe has pastries and loaves of bread, as well as ready-to-eat lunch items and coffee. Photo: Supplied.
Eagle-eyed fans of baked goods might have spied a solitary croissant recently adorning a black-clad window on Cooyong Street with the instructions to take a snap. The croissant has now disappeared, a full cafe fit-out has emerged and the Three Mills Bakery team has thrown open the doors to their new space.
Three Mills Bakery has grown from its humble beginnings as the tiny on-site bakery for the (now closed) A. Baker in New Acton to a large multi-venue business with national distribution. Their range of frozen bake-at-home products can be found in IGAs from Atherton, Queensland to Portland, Victoria.
12. Hot in the Suburbs: Village Cafe opens in ‘the heart of Waramanga’
by Lucy Ridge
Neil Batterley has worked in hospitality for over 20 years. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Waramanga locals have welcomed Village – a new suburban cafe – with open arms.
Village Cafe and Dining has already gathered loyal customers excited about the great coffee and menu of delicious breakfast and lunch classics.
11. Hot in Gungahlin: Ikigai serves up life-changing ramen
by Lucy Ridge
Ikigai is the passion project of chef Anj Sulit. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Canberra chef Anj Sulit was travelling solo through Japan in 2017 when she found a hole-in-the-wall noodle joint that would send her on a whole new journey.
“I couldn’t understand anything on the menu so I just pointed and they served me a tonkotsu ramen that changed my life,” Anj told Region.
“When I sipped the broth, the feeling was out of this world. There are no words for it! So when I came back here I tried all the ramen shops in Canberra but I never found that same feeling.”
10. First Looks: Peonee is set to be one of Canberra’s most exciting restaurants
by Lucy Ridge
The kingfish with pickled nashi pear is an exceptional dish. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Peonee is the latest venue to open in Campbell’s vibrant hospitality district, and early indications are that this restaurant is shaping up to be one of the hottest seats in town.
Chef Alberto Ranalli began his apprenticeship in his hometown of Bologna but has spent the bulk of his career working in Sydney restaurants. He says his food is more likely to contain Asian influences than any from his native Italy.
9. Hot in the Suburbs: A round of applause for Bravo
by Lucy Ridge
Alex Piris (right) and his team stretch and toss their pizza dough in front of a large window at Red Hill Shops. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Fox & Bow owner Alex Piris expanded from Farrer to Red Hill, opening a second location of the suburban cafe in late 2022. Now the team has added another string to its (fox &) bow with Bravo, a small pizza shop behind the Red Hill cafe.
8. Ginger Group to focus on Arboretum cafe as winds of change blow through ACT’s catering world
by Genevieve Jacobs
Janet Jeffs has spent more than a decade at the helm of the Arboretum’s restaurant and cafe. Photo: Supplied.
In a sign of changing times post-pandemic, renowned Canberra chef and produce champion Janet Jeffs is refocusing her Ginger Group operations at the National Arboretum to meet the growing demand for lighter, faster food at her cafe.
The restaurant side of the Arboretum operation will close, making room for more casual dining and family-friendly spaces but retaining a focus on locally produced food.
The Ginger Group has been at the Arboretum since it opened in 2013, pairing a high-end restaurant with a busy cafe operation, both enjoying spectacular views sweeping down through the Arboretum and across the lake.
7. Hot in the Suburbs: L’épi Artisan Bakery brings a taste of Paris to Chisholm
by Lucy Ridge
Ignace Diompy trained as a baker in Paris and worked in Europe before settling in Canberra. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
L’épi Artisan Bakery opened its doors in Chisholm in late 2022, and the locals are already raving. It’s become a favourite spot to pick up a loaf of sourdough bread, flaky pastries and gorgeous cakes.
Ignace Diompy trained as a baker in France where he says the work culture was pretty intense. The first few years of his apprenticeship were a challenge, but he became passionate about his craft as he progressed further.
6. TV star Travis Fimmel to launch ‘Australia’s Lager’ at The Dock
by Dione David
Travis Fimmel will launch Travla beer at The Dock in Kingston next week. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
You might know him as Ragnar Lothbrok from Vikings, but when Travis Fimmel came to Canberra it was as a patriot and purveyor of beer.
He was at The Dock in Kingston to launch Travla, the new beer brand he co-founded with his mates Andy Allen and Jeremy Hunt.
5. Full steam ahead as Nelligen’s iconic Steampacket Hotel gets new lease on life
by Katrina Condie
Ben Johnston is excited about reopening the ‘spruced up’ Steampacket Hotel at the end of August. Photo: Katrina Condie.
Nelligen’s Steampacket Hotel underwent a makeover inside and out ahead of its reopening earlier this year.
The pub’s new owner, Ben Johnston, was full of excitement.
4. Cartel Taqueria: south of the border just got a lot more divertido!
by Michelle Taylor
A real Tex-Mex feast. Photo: Ben Calvert.
It’s not quite “south of the border”, but Cartel Taqueria offers authentic Tex-Mex and, according to Michelle Taylor, the best taco she’s ever had.
3. Nonna Maria’s Pasta sets up shop in Mitchell
by Lucy Ridge
Salvatore Costanzo is the owner and pasta-maker-in-chief at Nonna Maria’s Pasta. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Nonna Marias Pasta’s pasta-maker-in-chief Salvatore Costanzo went from a hobby business in his house to making over 300 kg of pasta a week. And now he has a shopfront.
Sal grew up as one of nine siblings in Calabria, Italy, and learned to make pasta with his Mum and Grandmother. Moving to Australia in the 80s, he ran cafes around Canberra with his brother for many years before he began Nonna Maria’s.
2. Looking for the best flat white in Australia? It’s here in Canberra
by Lizzie Waymouth
The Cupping Room has been a Canberra icon for almost a decade. Photos: Wotif.
Melbourne may claim it’s the coffee capital of the world, but according to travel app Wotif’s ‘Uniquely Aussie Awards’, the best flat white can be found at the Cupping Room in Canberra.
The annual awards are voted for by Australians and seek to highlight the best local gems around the country.
1. The great laksa debate: where is Canberra’s best bowl of spicy noodle soup?
by Lucy Ridge
The Singapore laksa from Lim Peh Wan Tan Mee at Verity Lane. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Where’s the best place to get laksa in Canberra? Our resident food writer Lucy Ridge put her tastebuds on the line to answer this age-old question.
The competition was fierce, with more than 450 commenters all hyping up their favourite bowl of curry noodle soup.
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