Venue for a fancy dinner

I enjoyed a really nice dinner at Rubicon in Griffith last night – excellent food, excellent wine list, if anything let them down it was our waiters wine knowledge – particularly comparative knowledge of wines, regions and vintages – could have been better: he always seemed to have to refer questions to other staff, but that is an individual thing and not about the establishment as a whole, so it was nothing that put a dampner on the evening.

I know that the form of some of Camnberra’s eateries waxes and wanes, but right now, Rubicon have really got their sh-t together.

Ottoman.

Boat House

I’ve had a quite ordinary meal and poor service at Axis about a year ago – might try again if others have liked it so much though.

Going out for dinner on Valentine’s, New Year’s Eve and Mother’s Day is always dicey – places are all packed and not really coping.

Back of the Rubicon is a shed!!!!! They’ve enclosed the back courtyard in old corrugated fibro, far as I can tell. People keep raving about it. We had our xmas party there and I was very underwhelmed. Suspect you’ll never get a good feed at a bulk meal like that, but still. they could devise a meal that works when feeding a bunch of people.

I also second the Ginger Room or Rubicon.

The Rubicon is especially cosy and romantic during the cold months if you land a table towards the back under the “fairy light canopy”. The food is great and the service friendly and non-intrusive.

Yes, Charcoal on London Cct is teh rox0rs. Oh, and Mecca Bah in Manooka.

And hey, this thread is still better than the ‘List of Gay Beats in Canberra’ thread from a couple of years back. Don’t like it? Don’t read it FFS.

Thanks for all the helpful replies. This has… well to be honest, it’s made it a lot more difficult to pick just one, but I’ll have some ideas for next year too.

Apologies if the thread didn’t offer some of you a soapbox, but sometimes there are simple questions in life. What better way to pick Canberran brains than to… ask?

ant said :

Not sure if the WatersEdge menu is fancy enough, but the place itself, the view, and the service, is brilliant.[/quote

We went there one Valentines day, service was a joke, we walked out in discuss.

Anise on West Row is a favourite. If you haven’t been there before I would highly recommend it.

And another vote for Aubergine as well.

Not so fancy, but always good, I still miss Caffe Della Piazza. 🙁

Mezzalira in the City has an excellent degustation, when i went they had balmain bugs, stuffed…ummm… some other fancy stuffed things. Sorry it was a little while ago but the service was great.

I went to a place in Bruce the other night called Ellacure. This is a new joint that opened recently near the AIS. Food and service was great and it was well priced compared to similar restaurants.

PS: People will read and respond to anything so long as they think they have a point.
As examples, Tap, Samuel Godon-Stewart, or Chester.

ant said :

A couple of posters carping on about how inappropriate these topics are and how no one wants to read them, and a whole lot of other people replying to the OP with suggestions and comments.

Compare the “Where do I find nitrous oxide bulbs”, “Where is Canberra’s best day trip\italian feed\indian waiter\seedy motel?”, and even “Crap Art IX: Revenge of the Son of Crap Art” threads to the “(c)Harming Vietnam Festival”, “Johnboy’s List of Nightspots” or even “The Causeway Blockage”…

Ginger Room has a good wine list and (at least last time I visited) the sommelier was very good.

If you go to Axis at the museum, when you book insist on a table that’s not near the door to the outside deck – smokers coming and going can cause a chill.

D’Browes in Narrabundah has bloody good food in generous serves – it’s BYO which is either a pain or a blessing depending on your view point.

I’d suggest Teatro Vivaldi’s at the ANU Arts Centre. Great atmosphere….very good food and service. It is also has a very nice outlook.

Half the fun of going out for a feed for me is just trying a new joint irrespective of what people have said about it.

Pick up a ‘Crimes from a few weeks/ months ago, look at the restaurant review and have a crack. If you are that fussy about the food that you are about to eat, you might want to think about staying at home… or getting the Thumper and Maelinar gastrono wagon over for a BBQ.

This is funny. A couple of posters carping on about how inappropriate these topics are and how no one wants to read them, and a whole lot of other people replying to the OP with suggestions and comments.

Fine Dining at the Ginger Room in Old Parliament House. Deep inside the hallowed halls of Canberra’s Old Parliament House, what once was the private Members’ dining room has been transformed into a fine dining experience.

http://www.gingercatering.com.au/area.asp?aID=25

Grazing’s thread here is kind of entertaining for the blowback on the original poster, but this whole “where is the best” meme thats been going on since January has really grown stale.

Completely off this topic, but what kind of stories do people here want to see or are willing to contribute?

PS: Getting police to talk about anything local probably won’t happen.

err Grazing….

Rubicon, love that place.

Ah yes, I keep forgetting the Charcoal. Used to see the stuff delivered to their back door every day (we shared the back ally with them) and the fruit and veggies were of a quality to be entered in the Show. Meat came in a box from King Island (very small box, they got them daily).

I second Sage at Gorman House. Superb food. Pricey though.

If you’re into steak though, give the Charcoal Grill a run. Also expensive, but they serve the best steak in Canberra.

i’ll second axis (though sitting outside for the view is half the thrill and it’s winter now…), rubicon or chairman and yip – the latter can offer a private room.

all will do you a degustation if you ask, though you could prob’ly stick a pin in any of the menus at random and be delighted with the cuisine. all have great, calm, efficient staff.

happy no. whatever! 😉

Axis at the National Museum

I would have to say the Ottoman in Barton or Chairman & Yip in the city.

Rubicon in Griffith has lovely food!

Flint in the new Acton precinct is pretty good. Got a nice write up in the CT wine & Food today.

The Hermitage on London Circuit in the city.

Great food, great wine, great staff, great everything.

Try the pumpkin and crab ravioli. (DRIBBLE DRIBBLE)

A little pricey but for an anniversary, well worth the overtime.

Mælinar said :

http://the-riotact.com/?p=7624 for that special ‘getting lucky’ kind of anniversary night.

Any thoughts or recommendations? – the box with a big black button labelled search at the top right corner.

The current spate of best of’s is really starting to reek.

what, like a prawn in the sun??

try looking at some of the restaurants in civic – La Scala’s is pretty good for anniversary dinners, my wife and I go there every couple of years ( I usually forget the in-between years) and we always have a good food / service experience.

You should consider Ottoman – maybe a private room?

Not sure if the WatersEdge menu is fancy enough, but the place itself, the view, and the service, is brilliant.

Been to Artespresso twice; decent food, abysmal service.

I think both Aubergine and Sabayon have much better service and ambience than Courgette, which is easily my least favourite of the three. However Sabayon only offers degustation menus on special occasions (it’s also much more reasonably priced than its two siblings).

Had a wonderful degustation last year at Ellement at Griffith. So that or Aubergine would be my suggestion.

Or Rubicon. Does Rubicon do degustation? Not sure, but the dinner I had there a few months ago was seriously one of the best I’ve ever eaten.

http://the-riotact.com/?p=7624 for that special ‘getting lucky’ kind of anniversary night.

Any thoughts or recommendations? – the box with a big black button labelled search at the top right corner.

The current spate of best of’s is really starting to reek.

We went to the Axis restaurant at the National Museum of Australia a few weeks ago for our anniversary. The service and food was just brilliant, could not have asked for more. Had a great view over the lake. Some great choices on the wine list also.

I’ve been looking at the degustation at Sage (Gorman House) which looks lovely…