Best Seafood restaurant in Canberra?

I went to the Peppered Prawn about 16 months ago. It was lunch time and not very busy at all.

I took my parents and dad was paying so we ordered like a Nazi general!

The food was incredibly poor for the price. The place was pretentious and overpriced.

Mainly – food was crap.

I have discussed with many others and I am yet to meet anyone who liked the food there.

I used to work for a pasta and fish shop in the glebe park eatery. Best calamari I ever had, and we made all the batters, crumbing mix, cut our own calamari etc, etc. went off fish after a particularly large fish fest at the south coast, many whiting caught and consumed, can’t handle the smell now, but can still eat abalone, oysters (cooked) pippi’s (fresh) on the barbecue plate – I don’t go to restaurants, I would rather drive to Durras nth and catch my own….

Short of catching it yourself or going down to the docks an waiting for the boat to come in I seriously doubt that there’s anly real diference in the “freshness” of seafood Available anywhere on the Australian east coast. It all gets passed through the same few wholsale markets before ending up on your plate. Product turnover and the pride of the establishment are more likely to determine freshness.

The Ottoman in Barton does increadible calamari.

… and remember, your only legally allowed to sell a prawn as “fresh” if it’s been frozen and thawed less that three times.

Con’s in Mawson is exactly as HA described. I would never go there again…

I second the Peppered Prawn… Their soft shell crab dish is awesome…

Iori Japanese resturant in civic does good seafood dishes. I would not recomend cons seafood, last time we went there it was very tired and the food was very average. To be fair this was around 2 years ago so it may have improved since then.
I have heard a few mixed reviews for pepperered prawn, apparently its pretty average.

We gave Cape Cod a run for the first time the other night – the best fish and chips I’ve had in Canberra by far. The mixed entree tasting plate was good too: coffin bay oysters that were as fresh as you can get in Canberra, a very tasty crumbed/spiced calamari that one of my dining companions rated as the best calamari they had had in sometime, and a really tasty smoked trout risotto ball. My wife had the mussel linguine and, while the mussels were tasty and fresh, the pasta sauce was lacking any zing – a few levels above OK. We also had a couple of salads (rocket and parmesan and a pear and green apple) that were made with good quality produce – they were perfect.

The service was spot on – heaps of waiters, all very attentive. Atmosphere is casual – you would feel comfortable in a shirt or a t-shirt – and lively. All up it costs us $200 on the nose for four people – pretty reasonable (I think corkage was around $6 or so per bottle).

Cape Cod at Deakin is def worth a meal..lunch or dinner. Not cheap but innovative and prepared with flair. Con’s at Mawson is tired, aged, heavily battered/fried food; give it a miss.

At the end of the day, we’re inland so the fruit of the sea ain’t fresh fish, the seafood has been brought quite a way to us…seafood is not a Canberra highlight.

Mælinar said :

There’s nothing to rave about any seafood anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard of Australia thats 2 hours inland from the ocean.

True enough. the only member of our family who likes fish food is from Brisbane! We’re all natives of here, and I can’t believe people eat anything that smells like that.

There’s nothing to rave about any seafood anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard of Australia thats 2 hours inland from the ocean.

I don’t think either the food or the service at Peppered Prawn is particularly good.

Cape Cod at Deakin is not bad.

But I haven’t found anything to rave about on the seafood front here in Canberra.

Go to Peppered Prawn. It’s very good food and service.

I had my family 18th at Con’s some years ago. It was pretty good. Suffering a bit of ‘aging restaurant syndrome’ around the decor and what not, but still pretty good.

Peppered Prawn at Woden?

Admittedly I have never eaten the seafood at Maestral but they do wonderful work with all things meat! We have been there several times and never been disappointed.

Although not a “seafood restaurant”, The Charcoal Restaurant in the Melbourne building does exceptional fish-food. They get the best of whatever’s in season delivered daily, like trouts and oysters and what-not. there were always assorted fish vans and trucks out the back, the chef or the owner often came out to have a poke and decide on what to buy that day.
People used to rave and drool about their lobster dishes.

My esp tells me that a shameless plug for a canberra cafe website will be coming soon.

Opps: Delissio – Braddon – used to be Coggan’s.

Had a scrumptious calamari with chilli mandarin sauce lunch this week at Delissio – just $10.