Manuka Restaurant scene melting......

Mezzalira degustation is great (with wine was excellent value for money).
Ottoman was overpriced and unsatisfying.
Cape Cod at Deakin offer a degustation occasionally – superb.

Degustation in Canberra = Rocksalt in Hawker.

Hi fives with you frog on that one.

verve sucks, bad service, poor food selection and where the hell have the couches gone?

Too far for ant to walk in her high heels.

Parking in Manuka is a piece of piss. There’s a multistory carpark under Coles. It’s 80c an hour. The bottom couple of floors are usually empty. There are escalators to the top and you end up directly across from Verve.

This is good, getting the word up on the good restaurants! Manuka is a pain in the rrse… parking is frustrating, it’s cluttered and frenetic. when I was at school we’d get a hamburger craving and pile into my ute and make it to the hamburgery opposite the church (next to the book shop, they’re all gone now) and back to school during recess. Couldn’t do that now. It’s gone to the dogs.

The Julep Lounge is very, very good with the cocktails. I’m sad the restaurant part is closing, it was very good. The owners told us the tapas menu will be expanding and the serves will be bigger. The few times I’ve ordered from it it was just as good as the restaurant meals, so I hope that continues.

I guess alcohol is where you can make really make a profit, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d had to go all-cocktails in order to meet Manuka rents. Or who knows, maybe they just really like making cocktails!

Faustus – I have had the degustation at Aubergine a couple of times – it is ok. BUT the service is only average – most of the waiters SEEM like they are part time working their second job etc etc. Interesting that Courgette is run by the same team BUT their service is soooo smooth :-).

O.K. Randomgit – I’ll bite 🙂
Is it scene/seen? or have I made a real boo boo?
I am a member of the APS* you know? (I know that “menus” should be menu – can’t figure out how to edit now it is posted though.)

*Apostrophe protection society

I’ve never actually eaten at the Julip Lounge, but I’ve drank there on a number of occasions, and it was a great and classy spot for a drop of top-shelf booze. Only problem was it closed too early. If it retains its current ambiance, but fits in a few more comfy couches, I’m not going to complain. But I can’t say “Tapas bar/cocktail lounge and Jazz spot” sounds particularly promising.

For good degustation menus in Canberra, try Dijon in Civic, Aubergine in Griffith (only had a la carte, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t also offer a degustation) and Sage at Gorman House.

REALLY Tack! Cold blooded murder of the English tongue.

On the plus side…The Rubicon is FANTASTIC.

You could say Christoph’s “surrendered” to the pressure… I AM A COMEDY GOD

Christoph’s has been replaced with El Torogoz, which is a great restaurant with a good menu. Well worth a look.

I am constantly surprised that the native food restaurant next to artoven continues to be open, never seen customers.

I noticed that as well. I suspect that Manuka is having some problems, possibly with greedy landlords. For a place that’s supposed to be the upmarket shopping and dining area in Canberra, there seems to be a lot of empty shops.