S ure, it was a while coming, but when Canberra's reputation as a gourmand’s dream took off, it had foodies and oenophiles from interstate and beyond rushing to experience what Canberrans had known for years. Australia’s capital city doesn’t just have a vibrant cafe culture, it has a plethora of award-winning restaurants where chefs lovingly create menus inspired by the world, using the freshest local ingredients. Its small but thriving wine region – there are more than 40 wineries within 35 minutes of the city – has made it privy to a diverse array of exceptionally high-quality whites, reds and rosés.
Over in the hipster precincts of New Acton and Braddon, coffee comes any way you want it. Stay all day at Mocan & Green Grout, a funky Canberra favourite whose banana bread and spicy bacon-and-egg roll are Instagram winners. Or roam the visually fabulous Ovolo Nishi hotel with its lake view, Murano chandeliers and edgy contemporary artwork before sampling the breakfast, dinner, bar or group menu at the hotel’s oh-so-sleek Monster Kitchen & Bar. Having opened in 2010, unassuming coffee house Lonsdale Street Roasters is a Braddon institution; if you're heading there on a weekend, be prepared to queue – or pop into the beloved Sweet Bones Bakery Cafe for an organic vegan take out.
You'll need to book ahead for tables in the capital’s finest restaurants. Helmed by chef Malcolm Hanslow and his award-winning team, the 30-seat Pilot in Ainslie wows with its service, atmosphere and focus on local produce, wine and spirits. Back in inner-city Braddon, the buzzing eightysix takes inspiration from contemporary Australian architecture (kitted out with booths and chic black walls, it’s been shortlisted for the Australian Interior Design Awards) while championing modern Australian cuisine (salt-and-pepper Hawkesbury river squid with aioli and parsley salad, anyone?).
Previously voted Australia's favourite restaurant, Akiba brings New Asian cuisine to Canberra in ways exciting and flavoursome, with menu highlights including Kobe beef steak and the People's Choice-winning Vegan Laksa Soup Dumpling (there are separate fryers for those with special dietary requirements). Inside the Burbury Hotel, located near Parliament House, Chairman & Yip restaurant under chef Arthur Tsui serves modern Pan-Asian food in elegant spacious surrounds next to a fully enclosed balcony garden; on the drinks list, sheep whey vodka from Tasmania's Hartshorn micro distillery, and a Long Rail Gully shiraz from – where else? – Canberra District ('Rich, smooth, GO LOCAL' is the subtitle).
Winery tours are a great way to experience a region with fewer than 500 hectares of vines but a wealth of cellar doors and refined bistro dining: a full-day luxury tour with Van du Vin visits five wineries in the Murrumbateman wine region (they'll detour to Lake George wineries on request) and includes transport (possibly in a repurposed London black cab, dubbed the ‘Cab Sauv’), wine tastings with nibbles (fudge, truffles) and a two-course winery restaurant lunch. A full eight-hour day tour with Dave’s Vin & Gin Canberra calls in at two wineries, one of which will serve lunch, followed by tastings at a local chocolaterie and a gin distillery.
Drive there yourselves: to Clonakilla Wines, just north of Canberra, and one of the best vineyards in Australia, with multi-award-winning reds and a cellar door built from local stone and reclaimed timber. Or take yourself to The Vintner's Daughter near Murrumbateman, a boutique winery magicking medal-winning wines – shiraz-viognier, cabernet-merlot – from small handpicked plots. Or just a few miles north to the family-run Helm Wines, specialists in riesling and cabernet sauvignon, their product housed behind the cellar door of a heritage-listed 1888 schoolhouse. Take a picnic, and enjoy.
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