Canberra

Travelers' Takes

Rates and Deals

Canberra Eats and Exotic Food Shops

A September 2008 trip to Canberra by Poole Party

An ongoing journal of places to dine with or without wine or whine, in and about Canberra. Plus, a run down on some stores with exotic items!

  • 17 reviews

TuDo Vietnamese RestaurantBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "A Bowl of Vietnam in O'Connor"

Delightfully yummy and affordable authentic Vietnamese food. Basic restaurant and service with little or no sound absorption, so it makes for a noisy lunch, but for $10, you get a great meal.

7 Sargood St
O'Connor 2602 ACT
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by Poole Party on July 21, 2009

TuDo Vietnamese Restaurant
7 Sargood Street O'Connor, Australia 2602
(02) 6248 6030

Portia's PlaceBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Yummy Portions at Portia's"

This restaurant serves many authentic Hong Kong Chinese style dishes. The atmosphere is friendly and somewhat fancy but the service is pretty down to earth. Good things to sample include the meat in lettuce leaf and spring roll appetizer as well as the crispy fried duck with Chinese pancake. Menu might be a little pricy, especially if going in with a family, but a yummy treat. As always with parking in Kingston, go early so you can find a parking spot in the neighbourhood!

Open Mon-Fri,Sun 11:30am-2:30pm, 5pm-10:30pm; Sat 5pm-10:30pm
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by Poole Party on July 21, 2009

Portia's Place
11 Kennedy St. Kingston 2604
+61 (2) 6239 7970

Thai SpiceBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Spice of Life at the Woden Plaza"

Thai Spice is a nice blend of relaxed and elegant dining when you are done with all your errands at Woden Plaza. Thai Spice advertises 'authentic thai cuisine', and it's pretty close to the food from Thailand that I pigged on when I was there. There is an extensive menu from entrees to soups, seafood dishes, vegetarian means as well as lunch specials.

Fish cakes and money bags are yummy.
Portions are a little small, but it's a nice treat. I only wish there was thai iced tea.

Open 7 days a weeks from 1130 to 3pm for lunch and Dinner closed on Sun, but mon to wed 530 to 930p and thu to Sat 530 to 10p. It gets really busy during the rush hours so be prepared for a wait or make reservations!

DELICIOUS!
  • Member Rating 5 out of 5 by Poole Party on March 3, 2009

Thai Spice
Shop G-93 Woden Plaza, Corinna Street Canberra, Australia 2606
+61 (0)22 6282 6011

Pide HeavenBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Heavenly Turkish Delights"

This is very down home turkish restaurant, with no frills in the restaurant decor, inside or outside. What sells this place is the food. Good food in big portions at great prices.

The standard fare for a turkish restaurant includes a huge variety of vegetarian dishes, dips, cold and hot entrees (appetizers) and main meals to include kofte (meatballs), doner kebab, and kebab rolls, pide/pizza and Tatli/desserts.

Best buy in my opinion is the Pide. A large pizza type dish for anywhere form $14 to $18. Another fave of mine is the Doner Kebab filled iwth spicy lamb mince and yoghurt sauce for $15.50. The prices sound high, but the pizza, for example feeds 2 adults and 2 teens!

Try it out.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by Poole Party on March 3, 2009

Pide Heaven
Shop 4, Mawson Place Canberra
02 6162 0227

Iron Chef Malaysian & Chinese RestaurantBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Empty Restaurant but Good Food"

Like many restaurants in neighbourhood shopping centers, an empty restaurant does not indicate a terrible one. Many restaurants apparantly make their living on take away and delivery orders. I ordered one of the 'harder' and 'authentic' dishes from Iron Chef, Sweet and Sour chicken, and it proved to be a winner.

This restaurant has a chinese malaysian for its Asian foundation so you get the best of two worlds - chinese specialities like sweet and sour but also malaysian based items like beef rendang and green curry chicken.

This restuarant also has noodle and vegetarian dishes.

Trading hours: Open 7 days a week

Closed for lunch on Mon but Tues to Sun noon to 2:30p
Dinner: Sun to Thurs is 5p - 9p
Dinner on Fri and Sat is 5p - 10p.

Order the next time you are shopping in Mawson for a yummy take home meal!
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by Poole Party on March 3, 2009

Iron Chef Malaysian & Chinese Restaurant
Unit 11 , 93 Mawson PL
02 6286 8678

Panthong Thai RestaurantsBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Low key Thai Restaurant with Delicious Food"

It’s always intimidating to walk into a restaurant at lunch time to find it completely empty when all the other places are packed. I decided to give it a go and was pleasantly surprised to find that the food was quite delicious.

The owner took our order and went in back to cook it up. Chicken satay, thai fish cakes for appetizers (approx $8 each dish), vegetarian phad thai ($16) and stir fried chicken with fresh veggies and basil leaves ($10 lunch special).

Food came out one dish at a time because the owner was in back cooking and serving on her own (Thank goodness it wasn’t busy), but each dish arrived piping hot, fresh tasting and extremely delicious. The fact that there was no msg in the food made it even more enjoyable.

The restaurant offers lunch 1100 – 1500, and dinner from 1700 to 2130.
Gluten free dishes as well as customized dishes are available for those with allergies. It’s BYOB (wine and beer only) with indoor and outdoor seating.

The menu says bookings are essential, so perhaps it gets really crowded in the restaurant, or the owner needs to know how much help she needs on any given day. At any rate, if you are looking for a authentic Thai restaurant, I’m pretty sure this place will satisfy your cravings. The only down side (beside there being no bathrooms), is that there is no Thai dessert – like mango on sticky rice, or that sickenly sweet and yummy Thai iced tea).
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by Poole Party on November 29, 2008

Panthong Thai Restaurants
Corner Mawson Drive & Heard Street Canberra, Australia 2607
+61 (0)2 6290 1443

Ona Café – The Kona Coffee SpecialistsBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Kona Coffee Specialists - Not Too Bad at Food Either"

A luncheon in Manuka was the order of the day. Manuka is one of the ‘trendy’ areas in Canberra – known for lots of restaurants, outdoor cafes and knick knack stores with designer hostess gifts, artsy trinkets and upscale clothing. We went to ‘The Lawns’- an wide area between shopfronts for pedestrians only, with cafes and restaurants on either side.

Ona Café was one of the cafes with seating inside and out – about 7-9 tables seating 2-3 people each on inside and outside. After considering the lasagna ($10) and Szechuan calamari ($15), I ordered the fish and chips ($15), my husband ordered the Cajun burger ($15). Both arrived in a timely manner and the portions were enough to fill you up without leaving any leftovers. The food wasn’t bad – not greasy, overseasoned or tasteless, but not really anything that made us say "Oh, we have got to come back here."

The menu items did have a nice range of ‘new asian’ to a dressed up deli lunch, and the prices were on par with other eateries in the area.

Staff was friendly and courteous enough, even offering the use of the staff bathroom (Hard to find restaurants with bathrooms in them) in the back alley.

The restaurant’s motto is ‘The Kona Coffee specialists", so maybe it would have been a more exciting review if I had tried some coffee . . .

  • Member Rating 2 out of 5 by Poole Party on November 29, 2008

Abell's Kopi TiamBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Fabulous Asian Cuisine "

This Malay Chinese restaurant ("kopi" is Thai for coffee, "tiam" is Chinese for shop) is a new favourite in Canberra. Located in the hip area of Manuka with busy quaint shopping, this relaxed restaurant served great food and we had a great waiter who helped us choose from the extensive selection of delicious sounding dishes, and good service.

Menu ranged from starters and soup of fabulous spring rolls wth chilli jam to main dishes of tender meat, spicy fish, chicken, as well as noodle and rice dishes. Also, vegetarian choices such as aubergine and tofu and desserts like sago pudding with coconut cream and palm syrup available.

We had the veggie springrolls and Malayan beef rendang – tender chunks of beef simmered in spices and herbs and Crispy Asian chicken served with coriander and soy dipping (which was served on the side because the waiter thought it might be too spicy for our child).

Specials included an appetizer of red curry fish cakes with cucumber dip for $10.50 and Japanese crumbed Flathead and sweet potato chips with wasabi mayo for $29.90.

We will definitely be returning to this restaurant to sample more of the fare and looking forward to the specials.

Trading hours are Tues to Sat 1130 to 1430 and 1730 to 2200.
Sunday 1130 to 1430 and 1730 to 2100
Coopers beer served here as well as wine and other alcoholic beverages.

  • Member Rating 5 out of 5 by Poole Party on November 18, 2008

Abell's Kopi Tiam
Shop 7 Furneaux St Manuka 2603 ACT

La Rustica Trattoria PizzeriaBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Italian Family Restaurant with Great Food"

http://www.larustica.com.au

A great family restaurant serving delicious Italian food, with selections such as Lasagna Traditional home made fresh layered pasta combined with herbs and an authentic tomato bolognese sauce to Salsicce pizza with a tomato base, mozzarella cheese, Italian pork sausage, onion and chilli. I opted for Risotto Marinella Rice with a combination of fresh tiger prawns, scallops, squid and perch fillet pieces sautéed with a light white wine, tomato and chilli sauce. It was delicious and the serving large enough for me to have leftovers for the next day. My husband had the Medaglione Di Manzo Succulent beef tenderlions layered with a combination of spinach and crisp proscuitto, topped with a red wine jus which was more than he should have eaten in one sitting, but scrumptious enough that he did.

I was a bit disappointed that there were no desserts on the menu, but there were some jars inside with selections of huge chocolate and m and m cookies for the dessert inclined.

The setting is quite casual offering indoors and outdoors seating. Wine served on the premises. Nice place to go with family, especially if your little ones like the traditional kid feasts of past and pizza.

Prices for meals range from about $14 to $27 AUD.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by Poole Party on November 18, 2008

La Rustica Trattoria Pizzeria
35 Kennedy Street Canberra, Australia 2604
+61 (0)2 6295 0152

Tutto ContinentalBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Piece of Italy in Canberra Neighbourhood"

Craving authentic continental deli products? This store is filled to the brim with cooking gadgets from Pasta machines, ‘old fashioned’ meat grinders and juice extractors to cake holders and colourful spatulas and cake decorating equipment. The deli has a large variety of specialty deli meats from Sopresso to Proscuitto and cheeses galore. Also, there is a small selection of Italian sodas and cordials in addition to various canned ad jarred vegetables, spices, condiments and Panettone-like cakes. Lots of wonderful things to delight the senses, treats for yourself or gifts for others.
Eye and stomach candy galore!
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by Poole Party on November 16, 2008

Tutto Continental
152 Mawson Place Mawson ACT 2607

LAE Asian StoreBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Fresh Asian Herbs in Canberra"

No need to drive to Dickson (Canberra’s "Chinatown"), this shop, though small, located in the Mawson shopping center is filled with beautifully fragrant and fresh asian veggies and herbs at great prices – thai basil, mint, coriander, bok choy, choy sum, to name a few. Also, you’ll find fish sauces, curry sauces, spices, and asian treats like glutinous rice cakes and tapioca puddings. Also a frozen food section. Enough of a variety to fix up your favourite, authentic asian cuisine.

  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by Poole Party on November 16, 2008

Naked FishBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Fresh Twist on Fish and Chips"

Traditional fish and chips with a flair! This looks like a cross between a fish monger deli and a restaurant – you walk into the pristine, uncluttered store to find a showcase of a variety of fish – ready to be grilled, battered and fried to your specification. Or, you can have take the fish home and prep it yourself.

Simple concept, presentation and the sense that everything is super fresh. The chips are delicious – not just the comforting greasy feeling one gets from eating fries, but a tender, delicate taste in the potato itself that is not overpowered by oil.

Prices? About average depending on the fish you choose – fish and chips can cost anywhere from $7.50 to $9.

There is seating both in the restaurant and outside. Relaxing, clean and very low key. You can call ahead to have your order ready for pick up or eat in.

Nakedfish.org
02 6286 9190


  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by Poole Party on November 16, 2008

Naked Fish
1/30 Mawson Place Mawson ACT 2607

Chinese KitchenBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Your Local Chinese Kitchen at Woden Mall"

This unassuming restaurant has a feel of a chinese kitchen with its hustle and bustle and warm, comforting smells of cantonese cuisine - from the traditional roast duck and pork hanging in the window to favourites such as bean curd hot pot ($15) and shredded pork. There are several spicy dishes ike the Singapore noodles, Ma Po tofy, Szechuan chicken fillets.

This restaurant is open 7 days a week and is BYO.

There is an advertised special in the window on most days, though it is written in chinese, but if you are looking for some local special, then it might be worth being adventurous and trying it out!

This place is also conveniently located outside the mall, so you can reenergize after some shopping at the mall, or go next door and get some indulgent Krispy Kreme doughnuts for dessert!
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by Poole Party on November 5, 2008

Chinese Kitchen
Corinna Street Shop G91, Woden Plaza Phillip ACT 2606
+61 (02) 6260 4888

Dickson Asian Noodle HouseBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Thai Chinese Fusion Delectables"

This restaurant offers much more than Asian Noodles. There is a Thai twist to classic spring rolls and traditionally cantonese dishes like bbq pork.

This place is full of people of every persuasion every time we stop by to wait in line for a table. The dishes range in price from about $5.50 for spring rolls, $7 for fish cakes to an average of $12 for basi noodle dishes up to 416.50 for fancier traditional thai dishes like massamun curry.

The pad thai, matsuman curry and mixd vegetables were fantastic, as were the fish cakes. The other tables had other equally delicious looking dishes.

No credit cards accepted and EFTPOS has a min of $30, but you won't feel bad spending that much on these fantastic items.

Asian Noodle House is open 7 days a week from 11am to 10p.
and it's byow with a $3 crokage fee per bottle.


  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by Poole Party on November 4, 2008

Dickson Asian Noodle House
29 Woolley Street Canberra, Australia 2602
+61 (0)2 6247 6380

Turkish Halal Pide HouseBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Turkish Delights for Lunch and Dinner"

Unpretentious little restaurant serving delectable dishes from kebabs, falafel and kofte meatballs to tabbouleh and hummus entrees. Also, for dessert, if you aren’t stuffed from the uge servings, you can taste the scrumptious Turkish delights, and baklava. Pitas are the specialty of the restaurant with a huge range to try. Zucchini balls are a surprisingly light and fluffy delight. Prices are pretty average for the area – with pitas ranging from $12 to $16 for a large and filling pita. Entrees of Falfel and side dish type specialities like eggplant range from $8 to $13.

  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by Poole Party on October 25, 2008

Chinese BakeryBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Sweet Treat "

This bakery was small but filled with yummy, traditional sweetish breads filled with anything from roast pork to white or red beans. Supposedly the bread is made without any artificial emulsifiers, preservatives, flavorings or colorings. Good buys to have for next day’s morning tea at real chinatown prices.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by Poole Party on October 25, 2008

Jade Court Family RestaurantBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant | "Not Even your Average Chinese Restaurant"

We were excited to stumble across ‘Chinatown’, Canberra, however, disappointed at our choice for a place to eat. This restaurant was short of a fast food "Chinese’ buffet and the food, though edible was far from anything I would describe as ‘chinese cuisine’. It’s more like a fast food restaurant meets Chinese American/Australian food, with deep fried this and that, some stir fried this and that and jello and miscellaneous other not very Chinese dishes. For the price of $12 approx for each adult and half price for kids, including our 2 year old!! Quite shocking that this was even a stopover for tour buses. Taught me a lesson – always check out the buffet before you buy. Unfortunately I was a little surprised and confused because we were charged as soon as we entered the restaurant, so didn’t get to ‘browse’ the table. . .

Next time we'll try one of the other restaurants or just head over to the Kebab place across the street . . .
  • Member Rating 1 out of 5 by Poole Party on October 25, 2008

Jade Court Family Restaurant
28 Woolly St, Dickson

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Poole Party
Poole Party
everywhere, Virginia

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