Canberra’s best restaurants 2015

Aubergine

The grey-whiskered Ben Willis could pass for a maturing, but certainly not jaded, rock star. These days he’s trading flashy riffs for the culinary equivalent of unplugged – respect for produce and a less-is-more ethos.

Read our full review of Aubergine

Monster

Were it to have featured on Grand Designs, Hotel Hotel might have had some false starts. Ultimately, though, the team would have returned to declare the slightly chaotic rhomboid tables and fireside couches that define its lobby restaurant, Monster, a triumph.

Read our full review of Monster

Temporada

Housed in a lofty CBD space, recent arrival Temporada bridges the generation gap with aplomb. Aubergine’s Ben Willis and sous-chef Chris Darragh satisfy the dude-food generation with a bun stuffed with super-tender beef short-rib, fermented cucumber and horseradish mayo. But there’s plenty to please grown-ups.

Read our full review of Temporada

Eightysix

According to the would-be hipsters that frequent this place, Eightysix is killing it. Yes, it’s noisy, plates arrive randomly, there’s plenty of bro-hugging and maybe nanna wouldn’t approve of the language. But it’s a rollicking good time…

Read our full review of Eightysix

Italian & Sons

The brothers Trimboli are on the front foot with Canberra’s culinary renaissance. Their new CBD hole-in-the-wall addition, Da Rosario, is abuzz, plans are afoot for a deli-eatery, and Italian & Sons continues to win plaudits.

Read our full review of Italian & Sons

Pulp Kitchen

A hens’ night in full squawk, a rogue flame leaping from the grill, an air conditioner dumping a sudden shower – nothing fazes them here. Daniel Giordani is grittily resolute on the floor, Keaton McDonnell self-possessed in the kitchen.

Read our full review of Pulp Kitchen

Sage

Owners Pete and Mike Harrington have presided over as many personnel changes in recent years as Canberra has prime ministers. Yet somehow they’ve managed to keep Sage moving forward in a setting that’s at once breezy and special.

Read our full review of Sage

Capitol Bar & Grill

No one could accuse this expansive and showy new eatery, the jewel in the food-and-beverage crown at the shiny QT Canberra, of being backwards about being forward…

Read our full review of Capitol Bar & Grill

Water’s Edge

Despite the views of swans, Segways and flapping flags beyond the lake, Water’s Edge is a subdued affair…

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Mocan & Green Grout

In what is rapidly becoming one of Canberra’s hippest neighbourhoods, Mocan & Green Grout sits pretty on its backstreet corner, with a wraparound wall of green potted fronds.

Read our full review of Mocan & Green Grout