I’m having an eerie in-another-place feeling, like the ether shifted as we walked in the door and landed us in a Hollywood-set casino where all the action is taking place beneath a glitzy veneer, or at a masked party where we all have a character to play for the evening. It’s hard to tell where this feeling comes from, but it probably has something to do with dining in the foyer of a hotel which always lends an evening a kind of airport comings-and-goings sense of impermanence and a veneer of glamour.
And it might also have to do with the look of the staff, dressed for an evening themselves, or the high-heeled customers, the hotel glitz in the decor, the geometric carpet pattern, the dark ceilings, the resort-style flames on the deck, the sound of Putting on the Ritz from the speakers, or the sense of glam post-modern irony in the portraits of politicians along the walls, some with mirrors for faces so you can join the game, and a life-size mirrored Obama that brings you to a stop.
The style-focused hotel chain QT has taken over the Lakeside and is running the restaurant as the Capitol Bar and Grill, with plenty of nods to the version of Canberra that says we’re all about what goes on on the hill, and with a determined sense of the upbeat, from the perky text message that confirms your booking, to the nothing-is-a-problem attitude of staff tonight. It’s all very stylised, and lends a sense of swanning-around occasion, which you would might welcome if you are a Diner en Blanc kind of person, and which you might find over the top if you prefer to crunch yourself quietly into an anonymous space for your dinner.
All that aside, what matters is on the plate. Our food tonight is on the whole fresh, classically put together, sensible, and well handled, showing the signs of some proper training in the kitchen. Serves are rather huge and prices are the same. It’s been a while since we spent more than $300 on a meal for the family. The menu has the same surreal feel as the set-up, when you see a version of prawn cocktail ($19) and vol au vents ($25) on offer. But we feel to steer clear of such self-conscious offerings and keep things simple.
We start, though, with crab cakes ($19) which come with a slaw and what I’m assuming is thousand-island dressing, plenty of heat, and the crab cakes are fresh and salty. Ossobuco ($38) comes as some huge hunks of lovely meat, beautifully cooked, in a no-tricks rich casserole of tomato and carrot, simple, not over-seasoned or fancied up. It’s good. The Cape Grim T bone steak ($38), pasture fed, dry-aged, 500 grams, is rare as we asked, spread a little unsubtly with a bright herb sauce. Alongside is a jug of reduced red wine sauce, which is a decent accompaniment. On the side, mashed carrots with tarragon ($10) and they come also as a supersized bowl, chunky, simple, honest to themselves.
The wine list is good and the wine service likewise, keeping us interested and happy by the glass. For dessert, we order tiramisu ($19) and a waiter appears with a huge bowl under her arm, and scoops us a large dollop like she’s serving at the family table. Another little stylised element, I guess, but one that we like. We like the tiramisu also, loaded as it is with cream and chocolate, only a small amount of very soaked sponge. A dessert of lemon mascarpone ice cream with chocolate sauce and coffee ($16) – the QT’s version of affogato (whisky optional), is pleasing, especially in the ice cream.
So do like we did and order steak, ossobuco, tiramisu and a bowl of mashed carrot and you’ll come away happy, and very very full with pretty good food. But for us, we leave the party feeling like we were the ones who weren’t supposed to be invited. We’re the guests that haven’t played our part with quite the required attitude, and I have a sudden dense of deja vu, remembering what this reminds me of – my five-star cruise with Silversea, where you feel like you’re in a floating hotel lobby, entertainment laid on, magicians in the auditorium, Van Goghs in the hallways, guests tottering in heels and swaying with the motion and the sheer indulgence of everything for free. For some it’s lovely; it’s just me that doesn’t fit in.
Capitol Bar and Grill
Address: QT Hotel, London Circuit, Canberra
Phone: 6247 1488
Web: qtcanberra.com.au/food-drink/capitol-bar-grill
Owner: QT Canberra
Chef: Damien Worthington
Open: Breakfast 6.30am-10.30am, lunch from noon, dinner from 6pm
Licensed: Yes, no BYO
Wheelchair access: Yes, including disabled toilets
To pay: Cash, Eftpos, Visa, MasterCard, American Express
Food: 3/4
Wine list: 3/4
Service: 3/4
Style: 2/4
Value for money: 2/4
Score: 14.5/20