Helix Bar and Dining

Airport food. Could there be anything more dispiriting? Rolling your little carry-on suitcase through to a chain coffee kiosk in search of a sandwich, or pulling up to the lone bar in the departure lounge for a glass of generic bubbly.

The swish new hotel at Canberra Airport is a far classier spot to down a drink before your flight. It's not inside the terminal, but it's close enough that you could make a run for it (across a couple of lanes of traffic) if you're late. The new restaurant, on the ground floor of a huge black-and-white circular atrium, is Helix Bar and Dining, which opened in October 2015.

This is a lovely dining area, filled with light. It's all curves – vast leather couches that curl in a stately circle around 360-degree fireplaces, like hedges in a formal garden. Inside the restaurant section, cosy circular booths that look out over the dining room. There's wraparound floor-to-ceiling glass giving us a view of departing airport traffic. The kitchen is like a 1970s space capsule, with quilted walls and a rounded-rectangle window from which the chef peeks out into the room. The bar is a big curvy affair in the middle of the foyer, with high bar tables spread around it. Everything's open, light, and yet pretty serene.

The menu is neat but standard – crowdpleasing items designed to satisfy a range of travellers. Burger. Club sandwich. Pasta. Steak. But there are points for a substantial list of salads, a good deli board with cured meats, cheese and crudites, and many gluten- and dairy-free options. Overseeing the chefs is Mick Chatto, who heads the kitchen in Barton at the Kurrajong Hotel's restaurant, the Chifley Bar and Grill. We start with a goat's curd and caramelised onion tart ($16) – a disc of crisp puff pastry topped with dark, jammy onions and a big pile of herbs drizzled with balsamic. It's a nice little starter with plenty of caramelised flavour and buttery pastry though not enough goat's curd. The greenery is mild but I could do with the sharp slap of rocket rather than profusions of parsley.

The wine list also offers a small but crowdpleasing variety, with a good injection of local wines such as the Nick O'Leary riesling, some Clonakilla shiraz and a couple of Long Rail Gully offerings. Pan-fried chicken breast is mostly moist and covered in a creamy mustard sauce ($29). It's on a bed of good tender mixed vegetables and a criss-cross pile of polenta chips. The chips are unaccountably soggy. But it's a solid dish with nice flavours, the kind of simple thing you'd probably be fairly happy to eat after a long trip on a plane. A plate of linguine ($27) is flecked with tiny bits of spanner crab and a couple of small chilli rings, which to me don't have much flavour. But there's a good tangle of zucchini and peas and other veg among it.

Alongside is a "gourmand salad" ($17) with lots of asparagus chunks, scattered with flaked almonds and fat oblongs of fried haloumi, crisp on the outside but soft enough inside to scoop out with a spoon and press into the salad greens. Good enough to be a meal in its own right, which you can do by adding a poached egg on top or some extra chicken or beef, the waiter says.

Two wedges of Lindt chocolate brownie play host to a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream with thick swirls of raspberry beside them on the plate. This is a very pretty dish, the white mountain of ice cream scattered with violet-coloured flower petals and stems, the deep ruby of the raspberry contrasting with a layer of chocolate powder that is really more artistic than tasty. The brownie's fluffy, more like cake than brownie but who cares when it's this good, rich and smooth and perfectly suited to the tart berry puree. Creme brulee with three brown almond biscotti is less social media-friendly but the mirror caramel finish gives way with a good crack – the golden custard underneath is thick on the bottom of the ramekin but sadly too liquid up the top.

There are far worse spots to start your journey, or to send off a loved one or friend with a quick meal or a drink. It'd be hard to miss your flight (there are display screens by the entrance with arrival and departure updates), you'll get a superior glass of wine, and a generally decent, if slightly hit and miss, feed.