Six great winter foodie experiences in Canberra in 2015

Have a special winter feast

Filipino restaurant Kusina puts on a Boodle Feast on the last Sunday of every month. Tables are covered with banana leaves and a huge mound of traditional dishes are placed on the leaves for everyone to dig into with their bare hands. It's both festive and communal - eating with your hands from a pile of chicken wings or barbecued pork belly - so go with a group of friends. Or turn winter into a fully festive event with a special dinner. There's a Christmas in July dinner at C Dine Bar on the Kingston foreshore on July 6. At Lanterne Rooms in Campbell, there is a "Hari Raya" feast to mark the end of Ramadan - Hari Raya is the Malaysian term for the festival - with dishes such as lamb shank rendang and crepes shaped like fisherman's nets and satay skewers. Or celebrate truffle season with a Veuve Clicquot-and-truffle degustation at the Hyatt Hotel.

Fresh food markets

Head to the Old Bus Depot Markets in Kingston and stock up on bagels, fresh bread and cheeses. Wash it all down with hot apple cider or a coffee. Or head into the food stalls at the markets and fill up with hearty Ethiopian curries and Lao noodle dishes. You'll have to get up early to do the Capital Region Farmers' Market at EPIC but rug up warmly and treat yourself to a steaming hot cup of chai or coffee as you chat to farmers and pick up fresh local fruit, vegetables and meat.

Sit around an open fire

Canberra's winters are just made for eating, drinking and gathering before the fire. Try the slick, modern fire pit in the salon at Monster surrounded by quirkily elegant pieces of furniture and order a couple of sharing plates and a glass of wine. For a rustic, country feel, the fireplaces at Pialligo Farmhouse Restaurant are always kept burning bright and the food is brilliant. If it's casual drinks you're after, settle onto the sofa in front of the fireplace at Walt & Burley with a beer, check out the George Harcourt Inn in Nicholls or head to Mercure Canberra, formerly Olims, in Ainslie. Further afield there is Capital Wines and Grazing at Gundaroo or the Carrington Inn at Bungendore.

Have a drink at an underground bar

There's nothing cosier than an underground bar. The speakeasy-style bar Molly, hidden in a courtyard off London Circuit in Civic, is often so pumping you'll shed your coat the minute you come down the stairs - and if that doesn't do it the old fashioned cocktails and the cured meat platters will. At A.Baker's arty basement bar bring a friend for games nights and simple $10 midweek feasts.

A whole festival of winter and wine

The Fireside Festival runs all through August at the wineries and restaurants of the Poachers Way north of Canberra. Wind your way through the wineries - previous festivals have included horse riding, live music, fireside teas and other activities. And of course there are plenty of chances to taste the wineries of the region.

Go ice skating, have a curry

Make a date for the Winter Curry Festival in Garema Place later this month. It's part of the Skate in the City event so you can work up an appetite taking rounds on the open air ice skating rink or watch a skating parade before heading over to eat your way through a variety of curries from around the world, multicultural festival style.