Canberra's best restaurants: Monster

Top 20 restaurants, Food and Wine Annual 2014: number 4.

Hotel Hotel has brought a veritable excess of groovyness to the city and amid all the fantastic eating options in this precinct, Monster leads the pack. It's sometimes a little weird - baccalau churros might sound the goods but are possibly not what you want with your studiously seasonal cocktail, or that funky glass of wine from an excellent, unusual list.

On the whole, though, the food at Monster is not only on-trend, but seasonally based, pretty to look at, and surprising and excellent to eat. A favourite is the eggplant, smoked goat's curd, katsuobushi and sesame, a powerful super-rich, mouth-filling dish of smoky umami and ocean flavours and a creamy texture. Pulled lamb shoulder is a substantial serve of meat with flavours of yoghurt, pistachio, pomegranate, fried brik pastry and vine leaves.

Black barley and wild rice, preserved lemon, candied almond, whipped chevre feels like something you'd grab from Ottolenghi when you're having a purity moment. Hand-cut chips come with skin on, no grease, smoky house-made ketchup, sea salt and rosemary. It's that kind of place, where even chips get serious next-gen attention, the kind of place marked by freshness and modernity, a sense of looseness and relaxation in the food matched by the set-up. It's a large space made intimate with nooks and mixed-up furniture, a central fire, big cushions in a window seat, little stools and coffee tables, and main tables shaped like rhombuses, or perhaps parallelograms, either way something wacky that might be gratuitous but is nevertheless highly cool.

Mandarin souffle and chocolate sorbet is a fine, simple, delicate dessert – it has everything other than the ability to turn up on the table quickly. given it's a souffle and must be made once ordered. Other desserts are equally happy affairs with a complexity and prettiness you'll see on so many of the best dessert menus at the moment.

Monster is a great place for dinner, but a place you'll feel equally welcome enjoying a tea or cocktail, snack or general lounge around. This place is so cosy, you really wouldn't pick it for a hotel diner.

Monster
25 Edinburgh Avenue, NewActon. 6287 6287.
hotel-hotel.com.
Owners Johnathan and Nectar Efkarpidis; chef Sean McConnell.
Seven days from 6.30am-1am.