Capitol Bar & Grill

One of the side effects of Canberra gaining a high-glam, uber-cool designer hotel such as QT is gaining a high-glam, uber-cool designer restaurant as well. And they don’t come much more uber than this mad mix of buzzy bar, walls of wine, barber shop, black-tiled kitchen and neon portrait gallery. Then there are the meat fridges and huge menu of salads, wood-grilled dry-aged Cape Grim beef, Reuben sandwiches and mac ’n’ cheese. The restless creativity behind the menu is backed by precision cooking in the theatrical open kitchen, with a Pollie’s Pie of rich flaky pastry filled with barolo-braised dry-aged beef and topped with a pea and mint floater that is, quite frankly, magnificent. Three imposing flywheel slicers turn out salumi-driven antipasti, and old-school revivals such as meatloaf and mixed grills are splendid. Baby doughnuts come with giant syringes of vanilla custard and strawberry jam in one last injection of cheekiness and style.

And … You just have to start with the house antipasto.

THE LOW-DOWN
Vibe Creative, cheeky bar and grill.
Best bit Great antipasto table.
Worst bit Service can be slow.