Sage Dining Rooms remains a hidden gem in Braddon

While it's hard to miss Akiba and certainly Kokomo's on Bunda Street in the city, their sibling restaurant Sage Dining Rooms takes a far more subdued approach, somewhat hidden at the Gorman Arts Centre in the quiet part of Braddon.

While the venue has had a few iterations of sorts, not much has changed in the fitout at Sage over the years - entry is through the venue's courtyard Mint Garden Bar - often forgotten about but still one of the best spots for a summer drink - and the main dining room is comfortable and decorated simply, with a leafy outlook. 

You can have dinner as three courses ($75), with four options to choose from for each course, or a five course 'chef's pick' menu, which is good value at $85. The five course menu can also be paired up with wine ($45) or cocktails ($60), or you can go your own route and order drinks separately - there's an extensive cocktail menu, or the two page and easy-to-read wine list, which offers plenty by the bottle, but only a handful of local options. 

The three courses seems enough for us on a weeknight, and things start strongly with the first. Presentation is a highlight all night, like the kingfish escabeche which looks like an elegant clam perched atop a bed of avocado puree. Kingfish is fresh, with quite a spicy kick, served with lots of dollops - yoghurt, more avocado and topped with roe. 

The garlic and ginger prawn looks nothing like you'ds expect - you can't even see the prawns at first, buried beneath a pile of crunchy rice. It almost has the look of a deconstructed dessert, which is a bit confusing this early in the meal, but it's a really enjoyable dish with a lovely curry flavour.

The seafood is a standout at Sage - certainly not always the case in Canberra - and this continues with the Cone Bay barramundi, well cooked and nicely finished with a lemon curd crust which has a good crunch to it. 

The desserts though, for us, are a bit hit and miss. A raspberry sorbet bursts with flavour and bright colour, with raspberry also served as crispy bits that are kind of like crunchy pieces bits of Roll-ups, and a few scattered bits of the fruit itself. It's served with different coconut textures, including 'nata de coco' little jelly-like coconut cubes, which plate up well but are a bit of a detractor from the sorbet. Five little Greek donuts are tasty, if not perhaps a bit doughy, served with a butterscotch icecream and a heavenly coffee cream anglaise, which would have been licked from the bowl if it wasn't so close to bed time. 

Sage has had its ebbs and flows over the years, but it seems like under head chef Thomas Heinrich, things are humming along nicely. Service is friendly and attentive all night and you can really tell they're trying hard to please. It's a more relaxed version of fine dining, but heading there for dinner still seems worthy of an occasion.