Champi Restaurant — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

My boyfriend and I came here after church and were initially quite impressed with the restaurant. The atmosphere was great, and the food tasted good. However, the wait time was a major issue. We ordered three dishes (tom yum soup, pork belly, and pad Thai with two servings of rice), and while the soup came out after about 15 minutes, it took another 10 minutes for the rice, which we had to ask for since we were just eating the soup by itself.

By the time I checked my phone, I realized we had already been waiting for 50 minutes and 2 otherr dishes havent been out yet, which was frustrating. When we asked a staff member about our order, they said it was still being prepared by the queue, but we noticed a table that arrived 20 minutes after us got their food much quicker like they got served by the time our food was out which is so ???, and they had ordered more dishes.

After a long wait, the food finally arrived, but there was no apology from the staff. While the food was good, I’m not sure if it was worth waiting an hour for. Luckily, the staff at the reception did apologize at the end, but overall, I was disappointed by the experience, especially since I was really looking forward to...

On Saturday, 26 March 2022, we were visiting Canberra and ate at Champi Restaurant, Kingston. The restaurant had only been open for 3 weeks. The flavours were Laotian and Thai. The service was perfect, the staff were welcoming and attentive. We highly recommend the restaurant as the food was outstanding.

For entree we had: Grandma’s Signature Barramundi Fish Cakes - W fresh herbs, chili paste & a side of sweet chili sauce & cucumbers.

Chargrilled Chicken Satay Skewers - W Champi’s homemade Satay Sauce.

Curry Puff - Mixed vegetables, pumpkin, potatoes, curry spices & sweet chili dipping sauce.

For mains: Dancing Chilli Squid - W sweet caramelised red chill basil squids in a Roti Cup.

Traditional Thai Vermicelli Salad - King Prawns and Squid, red onions, coriander, spring onion, glass noodle dressed in sweet, lime chili sauce.

Teach me how to Duck - Shredded Roasted duck, coriander & Lao salad wrapped in Crispy Roti Pastry.

Tom Yum Fried Rice - W egg, lime leaves, hot & sour spices Available with Chicken.

Pad Thai - Thin rice noodles with egg, chives, bean sprouts, Champi’s special tamarind sauce & crushed peanuts on the...

My friend made a reservation two days in advance, but when we arrived today, the restaurant said they couldn’t find our booking. Luckily, since we came right at opening time, there were still seats available.

While we were looking at the menu, a waitress stood right next to our table waiting for us to order. Even after we told her we weren’t ready yet, she continued to stand there, which made us feel very pressured.

During the meal, she tried to take away our plates twice even though there was still food on them, and we clearly told her we weren’t finished. The third time, she attempted again, and my friend had to quickly move the remaining food onto another plate to stop her. She also reminded us there was a time limit for dining, but we finished well within that limit. I don’t understand why she kept rushing us.

The food here is delicious, but the service was very unfriendly and gave us a really poor...