Charcoal Restaurant — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

Overall our experience at Charcoal was relatively decent. The furniture is quite dated but in my opinion it adds to the overall charm of the place. However because the walls are carpeted, it feels like you're in a cauldron. It's fine for winter but on a 30 degree day, it is quite uncomfortable and there is no air-conditioning. As far as the service is concerned, there is only one lady servicing and waiting all the tables. She definitely does her best but she is overworked. Her name starts with 'D'. The owner just sat around and didn't bother to help. When we walked in, we were made to sit at a table that was not cleared. It was messy and the owner did nothing. We had to wait for a good 15 mins before the one lone server was able to get to our table. Not a good start to our experience but thankfully it picked up from there.

In terms of food, we ordered the fried Camembert which was quite a sizable portion and could well be shared between two people. The fried skin was absolutely delicious!

For mains we ordered the Prime Rib and the eye - fillet with peppercorn sauce. The prime rib being a premium cut of meat was quite underwhelming. We ordered it medium rare but it wasn't cooked evenly at all. Some parts were well overdone but the eye fillet with the peppercorn sauce was way way better. The peppercorn sauce was to die for. Dessert was also a hit and miss. The creme brulee we ordered was warm on the inside and didn't have the glass shattering sound from the burnt sugar. The sticky date pudding however was outstanding and definitely compensated for the hot creme brulee. It's definitely one of the best sticky date puddings I've tried.

Overall, our experience wasn't too bad but in my opinion if you're paying the steep prices, the quality of the food and service needs to...

Ahhh - the Charcoal. Most people know what they're getting into here. This place has been operating in Canberra for over 50 years. Funniest part about that is that I think that's how old the décor actually is. ;o) I actually mean that in a good way though. It's not a massive place - kind of cosy. But the décor has a sort of old English pub feel to it. Very warm and hospitable.

As you've probably guess by the name - this place is a steak restaurant. Yes - they do have some other things on the menu, like fish and chicken, but let's be honest - people are coming here for the steak. All the steaks. Eye fillets, T-bones, sirloins, rumps and all the variations - carpet bag, mignon, pepper, Dianne - the list goes on.

We had a friend who was finishing up at work, and he wanted a nice steak for a kind of farewell lunch. The special of the day happened to be a 1kg tomahawk. He couldn't let that one slide. Challenge accepted. I settled for my staple - an eye fillet - as did one of the other guys. Although, he went for the larger one which came out sizzling.

There's not too much to say here. All three steaks were cooked exactly as requested. They were all super juicy and tender. Veges and chips were great too, but the steaks....oh the steaks. Tomahawk guy even managed to finish his. I think he might still be under his desk at work in a meat coma - but hey - if you're gonna go - what a way to go, right?

The staff and the service were also spot on. It's been a while since I've been here, but I tell you what, I'm not going to wait...

When we went to make a booking we were told there was a 6.00pm or 8.15pm booking available, we booked in for the 6.00pm sitting! we were seated at 6.10 pm by the time we had a round of drinks in front of us was 6.25 pm, we ordered the second dearest wine on the list at $225 for a bottle of red, it was listed as a 2017, when they brought the bottle to our table we were shown a 2018 and when we challenged them they said it was the same price? They eventually found a bottle of the 2017, situation averted! The meals came and the food was very nice, at least they got something right! At 7.30 pm we were asked if we could please finish up as the 8.15 sitting had arrived early, I was still eating my meal and they could clearly see that, I must say we were appalled at the way we were treated, the bill for 3 people of around the $500 was not what you would expect to be treated so poorly, even if it was $100 I have never been treated like this before. My comment to the I believe owner was that it was appalling to treat any customers like this. Her comment to me was that she was sorry , but the 8.15 sitting had arrived early and were waiting to be seated. My comment to her was We will never be back! In short if you want to spend a lot of money in a very short time go to this place, they will...