Onzieme — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

TLDR; had a nice romantic dinner last night for our four year anniversary, although it was a bit underwhelming given all the good reviews we’ve heard, and the prix fixe was a bit disappointing for the price.

Had the prix fixe last night for $95 per person. The food was pretty good, however the servings were small and I felt like some of the choices were not very worth it.

Unfortunately for the prix fixe there was no list of what was on it, and although they did say we could customise it if there was something on the menu we wanted, it was hard to do without knowing what was originally planned to be on the set menu. For instance, the mixed leaf dish was a part of the prix fixe, which was essentially some leaves with a vinaigrette and some nuts/seeds, which I definitely would have asked to switch out if I knew it was on the menu as neither my partner or I like vinaigrette dressings, plus it felt like a stingy addition.

Additionally, the lamb shoulder serving was tiny and a bit dry and flavourless in parts, with the hummus cream being the best part and too little.

The food was generally really tasty though and well thought out, but some flavours were a bit plain for our liking. Favourites however were the consume, the chicken skewers, the halloumi, and definitely the amazing dessert.

If we were to go again, I would just order items from the menu as there were a lot of great options instead of gambling on the prix fixe. The service was really great though and the atmosphere was lovely, just a bit disappointed for the price, especially given we’ve had some other amazing set menus in canberra which were far more worth it...

Onzieme is a modern Australian restaurant in Old Kingston that offers a seasonal menu, made up of smaller plates that are easily shared. Firstly, I really liked the vibe and atmosphere of the venue, it had a somewhat rustic yet modern and artistic aesthetic. Hand written menus on both the exterior and interior surfaces was a unique touch. I did like that the restaurant was dimly lit but maybe it was a bit too dim, many people had trouble reading the menu without a flashlight. Menu wise I appreciated the variety of ingredients and flavours they had to offer. We ordered a good number of dishes throughout the menu. My favourites would’ve been the beef skewer, galette, cabbage and mushrooms. The dishes were beautifully plated and arranged, with good use of layering and colour contrasts. Different textures were also paired well in multiple dishes such as the gim bugak, skewer and galette. My main complaint would’ve been that some of the dishes weren’t served at a desirable temperature. For example, the main course bavette steak came out barely lukewarm which we suspect maybe due to it sitting around whilst waiting for the cabbage side dish to be ready and served simultaneously. The sourdough bread was also cold and at most restaurants would’ve been toasted or slightly warm. The service staff were all quite friendly and provide fast service, though we did feel a little rushed at times. Overall, definitely worth a try if you’re...

Had really high expectations for this restaurant given that it’s won several awards and highly rated on google. But the food didn’t live up to our standards.

We went a la carte instead of the set menu. Ideally we would have done the set menu but we stayed away from it because there was so much ambiguity around what it actually included (“it’s up to the chef” is what we were told). So essentially you don’t know if you’re getting value for money or just paying more to buy the same things that you could have a la carte. I would err on the side of caution with this place.

We ended up getting two larger vegetable dishes - stracciatella with peaches and tomatoes, and roasted carrots with dukkah and labneh - and two larger meat dishes - the duck and lamb. All dishes were fine, nothing special. The carrots were almost sickly sweet after a while, and the duck had a weird sweet and salt sauce that wasnt pleasant. The lamb was by far the worst. It was the most expensive item on the menu and was overly chewy with very little flavour.

For dessert, we got the pain purdu which was the saving grace for the night. But even then, you pay $17 for a small piece of French toast so I really question whether it was actually good or just good in comparison to everything else we ate that night.

If you want a good French Restaurant, save your money and go to Les bistronomes. Real authentic...