Rizla — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

I honestly do not enjoy leaving poor reviews and I really rarely do it as I know it can have a lasting impact on the establishment when they don’t deserve it. In this case though, my partner and I felt completely played when we went to this restaurant. Granted, we didn’t do our research properly and only went via Google reviews, which, to be honest, don’t tell you much about the place compared to industry standards. I guess Rizla has friends in high places or else a herd mentality following, which really wouldn’t surprise me based on the mediocre… everything. Firstly, we were offered a paired set menu which didn’t exist; the waiter (weirdly and very clearly wired on something and who we later overheard the waitstaff airing grievances about) seemed surprised that we even chose this option and shortly after grabbed the only two open bottles of wine on the counter nearby to pour us before fumbling through a weak explanation of their relevance to the first entree which hadn’t yet even arrived. The whole set menu thing obviously confused the second waitstaff who intercepted our table about halfway through. They apologised lamely before offering wines which were so totally divergent from our meals and just the general order of set menus that we at least had a laugh over it. We tried to keep up this general positivity until the mains arrived. A giant bowl of semi-charred corn and overcooked linguine in a discordant and seriously unpalatable kind of pumpkin broth? The night ended on dry doughnut balls for dessert served with a side of manic waiter, extremely stressed staff and $300+ bill. Do your research...

We dined at Rizla for a girls catch up lunch. We also had a baby with us and the team made space for our pram. They were accommodating and allowed us to bring a booster seat for bubba.

The service is excellent and the food is delish - I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Everything that we ordered was spot on. The tuna tartare, the oysters, soup shot, chicken skewers, and the PAPPARDELLE is to die for. Sometimes sides are overrated but not at Rizla - the broccolini and potatoes are great accompaniments. Corn salad is great too (though we didn’t order it this time around).

Sticky date for dessert was a great way to top off our lunch.

They have an AMAZING Riesling menu, including a Riesling tasting non-alcoholic Riesling for anyone who’s not drinking booze.

Even though it was winter, the staff turned in the heaters as soon as we arrived and had blankets ready to go. So we weren’t cold at all (in fact we could easily take our jackets off as it was a perfect...

One of the best restaurants in Canberra, if not, Australia wide.

The service was 5/5 impeccable from the attentive waiters who managed expectations super well with food waiting times, menu recommendations and speed of service.

The food was perhaps one of the most flavourful and enjoyable experiences I have had in my lifetime of different restaurants I have been to. The chef deserves a massive raise and should open up several restaurants. I came here for the riesling and I stayed for the food AND riesling, absolutely phenomenal.

The place was also heated with portable heaters during a cold night, again adding to the amazing service.

This restaurant and riesling bar is absolutely insane and anyone visiting Canberra like myself should 150% book this place if you enjoy wine and amazing food.

Thank you for making...