Urban Pantry — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

We were in Canberra for a weekend and looked up cafes to visit via google & Instagram. This café caught our eye and we are glad it did. We headed down to Mankua area, which is thriving with cafes, which we were pleasantly surprised about given it was between Christmas and New Year’s.

The Urban Pantry occupies a corner location just by a small open arcade. Its big swinging doors greet you from the front and it’s interior styling has a white cottage chic vibe going on, very pretty, with plenty of greenery. You can also sit alfresco.

It wasn’t too busy and we were seated quickly. The food being served to other diners looked fabulous and the menu is very approachable so we had a very difficult time deciding what to order. Breakfast is until 11:30 or all day dining on weekends - we were brunch visitors but the lunch meals also looked very appealing, in particular the house made gnocchi or meat skewers. This will be for another time!

For the breakfast choices, their sweet dishes include Brioche French Toast and buttermilk pancakes. There’s also plenty of amazing choices to make that are savoury. Whether it be the chef’s pan or urban avocado, mushroom bruschetta or an omelette, you will find something to suit. We decided on their spring onion crumpets, topped with campari cured gravlax, creme fraiche and a toasted grain panagratto. The crumpets were light and fluffy and the topping was a lovely flavour combination. We really enjoyed this dish.

I had the summer fruits – a plate of mango, dragonfruit, kiwi fruit, watermelon, pineapple and a coconut yoghurt pancaotta with macadamia granola. It was lovely and refreshing for summer. Could have done with a more generous serve of the granola for the crunch factor, but that said it was a good dish.

To be honest I’m slightly regretting not ordering an open toast; the option that had oven roasted maple pear, basket ricotta and Majura Valley Vanilla honey is still calling my name. At least, it gives me a want to return!

We really like that this café is not one of the typical cafes we often see in Sydney with their run of the mill bacon and egg rolls or over the top sweet colourful insta worthy dishes. We like that they are inventive and creative, making delicious dishes with beautiful fresh ingredients in an interesting way. Everything was stunning and we are super keen to revisit when...

I've had worse...

...but I didn't pay as much for worse. I have to agree with Andrew White's comments regarding the dry and unbelievable tough toast and Zander Aaron's recommendation of a double shot.

Service was ok - at first - and food came out fairly quickly. However, I was left for half an hour while making it obvious that I was reading these reviews before being asked if I wanted anything else. By that time it was too late for me to order a second coffee and try Zander's suggestion of a double shot. I particularly wanted to see if they could make it HOT on the second try and if the double shot could produce any actual flavour.

The atmosphere was noisy, the tables small and too close together and the seating less than comfortable.

Eggs Benedict is my staple for testing breakfast menus around Canberra. This offering was not the worst I've had but it was a long, long way short of the best. The eggs were poached to perfection, the ham was superb, but that single piece of toast limited the amount of space for the ham making the whole offering seem quite stingy for the price. Know your market guys; I've found much better value offerings very close by as well as several in the city. As Andrew mentioned in his review, the toast is tough, so tough I thought I was going to send the whole breakfast flying if my knife ever made it through. I know this sort of bread is trendy but it's just not practical for Eggs Benedict. If you can't manage to put plenty of ham on both halves of an English muffin then two thick slices of plain white toast would be far more practical. Then to top it all off, the greatest disappointment of all, the hollandaise was cold. It's the crowning glory of this dish and you stuffed it.

You get one star for the average food, one star for the average service, nothing for atmosphere and nothing for value. Unless you can let me know you've perfected this dish I won't need to come back; there are plenty of better choices in...

If you are particularly about your coffee this is not the place to go and if you want good customer service this is not the place either.

My husband and I each ordered a small latte after our meal. After one sip we sent them both back because they were weak and milky and tasted like they had been made using burnt old beans. My husband asked for a smaller latte explaining that the first one was weak and milky. The server responded with “you should have ordered a picalo”. I asked if they had a medium roast option and the server explained that they only has the one roast. As I did not want another burnt old bean coffee I did not ask for a new coffee just sent the first one back.

When the bill came, so my surprise, we were charged for one picalo and one latte. The manager said that I ordered the coffee so had to pay for it ... even though it was undrinkable in my opinion. That’s after we spent over $50 on lunch! No apology, no “I’m sorry you we’re not happy with your coffee” nothing.

Otherwise the location is good, decor and atmosphere are also good, food is on the pricey side. Coffee and service need work.

Will not...