Monster Kitchen And Bar

The food was delicious and the staff were attentive. We got to taste everything with shared plates.

Awesome atmosphere, good for a drink with a friend or a group dinner. very interesting modern décor. Good service. Cheers!

Cannot fault the food, but the service from one of our waiters was abysmal. I think he must have been a newbie, because he didn’t know what wines were what, and brought us the wrong bottle we selected twice. Then I think he realised he was making mistakes and avoided us for the rest of the night — which meant we didn’t get any service. All the other servers were spot on — just wait till the young french waiter gets some more experience before accepting service from him.

Open for breakfast, but «brunch» is only till 12.
After that, it’s «bar food» and «sharing plates». The latter start at around $ 30, while the former are $ 20 and up. Except for $ 10 hand-​cut chips, which were limp and served up with a tomato sauce not unlike Dolmio. Ok for your pasta, but for your chips, it needs a bit of vinegar. And flavour.
Service was languid. Yes, nice suits and professional, but truly professional is a lot snappier.
It didn’t start off well when I was standing by the «wait here to be seated» sign, and after I caught the eye of the third staff member to go by, I was asked «Is there anything I can help you with?» No, I don’t think I looked like a door-​to-​door salesman barging into a 5 star establishment during the main dinner service. Perhaps I don’t look like the average well-​heeled patron of this place, but I was tidily dressed, and see above regarding «professionalism». At least I actually got taken to a table.
Food was average, for the cost. Breakfast offerings looked much more reasonable. Place is nicely decorated, with a great open fire. Music not intrusive. Coffee nice tasting, but the weakest flat white I’ve ever encountered. I had to stop off at Mocan and Grout for proper refueling.
In short, meh. If I go back, I’ll aim for breakfast.

Monster Kitchen and Bar is the gateway to Canberra’s ‘Hotel Hotel’ boutique hotel. We didn’t have time for an overnighter, but spending a couple of hours in the lobby restaurant & bar was a great taster.
Stepping in, I was immediately reminded of Tassie’s MONA. That same sleek, very dim-​lit, black-​heavy feel with splashes of spotlighted art. Even the food is served on black plates to make the colours of the food pop. The space is HUGE, sprawled right through the first floor around wraps around the hotel lobby. It’s the perfect lobby, so relaxing from the second you walk in and loads of freedom to relax at your own pace or give you a reason to leave your room.
The wine list gets 5 stars. Great choices with loads of local love so you can enjoy a drop from Canberra and surrounding regions. It’s split not by the names of wines, but the styles to help you choose something to your taste. Which is lucky. We chose our own wines and the incorrect description our server gave us as she poured them was so off the mark that it made us laugh.
On the service, it was friendly and relaxed. Pretty hands-​off, letting people enjoy a quiet drink. This also meant we had to go up ourselves a couple of times when forgotten about and the aforementioned lack of wine knowledge didn’t help their cause. Not quite 5 star worthy, but let’s not be nit-​picky.
The menu has a great range of small and share plates, with plenty of dishes that you just know are going to taste great, alongside many you will never have eaten to get a bit adventurous. We were just there for a drink and small bite, so we ordered the steak tartare served with blackened crisp rice. It was delicious and really made us regret not having left more time to eat dinner here. I’m still pretty curious about the yabby jaffle…
Would I come back? In a heartbeat! I considered giving this a 4, but the level of relaxed that we felt over some fantastic local wines here was enough to make me rue not making the time to stay longer.

Simply brilliant. The space exciting and seductive. We had an incredible breakfast, with outstanding coffee and delicious food. My omelette with mushrooms and taleggio sublime. My partners poached eggs on gluten free bread cooked to perfection.
If you like great food, outstanding design and excellent coffee this is for YOU.