Anise

Ph: 6257 0700; Melbourne Building, 20 West Row, CANBERRA 2600 www.aniseincanberra.com.au

Contemporary, $$, * for Food & Ambience, Good Wine List
Open Lunch Tue-Fri noon-2.30pm Dinner Tue-Fri 6.30-10pm Sat 6-10pm; Licensed, BYO , Corkage $8 bottle; AE DC MC V EFT
Chef Jeff Piper (29-11-08) Owner Justin Kavanagh & Jeff Piper (29-11-08)

Mietta's Review
The Melbourne Building is alive with the sound of up-market restaurants. Anise is one of them. It charges a very reasonable $27 for mains. The room best features are the arched windows of the iconic building and the comfortable banquets that line one wall. The waiting staff are all female and, under the eagle eye of the sommelier (part owner Justine Kavanagh), obedient, low key and efficient. The wine list is excellent and its guardian clearly knows her stuff. The cooking is good and the food is modern Australian with all that encompasses - experimentation which sometimes works and at other times doesn't, often because of palate faults. This is quite a reasonable restaurant just waiting to make a break from the recent past and its surburban roots.

Other published opinions

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 14/20 "It's quiet, casually elegant and offers a calm respite with its comfortable padded chairs, tasteful cushions and excellent service. Delicious Ligurian-style olives from McLaren Vale arrive while you peruse a French menu with Asian inspirations"

Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide "The streets of the nation's capital are quiet at night. Except for Fridays on West Row - the Melbourne building is pumping. It's laced with bars, cafes and restaurants - among them, the stylish Anise"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 13.5/20 "Anyone sick of noisy restaurants with hard surfaces will love sinking into Anise's muted interior, with its softly padded beige chairs and bench seats, and suede-look mocha walls and carpet"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide "West Row is abuzz with restaurants, so when you put up your shingle on a street alongside so many competitors you've got your work cut out drawing people in - and keeping them coming back"

Sydney Eats 2008 "Anise pleases with professional service and great food"

Canberra Times Bryan Martin, 12-07-06 "The restaurant has an elegant French feel to it with the high-back bench seat running down the length of the room. The tables are simply and tastefully arranged and you can glimpse the busy chefs through the serving portal. The menu has eight starters and mains and tends towards hearty and exotic flavours and ingredients. ."

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2007 Score: 14/20 "In just five years Anise has become one of the senior members of Canberra's best restaurant strip, opposite the law courts in leafy West Row. Muted lighting, a comfy banquette running along one wall with pillows placed just so, and good acoustics make it a pleasure to spend an evening here."

Gourmet Traveller 2007 Restaurant Guide "This place is buzzy. A little loud, but definitely buzzy. Large tables of locals feast on the fare of chefs Jeff Piper and Nick Carter, from fluffy twice-cooked carrot and Gruyere souffle to robust, earthy, house-made boudin noir."

SMH Good Food Guide 2006 Score 13/20 "Perch on the long banquette to enjoy the best view of the crowd and the seductive room swathed in oyster-mushroom browns. Rabbit and prune terrine with dijon is desirously rustic. A silken entree allows seared scallops to gather around a sweet cauliflower puree."

Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide 2006 "Nice wine list, this. Lots of interest, lots to like, lots by the glass and e good representation of Canberra's regional wines. The food ain't bad, either."

SMH GFG 2005 Score 14/20 "There she is. Justin Kavanagh, Anise's part owner, floor manager and arguably the best thing about Anise, is navigating tables at high speed, chatting when needed, explaining her excellent wine list and cajoling the chef (often partner Jeff Piper) in between."

The Age AGFG 2005 "THERE'S a lot to love about this smart place on the hottest eating strip in town, not least the mod-Oz food."

Sydney Cheap Eats 2005 "Settle in for some good service in a warm, refined ambience. Add a great wine list and very good food and what more could you ask?"

Gourmet Resstaurant Guide 2005 "The allure of Anise lies not only in the warmth of the dining room, with its cushioned bench seating and flattering low lighting, but also with the quiet air of confidence shown by the staff on the floor. ... the expansive wine list includes a representative selection of local region cool-climate wines."

SMH GFG 2004,Score 13/20,'Anise has a surprisingly long and ambtitious menu-around 11 entrees and 10 mains.The reassuring thing is that somehow they manage to get them right most of the time.The prettiness of the restaurant's muted tones is complemented by comfy chairs,pleasant service and a mercifully concise wine list.'

Daily Telegraph NSW Restaurant Guide 2004, Best Modern Australian Restautant (Formal) ACT, Dishes such as bugtail ravioli ... have won Anise two major awards for best Canberra restaurant. There is a small bar area.

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Australia 2004, 'Excellent wine list, Bookings recommended.''a smart dining space.The ambience is relaxed but intimate...more rustic take on Modern Australian cuisine...The service...is flawless...an attentive. team...The wine list is one of the most comprehensive in town

Canberra times 15.11.01 mediterranean and French food , relaxed, understated decor