Charcoal Rooster

Thoughtful planning can make a big difference to people's lives, with a case in point being whenever (or possibly after) they decided to build what is now Fenner Hall, someone thought it would be good to put in a couple of small shops nearby. Sitting on Ipima Street, the pair are seemingly isolated, but are close enough so that the residents of the said institutional accommodation wouldn't have to spend too much time and/or money going into Civic for a block of butter or a slab of VB. Instead, there is now a seemingly constantly busy liquor shop/mini-supermarket, and a similarly well-patronised fast food place - Charcoal Rooster.

Along with its evocative, and possibly (undeservedly) off-putting name, Charcoal Rooster, as we've recently discovered, also offers really-quite-good pide. The bread is moist and fresh, the fillings are superior, and overall its just much tastier than our recent experiences with the Turkish Pide House. Plus, the booze next door is some of the cheapest in the Inner North.

Recommended.

Debacle

If the Civic Pub is the social centre of the working-class of Braddon, Debacle is its middle-class counterpart - being usually filled with university students and people who look like young functionaries in one of Canberra's public or private bureaucracies.

In short, it's one of those loud, upmarket pizza places that sprung up as a genre of Australasian dining sometime in the 90s. Unlike most other such places, Debacle does have a genuinely impressive array of beer - probably the best in the city after the Wig and Pen. There are better German wheat beers, Czech pilsners, and Belgian trappist brews on tap - along with other friends in the fridge that we haven't got to yet. Unfortunately, the pizza is a bit of a disappointment - you'd be better off with a burrito from Zambrero across Lonsdale Street. While looking good on the menu, the delivery is just not that flash. On our last visit (on a 2-for-1 Monday), both pizzas were way too doughy and the toppings were seriously undercooked. And while the place does get busy, the kitchen did not look like it was so rushed as to serious cut corners while we were there. Not good.

So, in sum, if you're willing to put up with a little atmospheric vanity, 70s/80s middle-brow pop (Lionel Ritchie/Van Morrison), general noisiness, and the junior ranks of the middle-class - for the payoff of better than average beer (if risking worse than average pizza) - Debacle could be for you.

The Civic Pub

Your attitude to The Civic Pub in Braddon will largely be determined by your attitude towards Australian working class people and their culture. If you have limited sympathy or interest, you will probably think of it in similar terms to a couple of our friends who (on separate occasions) have described the place as full of "meatheads" and with a "Cronulla-like atmosphere". If this is likely to be the case, we recommend that you keep on walking up Lonsdale Street and join the self-admiring middle classes at Debacle, or turn around and go back to Cream.

In short, The Civic Pub is a quintessential contemporary Australian pub without pretension. In fact it barely even pretends to be a pub, with most of its space being turned over to pool tables, and recently, the self-grilling and eating of steaks. It is poorly lit and ventilated. There is a TV within almost any possible line-of-sight, and this TV will be showing either men playing sport, or wrything, under-dressed pop singers. The beer available on tap is generally served with a smile, although the products themselves are entirely unremarkable. The primary features of the decor are contemporary advertisements for brands of alcohol, and faux-antique posters for Asian brands of cigarettes.

If you like beer and playing pool, and your self-image doesn't rule out the possibility of choosing to be in close proximity to workers in the building trades, car salesmen, office administrators, and less precious students and public servants, The Civic Pub could be for you.

O Stratos

On Lonsdale Street, across the road from the Civic Pub, next to an art gallery, and a shop for surfing-and-snowboarding middle-class kids is O Stratos, one of Canberra's few Greek restaurants. We've been here a few times, making a point of sitting by the window to allow gazing at Mt Ainslie and passing junior civil servants on their way home to the 1- and 2- bedroom apartments of Braddon. And generally we've enjoyed ourselves.

The food itself is a bit patchy, with us experiencing repeated evidence of the microwaving of key elements of meals prepared earlier, but while not being cheap, it is also not that expensive (i.e. $16-26 mains). The spanokopita (fetta and spinach pie) and prawn meals we had last time round were OK, but certainly not outstanding. The bread and dips as entrees were somewhat more memorable, and the service has been consistently friendly and efficient time after time. Perhaps, in sum, O Stratos lives up to its self-categorisation as a taverna - complete with representations of white-washed villages above the Mediterranean on the walls - rather than a fine dining establishment, and should be appreciated in these terms.

Notes on the Bottle Shops of Braddon

Here at Always Hungry - in Canberra, we are sometimes also a bit thirsty. This thirst therefore necessitates us visiting the bottle shops of Braddon, of which there are three.

The first of these is the Braddon Cellars, who style themselves as the "The Friendly Sellers". On this they are not wrong, with always friendly staff, in opposition to their name proper given that the shop is clearly not situated in a cellar. The place is bright and functional, if also catering to booze-hounds stumbling over from The Civic Pub or wherever. Prices are low and the selection is satisfactory for the likes of us, and so we thoroughly recommend it.

Further up Lonsdale Street is The Bottle-O, apparently formerly run by the owners of Debacle but now sold-on to a local chain of booze shops. While it was run by the Debacle crowd there was clearly an emphasis on an uncluttered aesthetic, but which has now been replaced by more hustle. The prices are notably up a notch from The Friendly Sellers, but rather than working class men and male students doing serving, customers are presented with middle-aged middle class men who affect knowledge on things boozy, along with female students behind the counter. One bonus is their stocking of the Rewined range of very drinkable local Canberra Region wines sold on a deposit basis (i.e. customers receive a $3 discount on the return of a bottle).

Finally, over on Mort Street is a bulk chain whose actual name currently escapes us, but possibly contains the words "Discount" or "A-1" or something. Anyway, it's a bit scary in that its staff are apparently strictly obliged to great you in an over-friendly manner (another tyranny of the age), but has an extensive and very cheap range of cheap own-label wines.

All in all, given the more or less equivalence of choice and pricing we would recommend the slightly edgy and untamed feel of the "Friendly Sellers", but of course, the choice is yours.

Blue Elephant

So you’ve made it almost to the end of Lonsdale St (Braddon)—most likely on the off chance that you’ll manage to squeeze your way in to the trendy, crowded, and noisy place that sells average pizza and reputable European beers. Yes, some people really get off on that kind of thing… In search of something a little different, we (have on many an occasion) decided to give the ‘scene’ a miss and try our luck across the road—at Blue Elephant.

Up the stairs and pass the “Australian Republican Movement” office (yes, you read right) the first surprise awaits—the most lavishly decorated and comfortable take-away waiting area ever. Behind the counter is one of the friendliest elderly restaurant owners (we presume) we’ve ever come across—not friendly in a smarmy way, just a genuine “I’m happy to be here and I’m happy you’re here” vibe. Nice. We call him “The Guy”.

The Guy is the only person on the ‘floor’—he sets your table, takes the order, and brings the food, once the invisible chef downstairs has finished doing his/her magic and the bell rings. How cute and retro! The food is, like, seriously good. Oh, damn it, it’s delicious, OK? Because one of us is a vegetarian, we tend to go for the veggie options—malai kofta, devilled paneer, potato and spinach curry, and eggplant curry are favourites, with naan and saffron rice. We once had a thali (me a non-veggie version) and weren’t impressed—so, stick to the menu. Oh, and Kingfisher beer is a must—it’s perfect with the creamy, spicy and fragrant dishes they serve here.
What puzzles me most about this place is just how good a time we seem to have every time we come here. I don’t know—it’s welcoming, and calming (weird, I know), and sort of homey. A place at peace with itself, and with its guests.