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.

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 While it was run by the Debacle crowd there was clearly an emphasis on an uncluttered aesthetic, but which has now been replaced by more hustle.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.