courgette

j and i were invited to a milestone birthday dinner at courgette. it had been years since i last dined there so i was really looking forward to it. as there were a few of usdiningfor dinner, we were seated in the wine cellar. a dangerous place to be in if you love wine. drink orders were taken and i asked whether a mocktail could be made. our waitress informed us that any type of mocktail could be made – did i prefer something fruity? yes, fruity would be wonderful. another person at the table asked for something lemony. my raspberry mocktail came served in a wine glass and i was happy with the berry fizz like concoction. no photo sorry.

boring.
while the taste and service is reasonable, this restaurant is a has-been. it lacks creativity, artistry, and purpose. it feels like one is stuck in 1990s/early 2000s and wishes to stay there. i have a feeling it was only busy because all the other finediningrestaurants are still closed. also, this place isn’t hatted for 2020 (no surprise). service is excellent, food portions are generous for a degustation. not recommended if you’re a foodie.

me and my partner went to canberra a while ago and had chosen this place as a part of our two days trip. we both agree that this was one of the best decision we had made.

living in melbourne there are far more choices to choose from and we all agree that there are far more option as to finediningfood. our experience in courgette, however, was one of the best!
for the price of $85 for three course menu and the food we receive we could not fault anything! the service was amazing but the food was outstanding!

thank you so much for the experience, we and our family will definitely be back whenever we visit canberra.

what an extremely enjoyablediningexperience. our evening seating was in a separate room surrounded by wine racks albeit somewhat destitute. the 4 course menu each has 3 or 4 choices and each course for me was a tough choice as there is multiple temptations.
my decisions landed on prawn cannoli, seared scallops, lamb chops, and panacotta.
all plates were very good to outstanding. perhaps the dessert was the weakest but by no means a disappointment. the panacotta was extremely delicate and melted away in the mouth.
the scallops were the best i have had in a long while. they are ubiquitous these days but often fail to deliver. these were modest sized, perfectly cooked, firm and tender and had flavour!
the service was attentive but lacked the polish of the food but that is nit picking a little. all around it was adiningpleasure.

finediningat its best. courgette's hospitality has to be well commended. the chefs attention to detail on each dish truely demonstates the amount of effort and time put in. each course had an abundance of flavours that compliment each other. the front of house staff are well mannered and are up to date with the menu as well as the ambiance was comforting.diningat courgette is well worth the time and money. i highly recommenddininghere.

i sussed out all of the restaurants in canberra so that i could determine what restaurants to book for my holiday. courgette was my top choice and i did thoroughly enjoy the food. the wine list was extensive and the menu is vegetarian friendly. the vego options are creative too which is always nice to see. the cheese platter was presented in a wacky and innovative way which was a nice surprise. i went with three other people and we all had a really good experience. the only downer was that the guy serving us was arrogant and very rude at the end. we were having a good time, had drunk multiple bottles of wine and spent a lot of money... and this guy was practically pushing us out the door. he kept coming over and asking us if he wanted us to get him to call a taxi... er no, no we don't... or we would have asked (obviously!) it wasn't even that late. so it is worth visiting courgette for the food - but the service leaves something to be desired. i expect more from a finediningestablishment.

a stand out in the finediningclass - amazing service, incredible food and an intimate decor.

bring your credit card but enjoy the ride!

now that i've had the opportunity to eat at courgette, it seems natural that i'll have to try aubergine sometime for comparison. it was a small group dinner at courgette, which meant the lucky use of the boardroom - a privatediningarea that i imagine is usually filled by business people trying to impress each other. the room is beautiful and stylish, with equally impressive extra-wide chairs to fit the largest of fatcats. it does create a slight excessive distance between each guest but not rea

unlike some other places in canberra. you pay for quality here. the food was delicious, you could see everyone nodding in agreement as they ate. we left having a greatdiningexperience and will return.

the best. best finediningin canberra (with aubergine). always have a wonderful night of good food, wine and service.

msp. first course was tasty, the remaining courses were all very salty and had no other flavour. dessert wasn't very inspiring, which was very disappointing. the two other people i wasdiningwith had the same response to their meals. won't bother going back.

hits all the right spots!. courgette truly deserves its standing as one of canberra's great finediningrestaurants. service is terrific, attentive and were always willing to explain the menu and answer any questions we had. the 4 course menu for $80 offers exceptional value for money and makes this a finediningexperience a wonderful treat that won't leave you penniless. in terms of food; one cannot fault courgette for knowing how to make unusual flavours and textures work brilliantly; everything we had was delicious and tasted fresh while the presentation of dishes was simply beautiful. we waited for a relatively longer period than normal in between dishes (compared with other experiences) however i felt that waiting a little longer in between dishes worked well as it gave one enough time to savour their previous meal and begin to get excited about the next offering.

what i would suggest is that courgette tries to ensure that it is a little more prompt in getting an initial drink order off its diners after they are seated as we had to wait a bit too long to get drinks, however besides this tiny blight our experience was simply amazing and i would highly recommend courgette to anyone seeking a fabulous experience and wanting to highlight a special event in their life!

top points for food! i was utterly impressed by three out of my four courses. and at $75 for four courses i thought this was some of the best value finediningin canberra. in addition, the restaurant had a lovely ambiance which i truly enjoyed. however, the service was rather unimpressive and unacceptable, which somewhat spoiled the entire experience for me. i won't be in a hurry to return as a result and still rate aubergine and sage as my top two finediningvenues in canberra for their fine food and equally fine service to match.

yum. had a first wedding anniversary here with husband. i absolutely love it. one of the bestdiningexperience i've ever had. restaurant has a nice ambiance, service is all right.
we had the 4 courses dinner for $75 each person, which i think is reasonably priced. i had foie gras, pork belly, salmon and almond and pear dessert. foie gras was beautiful, i love it (but not everyone like foie gras in general). pork belly was so-so. salmon was a winning dish. it's so smooth and tasty. it doesn't look like your average salmon dish. but definitely one of the best salmon dish i've ever had in my life. almond and pear dessert was not my fave, but then again i'm not a big fan of desserts.
husband had scallop n trout, lamb cutlet, angus beef and coffee souffle. all of them were great, but angus beef was his least favorite.
definitely would eat here again for the next special occasion.

courgettes still offers a finediningexperience when it come to the food and the wine, but some of its previous magic has faded. i can forgive (sort of) the chef for not providing us with the degustation experience we had mentioned on the phone when we booked, as we did take an additional person in at the last minute, however i have a sneaking suspicion that we would have been declined that option even if we did not. the wait staff were knowledgeable and friendly, but there was something missing in the front of house that had always been there in the past. it was the attention to the little things, that was missing from the many times i had dined here previously. for instance, i used to always smile when returning to the table as, without fail, the napkin had been refolded and placed on the table and the chair was pushed in, and staff were there to assist you into your chair and return the napkin to your lap upon your return. alas, seemingly a thing of the past. speaking of the facilities, there was a distinct tiredness that was not helped by a cracked porcelain hand basin that had obviously cracked more than a few days ago; there were other unsavoury issues with the urinal, which seem entirely inappropriate to go into in this review; and finally i cant help but think that the carpet in the hallway to the bathrooms was probably as tired and overworked as the chef? so the food and the wine? well, they were still as good as one would expect in a one-hat restaurant, but the lack of detail at the front of house - i even had to go up to the bar area to find someone to finally address our bill - left the three of us wondering if the charm had left courgettes. will i go back? probably yes, but not with the enthusiasm i would have hoped, and not until i have revisited some of courgettes competition.


-----01 feb, 2011-----

bring your money and your friends. do yourself a favour and dine here. sadly cigars are no longer an option but the degustation wine matched 7 courses is not to be missed. if you are doing a lunch you won't be going back to work. the brandy list (sans cigars) is comprehensive. food, wine and service - all as you would expect for three hats. 4.988 out of 5.1