lilotang japanese

if a sophisticated, intimate night out filled with delicious, flavoursome food and top service is what you’re after then, lilotang is the place for you. as soon as i heard about the opening of lilotang knew it was going to be up there with some of canberra’s best restaurants. but after spending two months overseas last year and a year filled with interstate travel, lots of working and a super busy year i still hadn’t made it there.

if a sophisticated, intimate night out filled with delicious, flavoursome food and top service is what you’re after then lilotang is the place for you. this fine-dining japanese restaurant is located in barton at the burbury hotel apartments. the atmosphere, decor, food and service combined guarantees a great night. with fresh flavours yummy dishes on offer lilotang needs to go on your 'to eat' list while in canberra. we went with the tasting menu that included 8 dishes for $85. more photos and a few review can be found on eatcanberra.com.au

i adore lilotang, one of canberra’s modern japanese restaurants, and was very excited to see that they’re offering lobster rolls as part of the night noodle market. stationed right by the entrance, the staff were proudly claiming to have canberra’s best japanese as we approached the stall. i ordered the lobster roll ($11) and dad went for the pork belly bun ($10) beng offered by stall-partner chairman and yip. both dishes were served within 5 minutes of us ordering them, which i was super impressed by! the lobster roll looked small, but don’t let that deceive you – there’s plenty of delicious lobster filling packed within the two

never again!
the food was fine, although the portions were small. the service from the wait staff was fine.

our problem was with the manager. we sat down and ordered before my wife and her friend went looking for the bathroom. on the way, they stopped to ask the manager. his response? "are you eating at this restaurant?" rude? yes. confused? yes, so we're we. why else would someone look for a bathroom in a restaurant.

our second issue with the manager was when we were presented with the bill. rice on the menu was quoted "p.p." most people expect that this to mean "per person". on questioning the bill, the manager claimed it was "per piece". ridiculous when most items on a menu are charged per item by default! we eat at asian restaurants often and rice is often charged per person. after plenty of arguing, he agreed to fix the bill. customer service meant nothing to this restaurant manager!

after the exceptional meal of 2015, i couldn't leave canberra without one final booking. this restaurant thoroughly deserved the one chef hat accolade in their first year and i was excited to come back especially after re-reading my previous review.

during my recent work trip to canberra, i stayed at the burbury, a boutique hotel in barton. the hotel is part of the realm precinct which conveniently is also home to a number of restaurants. lilotang is a modern japanese restaurant with a menu that is a mix between fine dining and izakaya.

i really did not expect to like lilotang this much. i always have doubts over restaurants that serve asian food in a "westernised" setting. especially japanese food, not everyone can get jap food right, and usually "modern japanese" food basically taste so over the top that all you taste is the soy/miso/mirin. well, you get my point.
but tonight i had a really really great dinner there. first of all the hospitality by the waiter named shawn was really friendly and attentive. he's genuinely nice and made us feel welcome. we didn't want to order any drinks so we ordered food right away. before the food came we were served edamame. it's not your regular edamame with salt, they put other spices or sauce on it, and it tasted really good.
our first entree was the kara age quail. it was really juicy with the right amount of sauce. they were right to use quail instead of chicken, because it made the best version of kara age dish.
our second entree was the pork belly robata. now, this is actually very tasty. but i'm the kind of person who just cannot get the taste of pork belly, but i'm always curious because everyone else seems to like pb. so i will definitely order other entree next time that doesn't contain pb in it.
our main is sukiyaki duck and kara age tempura rice, and umami roasted veggies as a side dish (those are 3 diff dishes btw), and they are all amazing. we asked for a well done duck because i'm not in a condition to eat raw meat at the moment, so understandably it was a bit dry, but it's not their fault and it was still more enjoyable that other duck dishes i've ever tried in other places.
the desserts sounds interesting so we couldn't pass that up. at first i wanted to try the mochi with green tea ice cream, but after hearing shawn the waiter's explanation about the tea pudding, we were intrigued, so we had that. it was so good! the pudding is really soft and it taste like milk tea with a little bit of sugar, so it was the perfect palate cleanser. in fact, it was the better and dessert version of "drinking tea after a meal", which a lot of chinese people like me like to do. if you have to end your meal with something sweet, then this dessert is not for you.
we spent $92 for 2 people for all of those dishes and we were definitely full (we're two women with decent appetite). i will definitely go back to lilotang again to try other dishes, and i can't wait to try the sashimis after i'm allowed to eat raw food again.

best modern japanese cuisine in canberra. highly recommend especially the tea pudding as dessert. the black cod is a bit sweet but quite tender. the wagyu sushi is good while another is too fishy and salty. i also love the cauliflower with cashews! next time i will try the chicken meatball and grilled wagyu beef.

pronunciation: li|lo|tang (lee-l’oh-tang)

a quirky little japanese restaurant at the bottom of burberry hotel in barton – little known, but well worth the trip. a derivative of kaiseki and izakaya dining styles, lilotang serves up an eclectic mix of japanese flavours that showcases aspects of japanese cuisine that are seldom explored.

the chairman group has been one of canberra’s hospitality mainstays over the last two decades. since opening in 1992, the iconic chairman & yip restaurant in civic has been serving up refined yet honest cantonese food, attracting a loyal following of politicians and suits along the way. in 2008, the group (headed by josiah li) added the lanterne rooms to their stable, followed by malamay in 2012; and both restaurants have been great successes.

i've been meaning to try lilotang since it opened in january. month after month there was a tentative plan, a special occasion, some murmurs of interest from friends, but in the end work and life got in the way. finally after 5 months of planning, i made it. on a chilly tuesday night, i drove and parked at hotel realm (free parking after 4:30pm - who knew?). on approaching the entrance, the invisible cloud of charcoal grilled everything permeated around and whet my appetite. the inside decor is a nice combination of cosy, modern, refined, mixed with a little japanese manga and text.

sensational modern japanese food with a bit more flavour and punch than traditional japanese food. had the 8 course tasting menu and the standouts were the black cod, duck sukiyaki and pork belly skewers. a welcoming atmosphere, not pretentious at all, and beautiful plating and ceramics.

lilotang has got a winning formula to become a big hit in barton. from the deco, food, drink to the service. this just reminds of maedaya in richmond melbourne but much more sleek. i particularly love how they present their food on plates. it's just simply beautiful and also tastes great. our winning dishes would be those two pork dishes (pork belly skewers and pork spare ribs) the service is impeccable, genuine and attentive. although the price range is a little bit on high side, i guarantee you it's well worth it. highly recommended. we will return when we touch down to act next time.

another upmarking japanese fusion restaurant. worthwhile a try. we are glad that last few years canberra has opened up quite a number of modern fusion restaurants. there is a similar fusion japanese restaurant in the city, akiba. we prefer lilotang. this is another chairman & yip group restaurant. it's upmarket but casual. deco was modern and spacious. service was wonderful. as for food, as previous review indicated, it's innovative, it's elegant and it's tasty. we ordered tasting menu and every dish was wonderful. it was a pleasant evening for a special occasion.

simply amazing!. this restaurant is just perfect! beautiful aesthetics and the food was amazing. staff were excellent. all round 100%!