lilotang japanese

amazing food and service !!!. we were really impressed by the quality of all the meals and the creativity of the chef. the service was perfect all night long and we had such a great time at lilotang.
we will definitely go back and recommend it !


-----31 may, 2015-----

amazing food and service !. having a japanese food desire, we went to lilotang after my partner and i had a quick look at themenuonline and booked in a table. it was surprisingly quiet for a saturday night. we were warmly welcomed by po. after a look at themenui was definitely tempted by the different tasting menus and my partner being vegetarian asked if there was any vege take on those tasting menus. po was really arranging and offered us a special shared tastingmenuwith a few meaty options for me. not knowing much about sake, we decided on a bottle of gewurtztraminer to go with our meals

best japanese restaurant in canberra :). food was fantastic, the bento box lunch set was so good. need to go back and try out the dinnermenusoon!

delightful meal and wonderful services. had the tastingmenu, started with avocado tuna, and some yakitori skewers, pork belly and chicken meat ball. black cod, lamb and the duck for the main was so delicious. will definitely come back with my friends next time.

thumbs up!

lilotang is like a hidden gem in the heart of the city. amazing customer service and i’d simply go again just for that. they don’t have an elaborate menu, so we tried half themenuat the very first visit and the ensured they delivered the perfect dishes. it’s an excellent choice for that quirky restaurant you pick for a date.

a little hard to see from the road, but lilotang is quite busy even for a thursday night. we ordered the $65pp setmenufor two so we could try out different aspects of the menu.

my favourites were the bbq squid, seared sirloin in herb miso and spicy miso sauces, and matcha ice cream with mochi tofu.

overall the service and food was good. of noting was the hospitality of zack - one of the waiters - who knew we were just in from sydney and offered to give us tips on where to eat around the canberra area.

do give lilotang a try!

we tried the setmenuand enjoyed it immensely, particularly the sushi starter. themenuhere, whilst include japanese classics, is more of a fusion with western twists.

if you do not like a lot of fat or burnt parts on your steak - i suggest skipping it. there were lots of parts where i could not chew. the slow cooked pork melted in our mouth but again was extremely fatty. the drinksmenuwere excellent and we had a very good warm sake.

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 tastingmenuthat included 8 dishes for $85. more photos and a few review can be found on eatcanberra.com.au

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 themenuwas 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 amenuare 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!

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 amenuthat is a mix between fine dining and izakaya.

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

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 tastingmenuand every dish was wonderful. it was a pleasant evening for a special occasion.

yes, canberra is inundated with new restaurants at the moment but there is definitely a place for lilo tang as themenuhere is quite different to anything else in canberra. it may not be traditional japanese but the flavours are interesting and the dishes do push creative boundaries in the right way. i found the prices and portion sizes to be quite reasonable. the service was friendly and welcoming even though it came with a few hiccups but that’s hardly worth mentioning as this was the first day of trade and some staff had very obvious training wheels on and some way to go in learning the menu. overall, lilo tang was a very positive experience and i’m very much looking forward to returning for round two of my favourite dishes.

the latest venture by the chairman group (chairman & yip, malamay , lanterne rooms) is lilotang in barton, offering modern japanese cuisine. headed by chef shunsuke ota (formerly of nobu melbourne), there was much anticipation of this restaurant opening. i have been teased by photos on social media and had my first taste of binchotan (charcoal) skewers at the inaugural night market canberra in december. now that it’s birthday month (wooh!), i booked in birthday party #1 at lilotang with a group of friends. lilotang is located opposite hotel realm and next door to malamay. there’s an array of patterns and shapes that catches the eye and i didn’t know what to look at first. the criss-crossed ropes hanging just under the ceiling gives more contrast to the area. art prints and what looks like recycled wooden items line the grey wall. the kitchen is separated from the dining area to keep noise levels down. a robata grill is installed in the kitchen bringing in a centuries-old japanese style of grilling over binchotan. light coloured natural wooden panels with cut out patterns decorate the restaurant, serving as privacy screens between some tables. a cool feature about these panels is that they slide along the length of the restaurant – giving the restaurant flexible options to provide privacy for diners. last but not least, i couldn’t miss the brightly coloured splashes of manga print throughout the restaurant. as well as on the menus on each table. the sake list is sure to impress with 24 different types of sake. there’s also beer, wine, cider and scotch for those not into sake. my friends ordered beers and a bottle of the plum sake yamada iyuro. no mocktails on the drinksmenubut staff can easily put something together. i got a mocktail of orange juice, passion fruit, and lemonade. as we were a group of 16, our waiter provided options of what we could do. the easiest option was to let the chefs decide on a few dishes to share, as long as there were plenty of various d