wilbur's cafe bar

canberra is famous for the suburban gems located at its local shops. wilbur’s is truly one of these. well love and well supported by locals, it is also a well kept secret that it has terrific food!. serving breakfast ( for extended hours), lunch and dinner and offering plenty of greatspecialsit also generously offers a two for one option for canberra entertainment book holders.

hackett shops aren’t large by any means, and wilbur’s takes up a good portion of it, with plenty of outdoor seating in the sun, and a very dark but large inside dining area. we’re greeted as we step inside, and shown to a table outside when we agree we’d prefer the sun, with menus placed before us. our friendly waiter announces some of thespecials– while her recall is rather good, some dishes have ingredients like, ‘and other really yummy stuff’ – and tells us we can order inside.

the regular menu offers appetizers like arancini balls (yum!) and apple cider oysters, a whole page of pizzas, typical pub food like chicken schnitty and steak sandwich, and some pastas. kids meals are also available. thespecialsmenu looked enticing so i chose the char-grilled eye fillet with homemade potato gems, grilled zucchini, caramelised red onion relish and a garlic prawn skewer ($32.90). i was happy with the presentation. the potato gems were crunchy on the outside and warm and fluffy inside (oh yes!). the prawns were cooked perfectly and had plenty of garlicky flavour. i asked for a medium-rare eye fillet which is unusual for me as i rarely order steak. however, after the best steak ever at the veuve clicquot truffle dinner, i totally changed my preference on how i like a steak cooked. this eye fillet was perfection – a fantastic cut of meat, cooked the way i wanted it. it was deliciously tender and juicy. i would gladly go back for more! my friend ordered the pale ale barramundi with chips and salad ($21.90) off the regular menu. the strips of barramundi were smaller pieces than anticipated and it seemed overpriced for just that little portion of food. from wilbur’s facebook page, it looks like thespecialsmenu changes frequently (daily?) and there are a lot of yummy sounding items. the confit duck with poached pear and scallops was my second choice dish – sounds interesting and i’ve nev