Matt's Guidebook

Tak Kee Roast Inn is a traditional Honk Kong wonton noodle and roast duck no frills restaurant that we have been going to for years. Flavours of Jiangnan is a new family run restaurant with a lovely friendly vibe and delicious Shanhainese food. Au Lac is a vegan Vietnamese restaurant with delicious meals made from tofu and gluten in ways that imitate traditional meat dishes. Dickson Noodle House (South East Asian cuisine) is a bit of a Canberra institution and has claim to one of the best laksas in town.

The Knox is an excellent café and bakery at the Watson shops. Gang Gang is a great café, bar and live music venue in the Downer shops. Edgar’s is a good café/traditional pub at the Ainslie shops. Dickson Taphouse (and also the sibling Old Canberra Inn in Lyneham) is a great pub with a tasty Italian bistro and innumerable craft beers on tap. Highroad Café in Dickson serves internationally recognised delicious coffee in a spacious and chilled out space - good for a bit of work away from the office.

Hackett shops is small and sweet! 3rd Space in Hackett does excellent wood fired pizza and is a good place to watch the footy or basketball on the big screen. Monkey Wrench Cycles at the Hackett shops are excellent mechanics for any bike repair needs.

IGAs (small local supermarkets) fill a particular role and Hackett IGA does a respectable job of this with a range of fresh breads, reasonable fruit and veg and access to most things you might need. Located in the neighbouring suburb of Ainslie, the Ainslie IGA has taken local supermarket shopping to the next level with a mouth-watering international cheese selection, on-site butcher, award winning homemade dips and excellent fruit and veg. The bottle shop next door and Ainslie Bakery are also very good.