We have eaten here before (pre-COVID) and found it very good. We decided to visit again on a trip to Canberra. It was quite disappointing. The food was OK but not special. The service was poor. On arrival we were shown to a table very...near a large group and didn't want to sit there, for both COVID and noise reasons. We were then shown to a table which was extremely rickety. So we asked to sit at an empty table near the window, but were told it was booked. Eventually the staff agreed to let us sit there; and, guess what, it hadn't been booked - nobody arrived. We were also told that the floors had been relaid, and that most of the tables were rickety because the floor was uneven.
We called a waiter over to order our food and it then arrived quickly. After that, though, the service was awful. The staff were chatting behind the counter and didn't notice what diners were doing, although only a few tables were in use. We had to ask for our table to be cleared when we had finished our main course. We would have liked to stay for a dessert, but gave up trying to catch the attention of the staff, and left.
While I appreciate the post-COVID staff shortage situation in hospitality , the restaurant didn't seem actually short of front-of-house staff.More