Alto Tower Restaurant

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

I took my wife here for our 8th wedding anniversary last week. My wife ordered the soufflé and the pork belly, while I had the buffalo mozzarella and a medium rare steak, All meals were cooked to perfection and the steak was cooked amazingly. The atmosphere was great with the view really setting the mood. My wife and I had a great time.

Apr 17, 2012 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

A rare truly exceptional experience.

Apr 14, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  8     

I'm surprised to see these negative reviews, because our time up at Alto's was amazing, the food, the service, the view were all top shelf. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and will definitely be back!

Apr 11, 2012 

3.8 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  8      Service  1      Value  2     

The view from the restaurant is beautiful at night and I'd imagine that it would be breathtaking in daylight. The oysters for entree was passable. Of the 4 mains ordered, the spatchcock and the fish were good but did not justify being 41$ a dish while the lamb and the pork were either too salty or tasteless. The highlight of the dinner was the dessert (dark chocolate and cherries). The dark chocolate pudding was the right temperature and delicious!

However, the service, which unfortunately forms a big part of the dining experience, was appalling! One would expect that for a restaurant as high end as that, it would at least have good service if not great! Instead the waitstaff were disengaging, curt to the point of being rude, had possibly forgotten how to smile, failing miserably at creating an atmosphere that people would want to go back to.

In my opinion, it is definitely not worth the money! The only thing that would make me go back would be the view, which can be seen from the viewing gallery for a far less price !

May 13, 2011 

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  1      Value  1     

Only go for the view - service was awful awful awful, my chair was broken, when I tried to swap it for another chair the maitre'd approached our table speaking in a tone where others tables could clearly hear her saying “Excuse me, excuse me”. After explaining why we were changing the chair, she raved on about how the restaurant was fully booked (but looking around there would have been about 50 tables without anyone!). A complete overreaction from someone who should have been more professional and completely spoiled the night. Horrible experience - never again and I am telling all my friends and family. Further, small servings for a costly price.

Feb 22, 2011 

4 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  6      Service  5      Value  1     

This is one of those "do it once" restaurants for the novelty value. I had a piece of terrine with my main and it was impeccably ordinary. Our dessert was a two-biter, so it came to about $12 per bite.

Feb 16, 2011 

5.3 Average

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  2      Value  5     

Really most of these reviews are spot on, food is reasonable, location is good but service is absolutely woeful, long waits between courses, for drinks, for plates to be cleared, ignore those obviously planted enthusiatic reviews. Alto feels like no one is in charge, no front of house, no one running the show, fix that and improve the service and it would a decent place and worthy of its location.

Jan 04, 2011 

3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  5      Service  2      Value  2     

The waitress was polite but to wait near 2 hours for the mains is too long. The beef was ordered medium but was well done and was replaced. Another main was mostly fat. Not charged for both. Did not bother with deserts. Very ordinary. Much better restaurants in Canberra for the money. Visit the observation deck for the view, don't go for a meal.

Dec 12, 2010 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  8     

Visiting from Melbourne we went to the Alto for the views and food.

When we arrived we found out that both the lifts were broken and we had to take the back way which was a bit of a walk. It was freezing cold and raining but when we got up to the top we were given a free glass of champagne each for our inconvenience then a free cup of soup. The champagne was really nice but the soup just tasted like beef stock.

The waitress asked if we would like bread to which we said yes not realising that we would be charged for simple bread rolls and butter. It wasn't even anything fancy. The bread was average and the butter was hard. We ordered our meals which were less than $40 a plate. For a restaurant like this we were expecting to pay more so it actually did work out to be good value.

The portions were small but they were beautifully presented and I got the duck and really enjoyed it. I would recommend this restaurant for anyone visiting Canberra as you get good food and a beautiful 360 view of the city. I have never been to a revolving restaurant before and it is quite fun to have a different view every few minutes.

Sep 08, 2010 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  8     

After seeing many negative reviews, we had doubts about going but we decided to see for ourselves, we were not disappointed. I believe the restaurant has changed hands this year and it shows. The meal, the staff and the whole experience was wonderful. Don't let the negative reviews put you off! Sure its expensive but its a whole lot more than a Happy Meal! The chocolate souffle was divine and if you aren't a drinker, the mocktails are fabulous.

Aug 30, 2010