Sage Restaurant

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  8     

Fantastic meal, superb matched wines with the lovely degustation menu, exceptional service from Thierry in particular. The lovely Frenchman who explained the wines was highly knowledgeable and helpful (sorry I didn't get his name:-).

Apr 27, 2013 

6.3 Average

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  5     

I ate a special dinner at Sage last Saturday night, catching up with a friend from 20 years back. I wasn't disappointed because the entrees, mains and side dishes were great.

The food was presented on beautiful, unique, hand-made ceramics and this contributed massively to the pleasure of the meal.

My friend had the pasta main and I had the whisky beef. Both were delicious! My meat was honestly the best beef I've ever eaten. The meat was soft, juicy and succulent.

The service was a bit weird though because the waiters ignore you for long periods of time and then when they finally get to your table they come over all obsequious and overbearing.

It's as if somebody has programmed them like robots to spiel out a random script because each waiter delivered a strange and unenthusiastic monologue about the dish he or she served.

The desserts were very, very ordinary. I had a hideous jellied apple number with crunchy granola on top that was masquerading as a version of apple crumble. The agar-type jelly had a chemical taste and was truly awful.

All-up, this restaurant has many strengths but for the cost of the bill, it should be a little better than it was. If you stick to the entrees and the mains and bypass the dessert menu, you'll really enjoy the food.

In summary: weird waiters, bad desserts, but absolutely exquisite mains and gorgeous hand-made dinnerware that makes the whole experience feel really special.

Apr 22, 2013 

3.8 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  2      Value  2     

After loving Sage years ago, I decided to return with a friend for lunch two weeks ago. We were quite disappointed. The waiters hovered constantly and made bad jokes and whinged about how busy the lunch service was going to be on the day. Considering this, there were only six other tables in use for the hour and a half we were there and they sat us all right next to each other.

The entrees we had were lovely. My friends main was poor as the flavours did not blend together and my dessert was appaling. The waiter had asked if we would like a bottle of sparkling water, we said yes. We didn't finish the bottle before it was taken away and replaced with a second bottle of water. We didn't open this bottle and asked for the bill.

When the waiter returned, he put the bill on the table, grabbed the bottle of water, and opened it as I was saying 'We didn't ask for a second bottle'. In his haste to pour a glass, since it had been added to the menu, he spilt it all over the table. Nothing about this experience represented fine dining. I will not be returning. It is disappointing to see what was once a fine establishment turn into this farce of a restaurant.

Feb 25, 2013 

3 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  6      Service  4      Value  1     

Over $165 each for food and wine - and the answer to a hair in my food was a $3 coffee. Won't be rushing back.

Feb 21, 2013 

3.3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  3      Service  4      Value  3     

If you're 30 and single and live in the neighbourhood, this may be an attractive spot. The food is pretentious with a capital P. The nonsense about the organic herbs actually made me laugh, not easy to do when gauged against the prices. Wine list strictly out of the wine dealers' 'secret' list of wines (wines not sold at Dan Murphy's so you can't judge the mark up). Not worth more than a visit if they are not giving out low cost coupons.

Oct 24, 2012 

3.8 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  2     

Less than Mediocre. My partner and I spent over $250 here and found it was very poor value for money. I have heard so many good reviews about this place and wanted to go for a long time. The dining room was too lit up and it was hard to find the WC as it was outside and not apart of the room.

We waited nearly 10 minutes with no menus twiddling our thumbs and got awkward looks from two of the brothers until a third waiter came over.

Looking at the menu, although I like the fact they support local wine, that was really all they had, if I'm spending a lot of money I want a good range of wine and spirits. The waiter made no suggestions as to what wine we should try or food, etc he was polite but did not deliver any notable good service.

It was very hit and miss with every second course and our mains was just warm or cold. The dessert was way too rich and didn't hold those slight beautiful, subtle tastes that complemented each other that so many fine dining dishes do. Instead it overpowered my palette and left a bad taste in my mouth. The presentation was well executed but that was about it.

Jul 31, 2012 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

The Good

A fabulous meal featuring excellent ingredients and presentation. While some of the dishes were creatively presented, I never felt that creativity came at the expense of taste, something which cannot be said of a number of other restaurants I have visited.

The menu changed in the days before our arrival, which unfortunately denied me a dish that I had been anticipating when I made the reservation. However, the dishes on the new menu did not leave me wanting at the end of the meal. The lemon sole and veal tenderloin, which featured a small addictive sweetbread, were particular standouts. I cannot fault any of the dishes, although perhaps the beetroot and carrot dishes lacked the punch of the protein courses.

Our server was friendly and helpful throughout the night. From the moment we sat down, he offered help us add additional courses to the autumn omnivore tasting menu should we desire. We did so desire after reviewing the a la carte menu and after a quick trip to the kitchens our server confirmed there would be no issues incorporating two extra courses (the pork and duck courses).

As for the venue, it is within walking distance from the centre of the city and thus conveniently located. The room is very nice with tasteful, modern furnishings.

While not an inexpensive restaurant, I regarded the meal as providing exceptional value for money in Canberra.

The Bad

There were four occasions during the nearly four hours we were dining that we had to wait more than is usual for our glasses to be refilled or for our next course. However, the issue was usually resolved before we began to get really irritated by the issue. In the case of the timing of the courses, this may have been the result of our adding courses to the tasting menu, which may have placed the kitchen out of synch, so I will not hold it against them.

The tables against the walls are probably too close ot each other for my comfort, but at least the music was at a low enough level that the restaurant never felt too crowded and one did not spend the entire night listening to his neighbour’s conversations.

Even though it is technically still Autumn, it got very cold in the restaurant each time someone opened the front and back doors to the restaurant.

Read more on my blog

Apr 22, 2012 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  5     

A group of us had Saturday lunch here. It was a warm day, so the atmosphere was very pleasant. We liked the careful attention to detail in the meals, and appreciated some of the interesting flavours. However, some of the serves were certainly small. No, it's not cheap, it's quite expensive in fact (this depends on the number of course you have, 2, 3 or 4. No doubt Sage would justify this by the effort they put into preparing the food.

Perhaps, because we discussed the food with, and gave some feed-back to, the wait-staff, we got good attention, so no issues in this regard from us.

Mar 15, 2012 

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  6     

There are some pretty horrible reviews of Sage on this site and so I was a tad worried about my wife's decision to eat there recently. However, there was little to worry about. We arrived 10 minutes early but our table was ready.

Service from there on was prompt and efficient, though not overly friendly. We ate at Artisan recently and the food is on a par with the great food there (though we still prefer Courgette). Servings, like Artisan, are small: the very scimpy piece of scampi being the main offender. We both had the beef, just beautiful, tasty, cooked to perfection. The sides of Paris mash and peas were also delicious.

Desserts were lovely, the "bananarama" special was good although the coconut flavours evident didn't work. The peach and berri fruit dessert was delicious although I could find no evidence of the honeycomb it was supposed to come with. All in all I would recommend Sage as top class in the fine dining stakes.

Feb 12, 2012 

4.5 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  3      Value  4     

It wasn't bad, but this is the first time I have left food on the plate because it wasn't pleasant at a restaurant like this. The service was over enthusiastic and we felt we were 'processed' rather than served. When we asked for a variation on the set 1,2,3,4 course choice, they were not flexible enough to allow two choices from one set, it had to be one from each.

The tables were so close that you had to converse with your neighbour or you felt you were being rude. Overall, not actually bad but I can't see a reason why I would want to go there again, and definitely not as a special romantic occasion.

Feb 09, 2012