Canberra's best restaurants: Ottoman

Top 20 restaurants, Food and Wine Annual 2014: number 8.

A spacious, elegant dining room with panelled windows looking out over lush, rose-filled gardens, Ottoman is hidden in plain sight in Barton. It's unabashedly fine dining – sink into a comfortable armchair at your table by the window and gaze out at the flower-filled courtyards or catch glimpses of power brokers, politicians and businesswomen sipping glasses of wine and closing deals amongst the roses.

Serif Kaya has been serving up Turkish classics in this rather lovely setting for more than 10 years and his menu is untainted by fashion. It might be conservative food but it's done well and confidently. Moussaka consists of beautiful, soft and slightly seared scallops plumped on marinated eggplant that's full of flavour and held together with a little pink mousse of capsicum. Zucchini flowers are cleanly crisp and filled with gooey rich goat's cheese and spinach. Bite-sized dolma are filled with fluffy rice and spices and a great, slightly tart flavour softened by a hit of tomato.

The wine list is comprehensive and geared towards the big end of town – the by-the-glass list is focused mainly on Australian wineries with one or two French options. Service is attentive and plentiful though sometimes a touch scattered if there's also a business function in full swing in the private wing.

Mains are simple – a lovely plate of manti, a Turkish ravioli, is filled with baby spinach and goat's cheese with slippery, perfectly cooked egg pasta. Thin slices of veal are cooked beautifully with a dash of chilli and more spinach. Finish with a clean chocolate baklava with yoghurt and honey ice cream or a wobbly slab of sleek white mastica custard, similar to panna cotta, and sour cherries in compote. Or just try a trio of ice creams in Persian flavours: cinnamon, pomegranate and pistachio.

Ottoman
Corner of Broughton and Blackall streets, Barton. 6273 6111. ottomancuisine.com.au
Owner and chef Serif Kaya.
Lunch noon-2.30pm Tuesday to Friday. Dinner 6pm-10pm Tuesday to Saturday.