Mezzalira

Mezzalira was pretty easy to get a reservation, it was a weeknight however and not very busy. That meant we had multiple people waiting on us. We ordered a pasta dish with lamb, a tender beef steak, and a layered eggplant dish like a lasagne, and they were all damn good. For the quality of food; attentiveness of service; and ambiance $ 85 seemed like a good value.

Stunning duck terrine
Subtle Gorganzola cream figs
The most melt in your mouth tortellini.
Do yourself a favour and come here, its amazing !!

I have eaten in Mezzalira the last two times I’ve visited Canberra and after both occasions I’ve instantly texted Canberra friends saying ‘OMG! Have you been there yet? Get your butts there!’. Both times I had the specials — first time was in winter and I had the goat slow cooked in their wood fired oven with ricotta stuffed artichoke (Ah-​mazing! And so nurturing on the cold night that it was) and, more recently, pan seared Cone Bay Barramundi with a lemon and caper sauce with roasted baby fennel (mmm-​AZING! Truly drool worthy) I also had the Tiramisu on my last visit. Light, fluffy, delicious! My companion had the Ricotta and Pistachio Zuccotto (frozen cake thingy) with cherries, which of course I had several tastes of. Also delish!!!
This place gets pretty busy so safest to book a table. Perfect spot for a romantic or intimate dinner. The wait staff are very attentive and friendly. I should also mention that the food came out in good time. I will definitely be coming here every time I’m in Canberra. My mouths watering just thinking about it :) :) :)

Holy mother of god. The aged negroni here is EXCELLENT and full of depth.
The execution from service to food is excellent. The crudo, spaghetti carbonara and T-​bone steak are very memorable.

Had the early start menu.
Sardines, superb!
Wine, Merlot. Not so great, Barossa Merlot can easily be better than this one. I’d hate to be paying $ 13 a glass for it.
Lamb — also superb! Should have ordered a sides, but what the hey, meat out!

I went to Canberra on a day-​long sightseeing trip and decided to dine at Mezzalira. While it looks like a fancy restaurant, it is actually pretty casual and my server was extremely pleasant and helpful. I selected one of the nightly specials and it was really, really good and the prices were reasonable. This was the best Italian restaurant I’ve been to in quite a while and I highly recommend it.

We had the opportunity to try a degustation menu & every dish was perfect. Highly recommended.

Delicious!!!
We had been planning to go to Italian and Sons but hadn’t made the booking in time and were referred to Mezzalira, the sister restaurant. While I love Italian and Sons, our experience at Mezzalira was a welcome discovery. The décor is more along the formal lines and good for Canberra; that is — not plastic, loud and obviously built on the ground floor of an office building (ok I will admit I have a thing about crappy ambiance in Canberra restaurants).
But lets get to the important stuff — the food. Oh my — it was fabulous. I tasted the mushroom risotto, which was divine, and I had a pasta with suckling lamb also fabulous. One of our number was a vegetarian and was pleased with the range of options available. We shared a number of sides all of which were delicious. The wait staff were friendly without being overbearing.
All in all a very positive experience. We will definitely be back

The best meal of my four day stay in Australia was here at Mezzalira.
Inside was nice and cozy, hostess and servers were all nice, and the food was above well above par. I had the gnocchi and crossed my fingers that I would be delivered pillowly soft nuggets of starch; I was not let down.
The gnocchi were among the best I’ve ever had, but the sauce was not my favorite. Broad beans and mint are not high on my list of things I want to eat. But regardless, I scraped my plate clean of every drop. It was a darn good plate of potatoes.
For dessert I couldn’t resist the tiramisu, my favorite dessert. This one was good except for the oddly thick sauce that coated it. It was almost like melted icing or a really thick crème anglaise. Very good, but very very rich.
I would definitely come back if I’m ever trapped in Canberra again.