The Lager House has found its groove and already feels like an old favourite

Nearly six months after opening its doors, Lager House by Capital Brewing Co has settled comfortably. It seems like the right time to see how this sleeker interpretation of Capital’s well-established Canberra presence was shaping up.

If turning up on a Tuesday night in the middle of winter and only just managing to snag the last available table is any indication, it’s official: Canberra has fallen hard for its newest neighbourhood pub.

And there’s plenty to love here.

Capital Brewing has traded the industrial, brewpub feel of the Tap Room on Dairy Road for something more polished, but without sacrificing the approachability that made the original a Canberra favourite. The higher-end finishes, moody lighting and lofty ceilings take the experience up a notch, while the atmosphere remains relaxed, friendly and unmistakably local.

Much like the decor, the beer offering also departs from its predecessor, with one obvious difference being the volume.

Dairy Road has around 20 drinks on tap, including beers, wines, ginger beers and cider. The Lager House has around half of that, but with the focus on their four rotating tank-fresh beers, which not only look sexy with the massive stainless steel tanks living on the pub floor, but also offer a more consistent pour so you always get the perfect beer.

I’m glad to see that, since opening, they’ve added a mid-strength beer to the tap line-up, allowing non-locals to still have a nice time and drive home safely at the end of it. Good Drop is a damn good lager, so it deserves a place on the taps.

Another glaring departure from Dairy Road is that the Brodburger partnership hasn’t carried over to the Lager House; instead, they’ve gone all in on their own woodfired kitchen, and this is what I really wanted to dive into while I sipped on my roasty, toasty, malty dark lager amusingly called All Night Long.

Bringing the food in-house has paid off. The menu is seasonal, delivering on the big bold flavours that you want at a pub while offering variety outside of your usual pub grub offerings.

The crispy-skinned barramundi at $34 is flame-roasted, sits atop a bed of romesco and olives, and is topped with almonds. My fish was cooked to perfection, moist and flaky with crispy skin. The use of parsley was a little heavy-handed for my taste, crossing the line from garnish to blanket, burying the whole dish under its foliage, but it was easily pushed aside.

The woodfired chicken skewers at $32 are served like a deconstructed kebab with tabbouleh, tzatziki, hummus, flatbread and chimichurri on the side. Assembling it into little bite-sized parcels to pop in your mouth seemed like the best approach, and it delivered on flavour, reminiscent of your favourite Turkish kebab joint.

The surprise hero of the meal was the crispy Brussels sprouts with hot honey and toasted almonds. At $15, this is a generous serve and a wonderful blend of flavours and textures that had us dragging our fingers through the remaining hot honey, only sheepishly withdrawing as the server came to collect our plate.

For those better organised than me, you can go deeper into the woodfired menu by pre-ordering a dish from the woodfired feasts menu, which needs to be arranged at least 24 hours in advance. The feasts are designed for sharing and include rib-eye, lamb shoulder, crispy pork knuckle, miso-glazed pumpkin and charred cabbage.

The overall experience, while a departure from what you already know and love, holds onto the core of what made Capital so good in the first place. It’s like an old friend who has had a glow-up, but is as cool as ever.

Lager House by Capital Brewing Co is located at 62 Constitution Avenue, Campbell, and is open 7 days a week from 11:30 am.

Original Article published by Tenele Conway on Region Canberra.

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