Canberra - Post Report Question and Answers

What typical restaurants, food delivery services, and/or takeout options are popular among expatriates?

I can only speak for us. Canberra claims it's a foodie city. If that's slapping mayo on fried food, then maybe it is? I find it really bland and disappointing. Turkish and some other takeouts can be excellent, but it took trial and error. North side has much better Asian. - May 2023


I'm sure there is food delivery, but other than the occasional pizza we didn't use it much. We loved to try out various restaurants and there are some goods ones - but they seem expensive. Again, I found that when I took out the 15-20% tip that is now typical in the US (pre-COVID) and added in the dollar exchange the costs was pretty close to what you'd pay in the US. The one exception to that was breakfast - that always seems REALLY expensive to me comparatively and after going out for brunch once early on we avoided leaving the house before lunch. - Aug 2020


McDonald's, Burger King (called Hungry Jacks), KFC, and some local Australian ones. Sit down restaurants are very expensive. My wife and I typically spend $100 on a meal at a sit-down. - May 2012


Lots of good neighborhood restaurants. McDonalds and Burger King (it's called Hungry Jack's here) are everywhere. There are also a number of Australian fast food chains. It is expensive though. It costs around $10 U.S. to eat at McDonald's. - May 2011


A big-mac meal is $11 USD. McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dominos, and KFC are available, price is much more than America. Schwarma/Gyro roll is $9 USD. A cheap resteraunt meal would be $15.00. - Dec 2010


McDonald's, KFC, Subway, and Hungry Jack (Burger King).There are some nice restaurants in city centre and Manuka/Kingston. Everything is more expensive than in DC. - Nov 2010


McD's is here, as well as Hungry Jack's (It's Burger King). There are also all of the usual pizza places (as in the US) and KFC. I felt they were better than in the USA -- but much more expensive. - Apr 2010


They have KFC, McDonald's, Hungry Jacks, Burger King, etc, at reasonable prices. They have a lot of decent restaurants, here they are but a bit pricey! A meal for one person is at least 30AUD, not including drinks/wine. - Oct 2009


Typical McDonald's etc. Restraunts are good around Canberra but have restrictive hours. You will not find any 24-hour restaurants and many places don't start serving food until 6pm. Costs are high. - Apr 2009


Subscribe to our newsletter


New book from Talesmag! Honest and courageous stories of life abroad with special needs.

Read More