Given its four distinct spaces, spread across the ground floor of Hotel Hotel, you have to be very unlucky to find nowhere to sit at Monster Bar. If you’re a nook-person (and a book person), we’d suggest making a beeline for the fireside library seats, right by the hotel’s Edinburgh Avenue entrance. For a more formal experience, head into the Mosaic Room, which has parent-friendly padded chairs, another fireplace and beautiful mosaic flooring (hence the name). Wherever you sit, the good news is you can order food till 1am here. We suggest you specifically order the yabby jaffle with crème fraîche and horseradish. It’s become something of a mascot for the bar – perfect, classy comfort food.
At dinner they focus on fresh and local, so the menu items rotate quickly (except for that jaffle) – you’ll notice an emphasis on low and slow cooking here. It’s not exactly Texas barbecue, but you can get fall-apart lamb shoulder, short rib and pork hock. The wine list is compelling – it mixes Canberra drops with a more global outlook, including a dedicated section for natural and skin contact wines. If you’re more of a cocktail person, the classics are all here, along with a rotating selection of house specials. You can also do breakfast here. If you’ve stayed in the bar till closing, checked into a room upstairs and are in need of an instant revival, their pork belly and fried egg brekky – with a Bloody Mary on the side for good measure – should see you through.