Pilot.

The food here was absolutely fantastic, I’m from Melbourne and I can safely say that it surpassed most restaurants I have been too at home. The staff were so knowledgeable and passionate which is appreciated at this price point and the location was fantastic and easy to find a parking spot which adds to the ease. Definitely a place that I would visit again. 10/10. If you’re in Canberra either for a visit or this is your home and you haven’t been, you should make the trip to Ainslie.

A special dining experience. Worth the trip to Ainslie (and to Canberra if you're an out of towner like me). The chicken, creamed corn and onion is the best thing I've eaten so far in 2021. Great matching wines, polished service and a beautiful dining room. Highly recommend!

Confession time: Pilot has been open for over a year, is really close to where we live, and we’ve only just visited. Big mistake! It’s very, very good. Our loss. I guess I was put off by some of Pilot’s sm posts, which made their food seem overly complex — twee, even — accompanied by descriptions of the various dishes that seemed banal. I was wrong. Pilot serves wonderfully complex and creative food, which you can accompany with some quite unique wines — indeed, Pilot has a wine list I crave to explore more. Service is attentive and knowledgeable — can’t ask for more. Will I return? Will I what! Can’t wait to return — sensational. Highly recommended!!!

There is so much to like about Pilot, it may take an essay! To begin with, the food degustation is amazing: a range of interesting & experimental dishes that are each special. Subtle flavours everywhere! The wine pairing is perfect and brave: our som wanted us to taste a range of wines that we may not usually try! Service was excellent: friendly and professional- and the atmosphere wonderful. One of the best! Thanks for such an amazing night!!!!

This is one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in Australia. The regular and vegetarian journeys were exceptional. With vegetarian, most restaurants default to mushroom - you get tired of mushroom risotto and “steaks”. This will be a go-to when in Canberra!

Delicious food beautifully executed and presented. Carrot starter, fish curry, cheesy profiterole, pineapple sorbet/granite and banana dessert were favourites. Doesn't leave much else 👏👏👏😁

Arguably the best restaurant in Canberra. Every dish on the dégustation menu was creative, meticulously executed and delicious! The paired drinks (not just wine) beautifully complemented each course adding complexity to the meal. The stand out dishes were the chicken meatballs in sourdough broth, massaman carrots, and apple pie. The service was as seamless as it was attentive. Each server was intimately familiar with the dishes and accompanied pairing.

Dining at Pilot is an amazing experience. The food is innovative, fresh and exciting. The paired drinks are so well matched.

Stunning degustation meal - every single course was delicious, well crafted and perfectly balanced. Superb drinks, fantastic friendly service, and a simply cool modern dining space. Excellently eclectic specially curated music playlist too! One of the best meal experiences we have ever enjoyed, and we look forward to returning again soon!

Really disappointed! Staff ignored taking our order for 30 mins, it wasn't even busy. Claimed it was a mix up and apologised. Lucky it was a nice day outside. Food was mostly good, but not amazing. Portions were small and both the pasta and the fish were a bit cold. Staff clearly don't know the produce they are serving either. The oysters (not pictured) looked terrible on the plate. Two oysters served on top of other oyster shells upside down on the plate. And the two other amuse bouches served on the same plate, kind of off to the side, should have been on a separate plate. The fish (the staff that served it to us didn't really know what type it was and suggested it was "basa grapa") was cold in the middle (but warm on the outside). It clearly hadn't been cooked through and you could see the fish wasn't cooked fully through when pulling it apart. Another staff member took it away a little apologetically. Then yet another staff brought back a new serve (cooked through a bit more this time) but explained that's how they serve it. I have a few issues with this: 1. It's not pleasant to eat; the undercooked portion of the bass doesn't pull away nicely in the mouth, it needs cutting. 2. And the temperature difference isn't pleasant when the fish initially looks like it's been cooked through and is served in a warm curry. 3. Clearly not all the staff know how it's meant to be served or what the fish even is (I think it was likely sea bass, not basa). 4. It could potentially contain harmful bacteria. A tried the spiced beetroot non alcoholic drink. After trying it, I asked one of the staff what was in it and they had to go check. They came back and explained that it was "beetroot juice and spices. It was meant to resemble a red wine and they use spices like when you make red wine." I was a bit confused as making wine doesn't involve spice. Mulled wine, I could understand. And I think that is what it is meant to be, but the staff person didn't realise that, or explain it. The roast chicken was the best dish, the chicken, white bread, mayo and green salad make a delicious chicken sandwich, which is what Pilot suggest. The dessert was... Devisive. Mostly I really enjoyed it. It is apparently Pilot's dessert play on a Caprese Panzanella, a traditional peasant salad of old bread, tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil. This dessert though is made with sponge cake (on the bottom), tomato granita, strawberries, Jersey milk ice cream, and basil oil. My partner didn't like it at all and was very turned off by the overpowering flavour of the tomato and the very strong basil oil. For the most part, I quite liked it. Every so often though I'd get a big smack of really savoury tomato flavour in the granita and that was quite unpleasant... Otherwise it was interesting. Overall, the experience was very underwhelming.