Le Rendezvous, Manuka, Canberra

Whole rainbow trout $25.90
grilled and served on baked mild chilli polenta,
with an almond butter sauce

It's never easy getting a large group of people to agree on an impromptu dinner venue, especially when everyone is hungry, grouchy and tired, and you're meandering aimlessly through Manuka at 8.45pm on a Saturday night.

The Balloon Fiesta Nighttime Spectacular had concluded at Manuka Oval and our group of lost Sydneysiders had to contend both with unanimous cuisine agreement, and the challenge of finding a restaurant with an available table for nine.


Pizza with the lot $9.90

And so we resorted to the lowest common denominator: Italian, finally plonking our weary feet down at Le Rendezvous.


Napolitana pizza $9.90
with mushrooms, anchovies and olives


Pollo al pesto $17.90
Chicken, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts
With a white wine and garlic cream sauce

My prawns aglio el alio with spaghetti was fair - I longed for a lot more garlic, and I found the chilli flavour had a strange front-of-palate spiciness similar to chilli powder. The prawns were tasty though.


Prawns aglio e olio $19.90
Prawns tossed through garlic, Spanish onion and chilli-infused olived oil

We found most of the portion sizes to be fairly small, particularly the desserts, much to the forlorn disappointment of our resident sweet tooths.


Orange and almond cake $7.50


Mars bar cheesecake $7.50
served with cream and a fresh fruit garnish


Tiramisu $8.50


Dessert crepes with berry coulis $8.50
served with ice cream, cream and a fresh fruit garnish

The crepes were easily the winning dessert, freshly cooked and dusted with icing sugar.

Le Rendezvous
Shop 2 Manuka Court, Bougainville Street
Manuka, Canberra, ACT
Tel: +61 (02) 6295 9763

Lunch Monday to Friday 12noon-2.30pm
Dinner Sunday to Thursday 5.30pm-9.30pm
and Friday to Saturday 5.30pm-10pm


Next post: A 5am wakeup call for the dawn Balloon Fiesta

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Canberra Road Trip Part 1: Berrima
Canberra Road Trip Part 2: Canberra
Canberra Road Trip Part 3: Balloon Fiesta Nighttime Spectacular
Canberra Road Trip Part 4: Dinner at Les Rendezvous, Manuka
Canberra Road Trip Part 5: Balloon Fiesta at dawn, Old Parliament House
Canberra Road Trip Part 6: Breakfast at The Pancake Parlour, Civic
Canberra Road Trip Part 7: Lunch at Lynwood Cafe, Collector