Located down a winding wooden staircase on Akuna Street in Civic, Digress Restaurant and Lounge brings together the unique flavours of Italy and India. While both countries are well known for their individual cuisines, this is the first time such a fusion has existed in Canberra.

Half restaurant and half lounge bar, Digress has been meticulously decked out, giving a spacious, modern and exotic feel. The inviting restaurant section features rich purple hues and Bollywood movies playing on the large plasma screen to add that extra bit of spice. The bar area is more relaxed with lounges and frosted glass, and is the perfect place to enjoy drinks and tapas.

The diverse menu features entrees, pasta, risotto, pizza, salad, plus a cast selection of naan bread and other sides, all with a strong Indian twist. All dishes have been given a rating of ‘chilli’ so that you can choose according to your taste buds, and pizzas are available mild, medium, hot or Indian hot depending on what you can handle.

A friend and I visited Digress for dinner on a Wednesday evening, and were met with a buzz of couples enjoying a meal, and friends meeting up for drinks. After browsing the menu and much deliberating, we chose to start with the Salt and Pepper Chilli Squid and Mozzarella & Paneer Fritters, both which were colourful and beautifully garnished dishes. The salt and pepper seasoned squid was infused with chilli and served with lemon wedges, with the squid’s crispy exterior of salt, pepper and chilli giving the perfect combination of flavours.

The Mozzarella & Paneer Fritters were a blend of two traditional Indian & Italian cheeses, coated with egg & breadcrumbs and served with a jalapeño aioli. The fritters were creamy, tasty morsels, that were given a real kick when dipped into the aioli.

For mains we chose from the traditional Italian dishes which dominate the menu, all created with an Indian twist. The Tandoori Chicken Penne, a house specialty, is charcoaled Tandoori chicken cooked with red capsicum, shallots and coriander finished in a nicely balanced creamy and spicy sauce.

The Kadhai Paneer pizza is topped with home-style Indian cheese, onion, capsicum, red paprika and tomato, and garnished with cheese and fresh coriander. The light crispy base was topped with the perfect combination of flavours, creating an Italian pizza with a real Indian twist.

In true fusion style, we paired our pizza and pasta dishes with Fetta Naan, stuffed with traditional Italian fetta cheese mix, which was deliciously tasty and melted in your mouth.

The dessert menu is yet another eclectic mix of dishes, and we chose both an Indian and Italian dish. The Chocolate Pizza was melted white, milk & dark chocolate evenly spread on a crisp pizza base garnished with toasted cashew nuts, and was every bit as good as it sounds.

The Punjabi Kulfi is a traditional Indian dish, made from the personal recipe of Digress’s owner Sarah Singh’s mother. The home-made ice cream is cooked on a slow fire with added pistachios and cardamom powder, served on a stick, and is light, full of flavor and leaves you wanting more.

Some restaurants with unique menus can sometimes be lacking in the drinks department, but this isn’t the case at Digress. The extensive drinks menu features a wide range of local and imported wines, beers and ciders, but the real standout is the cocktail list. Stick to one of the classics, or branch out with a Digress to Delusion, Flaming Zombie, Proud Punjabi or Night of Sorrow.

Digress is a breath of fresh air to the Canberra dining scene, bringing together a combination of flavours never before seen in the Capital, as well as perfectly combining both an elegant restaurant and a less formal lounge area. With such a vast range of unique dishes, it’s difficult to painstakingly narrow down your selection, making multiple visits to Digress a must.

Photography by Chris Whitfield.

…visit Digress Restaurant and Lounge