IT’S a massive space, both indoors and out, and has an amazing fit-out. 

Roy Jr has hit the Canberra dining scene flagging that it’s “a new frontier in inner-city hospitality”. It’s a claim as big as the space at the bottom of 7 London Circuit, with a whopping 150 able to sit inside.

Roy Jr serves Duke’s coffee made on an uber cool, custom La Marzocco coffee machine, Italian made of course. 

No doubt coffees walk out the door to the hundreds who work in the area and uni students, who are only a stone’s throw away. Small sweets to enjoy include raw cacao bars, caramel slices, cookies and danishes. Pre-made sandwiches are also available.

Brunch and lunch are compact. We were lunching and several dishes piqued my interest. The grilled barramundi with coconut curry sauce and black sesame rice ($26.50) and the beef croquettes with slow-cooked beef brisket, sweet potato hummus, chilli jam, herb salad and poached eggs ($24.90) among others.

I flipped a coin in my head between the Good Life Bowl ($23.90) – loaded with too many nutritional ingredients to describe in one review – and the roasted cauliflower ($22.90), which won.

The ingredients were gorgeous looking in a contemporary bowl, a wonderful mix of vibrant colours, a whole lot of textures, and layers of flavour. Loved the labneh, pickled eschalots and the florets of cauliflower roasted and dusted with dukkah. The cranberries shared sweetness and the pistachio lent a lovely nutty, earthy element. Delish.

My friend opted for the steak frites, a lovely portion of sliced beef and a chunk of charred cos lettuce ($34.90). The 200 grams of grass-fed Hanger steaks (sometimes known as butcher’s steak) was tender and accompanied by a small dish of béarnaise sauce and a generous serve of crunchy fries.

Roy Jr’s wine list is surprisingly tiny. Only a sauv blanc and a riesling in the white category, a pinot noir and shiraz in the red and one prosecco, but all reasonably priced ($11 a glass/$38 bottle to $14 a glass/$56 a bottle). 

Then there’s a $98/bottle Mumm Champagne, obviously for celebrations and not necessarily to be consumed with dishes such as the beef or chicken burger (both $23.90). 

The two cocktails are an espresso martini ($19) and Bellini ($15). Beer from Capital Brewing Co. is $11 – always great to see local support. Also on the drink side is a decent line-up of smoothies and freshly squeezed juices.

We faced a few service issues. The steak and frites arrived cold and had to be returned. On the second attempt, the steak was hot but the frites remained cold. We were only asked at the cash register, when leaving, if we enjoyed our meals and I explained the circumstances. Apologies all round.