Lanterne Rooms

Lanterne Rooms brings the bold, soulful flavours of Malaysian Nyonya cuisine to Campbell, Australian Capital Territory. As a beloved neighbourhood restaurant and part of the Chairman Group, it has earned a reputation for dishes crafted with what the team calls ‘A-ma’ (grandma) soul, presented with modern elegance. Now settled into a spacious home within the ISKIA EAST Building on Constitution Avenue, Lanterne Rooms offers a distinctive dining experience that blends warm, intimate atmosphere with carefully prepared food, attentive service, and a setting that feels both special and welcoming.

Known widely as one of Canberra’s best Nyonya restaurants, Lanterne Rooms has drawn a loyal following. Google Maps reviewers consistently award it a 4.8-star rating based on 389 reviews, highlighting the restaurant’s consistency across food, service, and ambience. Whether guests arrive for a weeknight dinner, a set-menu celebration, or a casual lunch service on Thursdays and Fridays, the experience is designed around genuine hospitality and a menu that honours tradition while embracing contemporary presentation.

Inside Lanterne Rooms, warm lighting and a cosy yet not overly formal environment create an immediate sense of ease. Reviewers frequently describe the atmosphere as wonderful — one that is quiet enough for conversation but alive with the energy of a well-run dining room. Private dining rooms and semi-private areas are available for group bookings of 12 or more guests, with set menu options tailored for events, family gatherings, and corporate functions. The restaurant also features outdoor dining and the adjoining Lanterne Bar, making it a flexible venue capable of hosting everything from an intimate date night to a larger celebration.

Services

Lanterne Rooms provides a comprehensive range of restaurant services designed to meet the needs of every diner, from drop-in visitors to large party organisers. The core offering centres on its lunch and dinner services, where the full à la carte menu is available alongside carefully curated set menus. These set menus showcase the kitchen’s ability to balance tradition and innovation, taking guests on a journey through multiple courses that highlight the complexity of Nyonya cooking.

For those preferring to dine at home, Lanterne Rooms operates a dedicated takeaway service available Tuesday to Saturday, with pick-up times between 6pm and 8pm. The takeaway menu features a selection of old favourites prepared fresh and ready to enjoy. Customers can order online through the restaurant’s website, and detailed FAQs cover questions about ordering times, advance orders, allergy information, and the pick-up process. It is important to note that no delivery service is offered; all takeaway orders must be collected in person. Convenient parking is available near the ISKIA EAST Building for quick and easy collection.

The restaurant also excels in group bookings and private dining. For parties of twelve or more guests, set menu options are required, allowing the kitchen to deliver a consistent and memorable meal for larger groups. Private dining rooms and semi-private areas can be reserved for exclusive events, ranging from birthday celebrations and family reunions to corporate functions and team dinners. Enquiries for these events are handled via email or the function enquiries page, where the team works with organisers to tailor the experience to specific needs and budgets.

Atmosphere and Dining Spaces

The atmosphere at Lanterne Rooms is one of its most praised attributes. The design intentionally avoids being overly formal, instead favouring a warm and inviting environment where guests feel immediately comfortable. The lighting is soft and carefully positioned to create an intimate feel without sacrificing visibility, making it an excellent choice for both romantic evenings and friendly catch-ups. Background noise levels are kept at a gentle hum — enough to energise the room but quiet enough for easy conversation, a balance that many restaurants struggle to achieve.

The main dining area seats a broad range of party sizes, with tables arranged to give each group a sense of privacy without isolating them from the room’s vibrant energy. For those seeking a more secluded experience, the private dining rooms offer complete separation, ideal for business discussions, milestone anniversaries, or any occasion where a dedicated space enhances the event. Semi-private areas provide a middle ground: partially screened from the main floor, they offer visual and acoustic separation while still feeling connected to the restaurant’s pulse.

Outdoor dining extends the Lanterne Rooms experience into the open air, a welcome feature during Canberra’s milder months. This al fresco option allows guests to enjoy their meal with views of the surrounding Campbell streetscape and the pleasant ambience of Constitution Avenue. The adjoining Lanterne Bar is a natural extension of the restaurant, providing a relaxed space for pre-dinner drinks, post-meal cocktails, or simply a casual catch-up with friends. The bar’s presence reinforces the venue’s versatility, making it a single destination capable of accommodating an entire evening’s progression from drinks through to dessert.

Menu Highlights and Nyonya Flavours

Nyonya cuisine, also known as Peranakan, represents the culinary traditions of Chinese migrants who settled in the Malay Peninsula and integrated local ingredients, spices, and cooking techniques into their repertoire. The result is a cuisine renowned for its complex, layered flavours — simultaneously sour, spicy, sweet, and savoury — achieved through the skilful use of belacan (shrimp paste), lemongrass, galangal, coconut milk, tamarind, and an array of fresh herbs. Lanterne Rooms captures this heritage while applying a level of refinement that elevates each dish without diluting its soul.

The menu at Lanterne Rooms changes seasonally, but broadly divides into lunch and dinner offerings, each available as both à la carte and set menu experiences. A selection of dishes regularly earns special mention from diners. Seafood dumplings appear as a perennial favourite, praised for their delicate wrappers and well-balanced fillings. Beef curry demonstrates the kitchen’s mastery of slow cooking and spice blending, producing a rich, aromatic dish with deep, warming notes. Scallops, served in various preparations depending on the season, showcase the restaurant’s commitment to high-quality produce and precise execution. Other popular items include wonton soup, praised for its clear yet deeply flavourful broth, and fried fish, which arrives crisp and golden, accompanied by sauces that cut through the richness.

Vegetarian diners are not an afterthought at Lanterne Rooms. The kitchen offers thoughtful, fully realised vegetarian options that embrace the same bold flavour principles as the rest of the menu. The team is also attentive to dietary restrictions and allergies, with clear processes for communicating needs at the time of ordering — especially relevant for takeaway, where FAQs provide guidance on how to flag requirements during the online order process.

The drinks list complements the food with a curated wine selection that has been designed to pair with the aromatic and sometimes fiery notes of Nyonya cooking. A mix of local and international wines appears on the list, with staff available to recommend pairings. Diners may also bring their own wine, with a corkage charge of $30 per bottle, offering flexibility for those who wish to share a special bottle. The Lanterne Bar further expands beverage options with a range of cocktails, spirits, beers, and non-alcoholic drinks.

Private Dining and Events

Private dining at Lanterne Rooms extends well beyond simply reserving a room. The team approaches each event as a bespoke hospitality experience, drawing on years of expertise across the Chairman Group to deliver polished, memorable gatherings. The private dining rooms are designed to host groups of twelve or more, with set menus that can be tailored to suit the occasion. Whether the event is a corporate lunch, a milestone birthday, a wedding rehearsal dinner, or an intimate family celebration, the restaurant’s function co-ordinators work to match the menu, service style, and room configuration to the host’s requirements.

Semi-private areas are also available, offering a screened section of the main dining room that provides a sense of exclusivity without full enclosure. This option is popular for professional networking dinners, team celebrations, and groups who wish to enjoy the lively atmosphere of the restaurant while retaining a defined space of their own. All group bookings of twelve or more are required to select set menu options, ensuring that the kitchen can deliver consistently high quality across the entire party.

Enquiries for events begin with a simple email or the function enquiry form on the website. The co-ordinators provide detailed information on menu choices, available dates, room capacities, and any special requests such as custom decorations, dietary accommodations, or audio-visual needs. This thorough, consultative approach has earned Lanterne Rooms a strong reputation for hosting smooth, stress-free events where every detail is handled with care.

Why Choose Us

Several distinct qualities set Lanterne Rooms apart within the Canberra dining landscape. First and foremost is the restaurant’s unwavering commitment to the soul of Nyonya cooking — the ‘A-ma’ quality that informs every dish. This is not a superficial nod to tradition but a deep, foundational principle that shapes sourcing, technique, and presentation. The result is food that resonates with authenticity while feeling entirely contemporary and relevant.

Consistency is another defining strength. A 4.8-star rating aggregated from nearly four hundred Google reviews reflects sustained performance across the core pillars of any great restaurant: food, service, and atmosphere. Regulars return confident that their favourite dish will be prepared to the same high standard as the previous visit, and first-time guests quickly understand why the restaurant has earned such loyalty. This reliability extends across all service formats, from dine-in lunch and dinner to takeaway, demonstrating a kitchen culture of discipline and pride.

The team itself deserves considerable credit. Described in multiple reviews as attentive, accommodating, and warm, the front-of-house staff manage the difficult feat of being present without being intrusive. They know the menu deeply, can speak with confidence about wine pairings and dietary adjustments, and approach each table with genuine hospitality. This calibre of service elevates the entire meal and transforms a simple dinner into a memorable experience.

Finally, the venue’s physical space contributes meaningfully to its appeal. The ISKIA EAST Building location places Lanterne Rooms at a central Campbell address with good access and parking, while the design choices inside — the warm lighting, the thoughtful table layout, the availability of outdoor and bar areas — create a versatile environment that works for an expansive range of occasions. This flexibility, paired with culinary excellence and heartfelt service, makes Lanterne Rooms a compelling choice for anyone seeking a meal that balances comfort, flavour, and a genuine sense of occasion.

Location

Lanterne Rooms is situated at the Ground Floor of the ISKIA EAST Building, 81 Constitution Avenue, Campbell ACT 2612. This address places it within one of Canberra’s most appealing inner suburbs, a short drive from the city centre and well-serviced by major roads. Constitution Avenue is a significant thoroughfare, and the ISKIA EAST Building is a modern, accessible development that offers convenience for diners arriving by car or public transport.

Parking is notably convenient. The building and surrounding streets provide plentiful options, and the takeaway service particularly benefits from this ease of access, with customers able to collect orders quickly and without the typical hassles of inner-city parking. Public transport connections are also solid, with bus routes passing along Constitution Avenue and linking to other parts of Canberra. For those wishing to combine their visit with a walk or a drink beforehand, the wider Campbell area offers a pleasant residential streetscape that is safe and attractive to explore on foot.

The restaurant's location within the ISKIA EAST Building also contributes to its atmosphere. The ground-floor position provides good natural light during lunch services and a sense of connection to the street, while the interior design insulates diners from any sense of being in a commercial building. This blend of urban accessibility and internal calm is a key part of the Lanterne Rooms experience, and it makes the restaurant easy to find and enjoy for locals and visitors alike.

Opening Hours

Lanterne Rooms operates across both lunch and dinner sessions, with different hours for each day of the week. Lunch service is available on Thursdays and Fridays, running from 12pm to 2pm. This midday window offers a rare opportunity to enjoy refined Nyonya cuisine during daylight hours, and the lunch menu provides a well-balanced selection of dishes suitable for both professional lunches and leisurely long meals. Dinner service runs from Tuesday to Saturday, with the restaurant opening at 5:45pm and seating guests through to 10pm. This schedule allows for early evening dinners — popular with pre-theatre or pre-event dining — as well as later sittings for those who prefer a more relaxed pace.

Takeaway service is available Tuesday to Saturday, with pick-up times set between 6pm and 8pm. This window aligns with the early dinner rush and ensures that takeaway food arrives at the same time many people are sitting down to eat at home. It also manages kitchen workflow between dine-in and takeaway orders, maintaining quality across both streams. The restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays, as well as on ANZAC Day. These closures provide the team with essential rest and preparation time, ensuring that every service operates at full strength.

Given the popularity of weekend dinner slots and the limited capacity of private dining rooms, bookings are strongly recommended. The online booking system, powered by Now Book It, provides real-time availability and allows diners to secure their preferred time and table size with ease. The system appears on the restaurant’s website and can accommodate both standard reservations and group enquiries. Walk-in guests are welcome, particularly for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, but those planning a special occasion or visiting with a larger party should always book ahead to avoid disappointment.