Bourbon Street Kitchen - Canberra

I would not usually get on here to complain as I think it is better to see the positives in each place you visit, but this place is a TOTAL JOKE! We went on a Friday night at 7pm. The place was empty. It remained this way, bar one other couple. But for some reason the food (ordered 6 entrees to share) took way too long to get to the table. The food and the portion sizes were woeful (even for entree standards). Especially the "Mac&Cheese Bites"! It was presented to us as 4 HALF teaspoon serves of Mac & Cheese spread across a small plate. This dish alone cost $14!!! Are you kidding?! I should have got up and walked out then, but I was hoping the cocktails would save the meal.... they did not. They were the most washed out cocktails I have ever had. The whole "meal" and 4 drinks cost us $126! Someone is definitely having a pull. We ventured past this establishment later in the night after we had gotten some real food elsewhere, just to see if it had picked up - it was totally empty. Save your money and go somewhere else.

Came here as part of a group and when looking at the menu I was excited. I like a small menu. Not much to choose from which means it should be quality food cooked well. We all ordered a variety of dishes to share and thought nothing of it. The restaurant was definitely not busy with only 25 odd people at the height of service. We waited over an hour for our first dishes to come out and then the final dish was served close to 2 hours after ordering. Food was incredibly salty and often quite bland or over cooked. I had the ribs with roasted apple. The BBQ sauce tasted more like Tabasco and the apples were a few slices of shrivelled up apple underneath. All sets of ribs served were cold and were only eaten because we were all hungry. Theo only saving grace of the night was that the wait staff were friendly and apologetic. So over all I definitely will not be dining here again.

I was super keen to try this place when I first heard it had opened, but unfortunately, negative reviews from several work mates, plus trip advisor put me off a little.After deciding this would be a good place to meet up with some mates, I turned up last night full of anticipation. Unfortunately, the empty restaurant had me concerned. I was also shocked at how **** cold the dining area was. Staff were lovely and friendly and all presented well in a southern style uniform befitting of the cuisine. They were however a little lacking in knowledge of the product. When I asked if the ribs came with a sticky BBQ sauce or if I needed to purchase a side sauce I was told "Um yeah, I think it does come with a sauce" You think?? All staff should have tried every dish on the menu and be able to talk through it confidently. Not their fault. As mentioned, they were lovely, just a little unsure of things.Beer selection is very limited but did the job. Would have been nice to have more than 1 American ale available.Our corn bread arrived and 3 tiny discs were on the plate, slightly larger than a 50c piece. Very tasty, just tiny. When I think corn bread I think big hearty slices, not tiny little discs. I think these were $9.Then our ribs turned up after a very lengthy wait (considering there were only a few people in at this stage) and to say I was underwhelmed and disappointed would be a massive understatment. A tiny half rack of (boiled?) ribs arrived floating in some watery juice. No colour on the ribs. No spice. No sticky sauce. Nothing else on the plate except a few slices of apples with some cinnamon. And a puddle of watery pan juice. The look on my mates faces said it all. Yes we inhaled the meat. Yes it was very tender, just devoid of any real flavour. Took us about 2 mins to eat. Certainly not representative of the $30something price tag. I said to the waitress when the ribs arrived " Is that it? They are tiny. I would have ordered more if I realised that was it!" I didn't mean to. It just came out. The point is there was a missed opportunity for staff to upsell me on sides but nothing was mentioned. Finally, the fitout. There seemed to be a bit of clutter about. Road cases and other stuff were all stored behind a wooden screen looking rather untidy. The hallway to the restroom was also used as a storage area for chairs and empty kegs which made it hard to even fit down the walkway. Not the best look.Overall, I want this place to do well and they could fill the gap in the Canberra market for southern American cuisine. I'm just not sure they could do it based on what I saw and tasted last night.Get the staff in for a paid shift and take them though a thorough tasting. Turn the heat up a little in the dining room. Get back to basics with the food. Bigger, heartier, use traditional slow cooked recipes. Up the flavour. Push the sides. Up the portion sizes. Wait a few weeks and then reap the benefits of a full dining room and repeat custom!

I don't often leave negative reviews, but given it's been a few days and I am still disappointed with my visit to Bourbon Street Kitchen I feel it warrants a post. First up, I really really wanted to like this place. Like many others in these threads have lamented, Canberra is missing some good American style food and my dining group and I were hoping that gap would be filled here. Credit where credit is due, the bourbon and cola wings were not too bad, and the waffle fries were ok also (although it was served with a strange tomato reduction?)For mains we ordered brisket and ribs. The brisket, while nice and tender, was pretty flavourless. However it was the ribs that put the nail in the coffin for us! They were so dry and overcooked that we struggled to cut the ribs into edible sections, let alone bite any meat off the bone. When raised with the wait staff (who were for the most part lovely it should be noted) they told us to let them know if it got any worse but didn't offer to rectify at all. By that stage it couldn't get much worse. I didn't want to cause any commotion so we instead opted to just cut off what little meat we could salvage from the bones. $140 later we left poorer in pocket and downtrodden in spirit. I can see so much potential with this restaurant, so I hope the owners and chef take on board the mounting negative reviews and change things up a little. Canberrans are fickle with restaurants, and if you don't produce the goods they vote with their feet pretty quickly!

I really wanted to like this place and visited twice to give it a second chance. But it was still bad. The food is bland and never ever get the cornbread! It is extremely dry and hard as a rock! The service is terrible, both times I had to get up to ask staff to take our order. And don't try giving feedback as the staff will argue with you. Very disappointing.