Ona Coffee House

When you think of Canberra, you rarely associate it with great coffee.. And you certainly might not think that World Roaster and Barista Cup winning coffee would be from Canberra. And yet, here it was in a cafe hidden in an industrial area. Intrigued, and in the area on a family weekend away, we went to check it out. 

From the moment you walk into Ona, you know they take their coffee game seriously. Their range of black gold rivals that of the hipster joints of the Inner West back in Sydney. 

The cafe has their own certification system called 'Project Origin', a guideline Ona follow when procuring their beans – it’s geared toward quality produce and fairtrade. 

Ona also have a coffee roastery to the right of the cafe where they prepare their beans, further emphasising their level of care given to their coffee. 

My eye was immediately drawn to the filter coffee on offer. My usual go to is black coffee so I couldn't pass this one up. 

The brew came in that classic percolator pot which made for a nice setup. It's colouring was pretty classic, and the coffee's character really came through in smell and taste.  Hints of berry and a touch of woody earthiness greeted my senses as I made my way through the cup. Overall it was rather light and refreshing and I regret not grabbing a small bag of beans to take home. 

Twice cooked Pork Belly Burger, Beetroot, Horseradish Relish, Swiss cheese, Pickled Daikon Slaw, Aioli

Pork belly seems to be all the rage these days and what’s not to love? Pork belly is rich, fatty and decadent and Ona cooked the pork down until tender and the fat just melted in your mouth. The pork belly burger was also served with a healthy lashing of slaw and horseradish relish, which was refreshing and bright against the fatty, rich pork belly. 

Overall a nice combination, however I would’ve liked a little less of the slaw as it felt like it was spilling out of the burger and the pork belly was overshadowed by the flood of slaw.

ONA Cheese Burger - Beef Patty, Bacon, Lettuce, Aioli, Stilton

Who doesn't love a great take on the classic cheese burger? ONA take on the challenge and do it with pride. I really liked having the choice of cheese (Stilton, Cheddar or Swiss) and the proud declaration on the menu that ONAs burgs are served medium rare. Of course you can ask for your patty to be cooked all the way through, but why would you? 

The patty was delivered as promised with a nice pink centre. It was really tender and juicy and paired really well with the other elements of the burger, particularly their aioli and Stilton. 

The aioli on its own was a little disappointing as it didn't have a really noticeable tang but its smooth and creamy texture was a great supplement for BBQ sauce. 

The Stilton came in a generous serve and so made its salty self known in each bite. It was the white variety so it's saltiness didn't overpower the rest of the burger but I would have been just as happy if it was a blue in a slightly thinner portion. 

Both of our meals were served with chips, and they deserve a special mention as they were awesome! Their nice and crunchy batter coating contrasted a soft and fluffy centre and had us reaching out for them again and again. This is where the aioli was overshadowed - still an okay condiment but definitely needs more zing next time to further enhance the chips for that winning combination. 

There's a great vibe coming out of Ona from their focus on fairtrade to their fantastic coffee. I'm really glad we got a chance to check them out. If you’re planning to venture to Canberra, schedule some time to stop by and check them out.


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Written by Lachlan Munnings (@mister_eats)
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