Betti Bravo's Bar

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Posted 2017-03-28 by Sue W ⇒ follow

Betti Bravo's is a tropical and colourful bar, cafe and Spanish-inspired restaurant located on the popular Kingston Foreshore. It stands out amongst the rest for it brightly coloured furniture, pink flamingos and fake grass underfoot - creating a Caribbean summer holiday feeling by Lake Burley Griffin. There have been times that I have walked past this bar and seen people lounging around on deck chairs and blow-up pool flamingos, just chilling out on a Summers afternoon with a cocktail in hand. With the soft beat of background music drifting through the air, it is a fun and inviting venue to walk into for a cold drink or two in the tropics - well, as close to the tropics as Canberra can be!

This venue, which is hard to describe but primarily a bar, first opened in January 2016 and is managed by the same group that owns Walt & Burley gastropub at the other end of the foreshore. It is a relaxed and casual bar to have after-work drinks, late night cocktails or a Sunday afternoon catch up with friends, with small and large sharing plates with Caribbean and Latin inspirations. Choose between Small Plates between $11 - $19 and Large Plates for $29. They also offer Paellas ($33) and Spanish Burgers ($18), as well as a Fiesta Menu ($49 per person). See here for the Main Menu.

At certain times throughout the year, they also cook a huge paella out the front of the bar after 5:30pm, for diners to buy for $10 a plate - eat in or takeaway. It is interesting to watch the chef at work, stirring and braising the seafood until it has all disappeared. See the Betti Bravo's Facebook for details.

On the outside of the bar, there are high tables with bar stools and colourful picnic tables with eclectic chairs near the barista station. When you walk inside there is a long geometric tiled bar, parrot wallpaper, palm trees, greenery hanging from the ceiling, plastic flamingos adorning the shelves and a dark, bar atmosphere. This would be an idyllic place to walk into after dinner on the foreshore, to finish off the night with one of the many South American drinks on offer behind the bar.

On weekends they open earlier and offer a breakfast menu from 9am. With a barista making coffees from a cart at the front, it looks like more of a cafe than bar at this time, and fits well into the breakfast cafe strip. On our familiy's visit one busy Sunday morning, we weren't intending to stop here for breakfast, however as we walked by our young daughter was attracted to the flamingos and fun of the exterior, as were we, so we grabbed an empty table and ordered our coffees straight away. Unfortunately when we looked at the menu afterwards there weren't any kid-friendly options to choose from, or any bakery items inside, so our stay was pleasant, but quick. To be honest I don't think breakfast is one of their strengths (in my opinion/at the time of writing), with small serving sizes and confused service, however I will certainly be back with a few girlfriends for a cocktail or for a "date night" for some drinks with a view - which is what this colourful bar is designed for.

Friends have recommended Betti Bravo's to me in the past, for its quirkiness, drinks and location. As it is open until midnight between Tuesday and Sunday, it also attracts many locals and visitors who walk along the foreshore, wondering which venue to stop at for a drink to start, or finish, the night. "The place with the flamingos", as it is often referred to, makes a colourful statement and invites people in to try experience the tropical and relaxed decor. See here for their cocktail and drinks menu - with the $29 Sangria jugs a popular option.

With daylight savings about to end, at the time of writing, it is the ideal time and venue, to squeeze out the last rays of summer on the foreshore.

Carribean cocktails by the water in Canberra. Who knew?