Restaurants with a view. The venue for that extra-special occasion – a milestone birthday, a wedding anniversary or a proposal perhaps.

In Sydney there are multiple restaurants with a view of its effervescent harbour – some of world-class calibre such as Peter Gilmore’s Quay. In Canberra we have a handful dotted along the lake and the mountains – but are they any good? Is the very dark, vast view across our nation’s capital matched by spectacular food?

Last week I went to OnRed (which is on Red Hill, if it wasn’t obvious) for a celebratory dinner.  It also happened to be a set menu dinner, where the chef prepared dishes from the OnRed menu past and present to especially match the wines from the boutique winery Golden Ball in Beechworth, Victoria.

Set dinners with matched wines are my secret foodie dream. No agonising over menu options or wine lists, and it gives the chef creative license in the kitchen to produce the best food possible with the wine.

We were greeted by very attentive staff, who served us our aperitif – a delightfully fresh rosé (2010 Cherish) which made me yearn for sunshine and the beach. The accompaniment canapés were a little less impressive – the smoked duck breast with pickled beetroot and horseradish cream had too many strong flavours, and the house cured ocean trout was left ungarnished on some kind of bizarre and chewy mini-pancake.

The view did its job of being remarkable, with almost every corner of Canberra and beyond visible from OnRed’s circular and glass-encased dining room.

Our first course (top right) was a tortellini of goats cheese with prawns, tea soaked raisins, croutes, brown butter and pecorino, accompanied by a 2008 chardonnay.

Chardonnay isn’t my favourite white, but even I could taste that this was a perfect match. The depth and strength of the chardonnay was complemented by the subtlety of the goats cheese, which oozed out of the effortlessly wrapped tortellini with every bite.

The tea soaked raisins added a novel flavor and some sweetness, and the pecorino some salty oomph. If anything I’d say the prawns were unnecessary on this dish, while delicious, they sat idly and didn’t engage much with the other flavours.

All of this, as it turns out, was mere fanfare for the full bodied red wines that make up the majority production Golden Ball wines.

Our second course (second from top, at right) was a crisp salted pork belly with celeriac and apple puree, poached date and watercress accompanied by the 2008 and 2006 Shiraz. I’m no wine expert, but I delighted in having  two vintages of the same wine to compare alongside the meal, and took a keen liking to the 2006.

The pork belly was crispy on the exterior and tender on the interior as it should be, and the puree lightened the richness of each bite nicely.

The third and final course (second from bottom, at right) was the lamb cutlet and crumbed confit of shoulder with cheese fondue, roast beetroot and rocket pesto, accompanied by the 2008 and 2006 Gallice (a cabernet merlot).

The kitchen was definitely saving its best till last with this perfectly cooked, exceptionally juicy lamb cutlet, surrounded by delightful flavours.

The crumbled confit of shoulder were crispy croquettes of deliciousness – I had never had lamb cooked in such a way but I would strongly recommend it. The cheese fondue drizzled along the plate added creaminess to each bite, and the rocket pesto and roast beetroot  were vegetable sides full of flavour.

All in all, it was a lovely meal. The tortellini and the lamb were certainly something special, the rest of the courses were good but didn’t sparkle. The wines were really what made all of the dishes and I guess that was the intention of the night. If it hadn’t been a tasting evening I don’t know whether I would have been satisfied by the food alone.

I did, however, learn far more that evening about wine than ever before, as the owner and winemaker James McLaurin did a brief introduction to each wine, the story behind the grapes, the oak of the barrels and how the flavour comes together.

For a small family vineyard, I was astonished at the extent of fine restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra their wines have reached – from Testuya’s to Aria to Cutler & Co, it would seem that any acclaimed restaurant has a Golden Ball wine on its list. In Canberra, Golden Ball wines are only available at OnRed and the Ginger Room at Old Parliament House. Looks like some of the other fine dining venues in Canberra have some wine buying to do.

In Canberra, it’s a captive market for diners wanting a restaurant with a view. You could easily imagine a restaurant in this town selling itself solely on its view alone and skimping on the quality of food, wine, and of course the overall ambience and experience. This isn’t the case at OnRed.

It certainly matches the atmosphere with superb service, high quality food and exceptional wine. It’s certainly a dining experience I’ll remember in this town, where so many are unfortunately quite forgettable. And hey, if nothing else, the view isn’t too shabby.