Move over Melbourne! Why Canberra is Australia's most underrated food city

Benn and Mork Ratanakosol took a few seconds off from serving happy customers at their restaurant Minima, which has become a Canberra favourite 18 months after opening.

"We grew up here with Thai parents who ran a restaurant," Benn told me. "We lived in two worlds and two cultures every day. We'd come home from school and raid the fridge, stealing our parents' leftover Thai larb and adding in ricotta, avocado and other very Australian ingredients."

This after-school snack was the foundation of a super-creative culinary career which has culminated in 22-seat Minima in Canberra's embassy neighbourhood of Yarralumla.

The brothers totally reinvent their menu every three months - a huge effort. Their early summer offerings included such delights as fried koji pork belly with red curry and lychees, Peking-style tofu with ginger, hawthorn hoisin and fried preserved bamboo, and goat cheese udon noodle with a five-spice jam of pancetta, fig and longan. They are exquisite examples of Benn and Mork's 'third culture' cuisine - a fusion of Thai, Chinese and Australian.

Minima is the perfect example of the remarkable variety of global cuisines in Australia's small but thrilling capital city. You would expect such a global smorgasbord in Sydney or Melbourne but Canberra has such food status, too.

Diners in the bigger cities will almost certainly need to hop in taxis and Ubers to cross town or trek into the burbs to find exotic flavours, but in Canberra they can taste at least 20 different countries in just the CBD alone (roughly one square kilometre) and do it all on foot.

This fabulous variety of cuisines might seem overkill for a city of less than 500,000 people but Canberra is also home to more than 100 embassies, each one keen to support its nation's cuisine.

Do Japanese diplomats frequent the wonderful Muku, Raku and Koto? Do Peruvian officials drop in to Inka for a taste of home? Officially, no comment. Unofficially, with food this good, of course they do.

Some embassies put on food festivals at certain times of the year - the Thailand Embassy's annual event is a massive hit and includes stalls from pretty much every Canberra Thai outlet.

Then there's the National Multicultural Festival every February, which is as much about the food as the performances. On my last visit I snacked on Serbian sarma cabbage rolls, Saudi ajwa dates and Jamaican jerk chicken, fried plantain and Red Stripe beer.

I love to kick off a Canberra day with a Green Rueben (broccolini, sauerkraut, cheese and pickles) at Stepping Stone, an award-winning veggie cafe that supports migrant and refugee women. Or I might save myself for an early lunch of popcorn tofu from Lombok-inspired Rasa Rosa.

If you fancy something exotic from Africa drop in to Ethiopian on Northbourne for a bowl of stew (or 'wot'); the Asa Wot - with fish - is delish.

Take a trip to Canada for classic poutine (with imported cheese curds, no less) and a West Coast IPA at Caribou in Kingston, or to South America courtesy of Inka, a perfect example of Nikkei cuisine - a mix of Peruvian and Japanese. I'm not sure I can think of a better mix of cuisines and the Nikkei-heritage chefs at Inka make it come alive with dishes such as Peruvian-style sashimi and tuna tostadas with truffle, ponzu and wasabi.

Carnivores should make tracks for Blackfire Mediterranean grill and Afghan eatery Bamiyan for meaty showstoppers such as, respectively, Berkshire pork belly and Kabuli Pallow (chicken grilled with spices and sultanas).

I thought Bar Beirut (Lebanese) might also be meat-heavy but in fact it's also a pescatarian's and vegetarian's delight. Kingfish tartare and roast eggplant in a Yemeni zhoug sauce, anyone? The place has belly-dancers and fire-eaters too, if that's your jam.

Not satisfied with its already strong global culinary hub credentials, Canberra raised the bar a couple of years ago by opening Tiger Lane, a neon-glowing, pan-Asian 'street' inside a shopping mall, choc-a-bloc with eateries. It's fun and tasty, especially the Thai-Laos fusion house Supalove and the Chinese steam bun and dumpling specialist Golden Panda. Hungry yet?

While Canberra does mid-range food brilliantly it also maintains the standard at the fine-dining level, with numerous Australian Good Food Guide hats awarded. My top pick is Aussie-French bistro Onzieme in Kingston, run by an Australian chef with a vision.

Louis Couttoupes trained in Paris, so brings some serious culinary cred to Canberra. His ever-changing menu is rooted in the French art of 'bistronomy' but with an Aussie twist. On my last visit I had salty halloumi with sweet nectarines and whey caramel, and octopus with white beans and a spicy, aromatic biber sauce. Heaven on a plate.

Another unmissable spot is Japanese fine-diner Koto. The food is divine but it's way more than that; it's a genuinely awesome dining experience.

The restaurant inhabits a Japanese-style pavilion near Old Parliament House and is set among mossy Zen gardens created by the same designer who styled the Japanese Embassy's grounds.

But if you want Canberra's global food scene condensed on a plate, book at Minima and let the Ratanakosol brothers thrill your tastebuds.