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You\u2019ll never guess where the couple behind Moby Dick\u2019s \u2013 Atika Keane and Mick Reid \u2013 met. Photos: Supplied.<\/p>\n
I used to laugh when Canberra friends would describe a little tavern deep in West Belconnen heartland as \u201cscary\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMate, I\u2019m from Queanbeyan,\u201d I\u2019d say.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou blokes over the border don\u2019t get to tell me what\u2019s \u2018scary\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Moby Dick\u2019s was a hard no when partying in the general 2615 area.<\/p>\n
It was rumoured to be a watering hole for bikies, a place of occasional violence and not exactly known for making women feel at home. I\u2019d always pictured a dark, dingy bar with blokes in leather jackets spilling out the front and the back, schooners in hand and beer froth on their beards and moustaches. Like a boisterous party scene from Sons of Anarchy.<\/p>\n
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The old Moby Dick\u2019s wasn\u2019t super \u2026 inviting. Photo: Supplied.<\/p>\n
Then, last month, I actually went there.<\/p>\n
And it was the best night out I\u2019ve had in a very long time.<\/p>\n
Because if you\u2019ve always believed the rumours and never stepped foot in Moby Dick\u2019s, or you haven\u2019t been there in the nine years since Atika Keane and Mick Reid took over, you won\u2019t know that Moby\u2019s has had the makeover or all makeovers. We\u2019re talking about a serious glow-up.<\/p>\n
As the tiny taverns of West Belconnen crumbled around them \u2013 think Kippax, Fraser and the Magpies Club \u2013 Atika and Mick doubled down and completely transformed the interior and the energy of the infamous venue, and by extension, its reputation.<\/p>\n
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The feeling now is \u2018beautiful country pub\u2019 and punters are loving it. Photo: Atika Keane.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always knew we wanted to completely reinvent the place,\u201d Atika says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first we struggled with the name. You know, to have a reputation like that \u2013 that had been built up over decades \u2013 was always going to be hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut people knew the location and there was a sense of nostalgia we wanted to retain.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we couldn\u2019t come up with anything better!\u201d<\/p>\n
Find your place of wonder.<\/p>\n Take advantage of the Better Living Rebate – up to $58,000 available on eligible blocks.^<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Moby Dick\u2019s Tavern opened on Hardwick Crescent, Holt, in 1978. An 18-year-old Atika Keane was working as an apprentice hairdresser two doors down in 1998, when she called in to Moby\u2019s to use the bathroom \u2013 and was offered a job behind the bar.<\/p>\n She remembers exactly what the venue was like in the 90s and early 2000s.<\/p>\n What Moby\u2019s used to look like inside. Photo: Supplied<\/p>\n \u201cYes, it was a place where bikies came in and we did have the occasional event where police were called,\u201d Atika says.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the rumours were much worse than the reality of what the bar was actually like.\u201d<\/p>\n Between kids and stints interstate, Atika continued working at Moby\u2019s, and was the natural successor when former owner Darcy Henry decided to retire in 2017.<\/p>\n Having served drinks to punters for more than 25 years, Atika knew exactly what was needed to turn Moby Dick\u2019s into the kind of place \u201cwhere everyone felt welcome, where you\u2019d meet friends at the end of the day and truly come and make it your local\u201d.<\/p>\n Back in the day: Moby Dick\u2019s Tavern in the early 2000s. Photo: Supplied.<\/p>\n In 2019, Atika and Mick took over the space of the former Kippax Curry House next door, smashing through the walls between the venues and doubling the floorspace of Moby\u2019s.<\/p>\n They built Zaria\u2019s Country Kitchen, named after their small daughter, literally by hand, exposing the roof trusses and decorating the walls with old newspaper clippings they\u2019d found under the floorboards at Mick\u2019s nan\u2019s house. (These articles alone are worth a visit to Moby\u2019s.)<\/p>\n Zaria\u2019s Country Kitchen was recently named the home of the best schnitzel in Canberra in Hit104.7\u2019s Best of Canberra. The secret? \u201cJust making the best quality food for the best quality people that walk through our doors\u201d.<\/p>\n Zaria Reid wants \u201ceveryone to come and try the schnitzel!\u201d at the country kitchen named after her. Photo: Atika Keane.<\/p>\n The Moby events calendar is packed. Last week was a Moulin Rouge-themed party. The week before was a bikini carwash fundraiser where the men wore bikinis, not women, and washed cars lined up along Hardwick Crescent. There\u2019s trivia, live bands and Anzac Day is a staple. On Saturday nights it\u2019s packed, and when the lights come on at midnight, most people wander over to the Raiders Club to continue their night.<\/p>\n I think we can say Moby Dick\u2019s is finally living up to its original tagline of guaranteeing punters will have \u201ca whale of a time\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI never really stop to think about whether I\u2019m proud of what we\u2019ve done,\u201d Atika says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just get up each day, make people who come in feel like they\u2019re family, and wonder how we can make the place even better.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ginninderry-wonder-lives-here-logo.png\"){kind=logo}
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