In short: Berth Restaurant has all your comfort food cravings sorted! Generous serving sizes, you can’t go past the mushroom gnocchi or the pork cutlet. Just leave room for dessert…
There is something just wonderfully cosy about the rain falling outside on a crisp winter evening in Melbourne, and being seated warm and toasty inside a restaurant that has floor to ceiling windows looking out on to this city’s skyline. Turn on some funky beats for an audio degustation, and we’re in the right place…
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Thanks to our friends at Eat Marketing Concepts, we’re here to indulge in some pretty awesome hospitality that goes along with the equally awesome food here at Berth Restaurant. Don’t be completely fooled by its fancy exterior and entrance, this place has a great casual ambiance that allows you to feel at home. Left to the very expert and knowledgeable hands of our host Dilip, we enjoyed a fantastic, relaxed evening, as he led us through some of Berth’s new signature dishes.
We can’t stop at just one when the crispy polenta arrives. Served on a bed of cauliflower purée and that ‘you-had-me-at truffle’ aroma of the truffled pecorino dusted over the top, I was glad that fellow Coco & Viner Steve was regularly stepping out between rain showers so I could sneak in more than my fair share.
Wild mushroom arancini with aioli, parsley jus and topped with crispy parsley flakes were the perfectly cooked little balls of rice. That crunchy exterior gave way to a flavourful and moist centre that just demonstrated why this is a tried and true favourite of many of the regulars that come here.
A new addition to the menu, the prawn bao was a highlight for me from the starter menu. The unusual charcoal bao bun was impossibly soft and was an ideal bed for the crispy tempura prawn, pickled red onion and sriracha mayo for just that little kick of heat. What a great combo, and just like the polenta I could have smashed more than just one of these!
Not to be outdone, the Spring Bay mussels were also incredibly addictive and I had to make sure I paced myself as there were still mains to come! The star (besides the mussels) was the house-made XO sauce that made this dish unique. Add some chargrilled zucchini for a sweet, smoky flavour to offset the heat, and you have a winner!
Steve and I never, ever disagree on the comfort food that takes the form of gnocchi. When you have mushroom gnocchi, in a mushroom ragu, caramelised shallots, and truffled pecorino…well…just, stop it…you had us both at truffled pecorino. Steve and I fork-battled to the last pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi.
We were in agreement that it was a good move that we fasted all day for this meal, as the Millbrook crumbed pork cutlet came out next, as our bellies were starting to hit maximum capacity! Served with a puttanesca sauce, and sweet rocket and lemon, this huge serving of deliciously crumbed pork is yet another great addition to the new menu.
Not to be relegated as just ‘side’ dishes, I would have happily devoured the broccolini dusted with pecorino, and the char-grilled zucchini, as my mains. And, let’s be honest, you put one of my favourite italian cheeses on anything and I’m in my happy place.
We just had to find that second stomach of ours, you know the one that’s saved specifically for dessert no matter how full you are?! The best kind of sweet finale on a cold and blistery night, is a quintessential warm sticky date pudding with melted butterscotch sauce, mini chocolate-caramel balls, and vanilla bean ice-cream. We took a time-lapse of us eating this dish, and it lasted a whole 5 secs…which means it lasted less than a minute in real time!
For more than just photos, check out the video up top of our experience here! Whether you’re a local, a resident corporate in the area, or you’re looking for somewhere to eat after a game at Marvel Stadium, keep Berth in mind when you’re looking to satiate those comfort food cravings!
*Coco and Vine dined as guests of Berth Restaurant and Eat Marketing Concepts. However, all opinions and photos are our own.
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