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Bellota Wine Bar – South Melbourne – Thursday 22 May 2014 – Dinner

Pork Schnitzel

Pork Schnitzel

There is always something intangible that separates good and great. It is normally a feeling that makes you want to stay; want to come back. I get that feeling at Bellota Wine Bar in South Melbourne.

The first time I came across Bellota was for a wine tasting. Eight excellent wines (some incredible) and a couple of nightcaps in the bar following the end of the tasting was enough to keep it at the forefront of my consciousness. We felt like a drink and there is almost no better place in Melbourne.

The menu is all about classic bistro dishes that lend themselves to wine. The selections are not necessarily numerous, but there is seemingly a dish to match to each wine, and a wine that will match each dish. We could have nibbled on terrines, salumi or cheese, but decided to be traditional.

I had the pork schnitzel with celeriac remoulade, egg and peppers. The schnitzel was perfectly cooked providing the crunch to offset the luscious remoulade with the slight chilli in the peppers adding some bite. Catherine ordered the bavette of beef with pomme frites. It had the normal slightly chewy texture, with some delicious tarragon butter (which could have been more generous), and packed plenty of flavour. A dish perfect for her Southern Rhone, and mine was a great match for the Bourgouge I had recommended to me.

One of the aspects that added to our enjoyment of the meal, besides the initial taster of Chablis and the great bar / dining room that is so conducive to relaxed conversation, was the service. Having been there once (for a few mind you) it was nice to be recognised a month later. More than that, the staff love their wine and are genuinely happy to be working. It doesn’t hurt that the sommelier from Stokehouse transferred here after the amazing restaurant came to a temporary close though fire.

Having somewhat settled in, we indulged in a valrhona chocolate almond cake with hokey pokey ice cream. For once it was not deconstructed! The chocolate was not overly rich or sweet, and combined nicely with the almond meal based cake which had a nice macaron style crust to it. The ice cream again wasn’t over the top on sweetness and left us wanting more!

Valrhona chocolate almond cake and hokey pokey ice cream

Valrhona chocolate almond cake and hokey pokey ice cream

Thursday nights don’t get much more enjoyable than this. An inner city wine bar with great food, completely packed, with staff having fun and the customers having a ball.

Bellota on Urbanspoon

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The Meatball & Wine Bar – Richmond – Monday 5 May 2014 – Dinner

Every aspect of The Meatball & Wine Bar is comforting.

One of the three current “meatballs”, the Richmond establishment is more than welcome in the area for many reasons. The first time I dined at 105 Swan Street it was Wild Oscar’s and my friends decided it was enjoyable – for a parma eating challenge – and not necessarily for the parma itself. It wasn’t terrible, but we didn’t go back and were not surprised when a new restaurant, Bess, took up residence. However, like a lot of addresses in Richmond, Bess had come and gone before I had a chance to get there! I get the overwhelming feeling that Meatball is here to stay the distance.

We didn’t have a booking and the welcome was not reassuring us that we were going to be able to grab a table. After standing around uncomfortably for a little while, we were taken to the bar where luckily there was enough space for the three of us. At 7pm on a Monday night the restaurant was close to capacity with only a couple of twos otherwise available. Our bar/waitperson was really friendly and did the spiel about choosing a sauce, a ball, and a sotto palle (something for your balls to sit on!), giving a few of the classic examples.

The girls both ordered beef balls with a red (Italian tomato) sauce on creamy polenta. I mixed it up a little by getting the green sauce (salsa verde) and pork balls on the same sotto palle. Both the beef and pork balls are awesome, but the surprise is the polenta – it is definitely creamy, with beautifully balanced rich flavour that doesn’t overpower the balls or detract from the sauce. The combination of sauce/ball/sotto palle is the main dish that they do, so it better be good – and it is. To break it up a bit we had the Caprese salad which is mainly classical with some very tasty croutons, and nice fresh heirloom tomatoes, but needed a bit more of the mozzarella.

There are some nice cocktails, and plenty of good Italian wines by the glass to wash down the balls. Every aspect said comfort on this very cold May evening. The interior is warm and low lit, the service is confident and friendly, the food portions are large and wholesome, and it has a neighbourhood feel. I’ve found the same of the Flinders Lane original and expect the latest in Smith Street Fitzroy would be no different. While $21 for a dish is not necessarily “cheap” in a pub sense, for what this bar dishes out I’d happily pay that any day of the week!

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