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Last week I was back eating in one of my very favourite restaurants and I realised that it was also one of the first restaurant reviews written for Almanak, so I thought it needed an update. Needless to say we had another outstanding meal and brilliant wine.
In full disclosure Bellota used to be in my street, that is to say I lived in Bank Street, South Melbourne and what a perfect local it was. Wine bar, smart European bistro and fully connected to the Prince Wine Store so it benefits from having an incredible wine cellar all available to drink in the restaurant for a small corkage charge.
When the Prince Wine Store uprooted from the Prince of Wales Hotel and moved to Bank Street, they brought with them the tradition of extremely popular Saturday midday wine tastings. Customers having had a good wine tasting would be thinking of food and ask “where can we eat lunch that is good around here?” So when the premises next door became available the PWS team acquired the site, and built Bellota as a connected wine bar and restaurant.
Chef Nicky Reimer joined (from Union Dining) bringing with her a very sharp front of house team (including sister and restaurant manager Tiffany Reimer) and a menu full of favourites (that the regulars always order) and a specials board that takes advantage of seasonal produce.
Its actually often hard to decide what to eat because everything on the menu is delicious and you will arrive with a dish clearly in your mind only to be seduced by something amazing on the specials board.
On any given day you might find Risotto Nero with sautéed cuttlefish salad ($35) or Capunti pasta with an oh so tasty lamb shoulder ragú that has anchovy, lemon, and pecorino ($34). Larger dishes include confit duck leg with black lentils braised red witlof and madeira jus ($38). Its the kind of food where you can start sharing a few dishes and keep building layer by layer.
My personal preference for lunch is to order a serve of home made sausage rolls with house chutney (sublime), then the red anchovies with finely sliced pickled onion and capers on toast (amazing) and then to pick my way through what ever is special. Recent highlights include a silky rabbit ragu with pappardelle pasta that remains one of my all time favourite dishes and a confit pulled duck with moroccan spices in a filo parcels which were so incredibly moorish.
There is nothing pretentious about eating at Bellota you will be fed great food with an exceptional wine list (well actually you walk into the shop select your bottle and hand to your waiter, a small corkage charge applies).
What I can’t believe is that I actually chose to move to another street and suburb, this is the kind of place you move to be near!
Open | Tu-Sa (11am to Midnight)
License |Fully Licensed
BYO | No
Wine Markup | 1x + $20
Food | 18/20
Wine List | 19/20
Atmosphere | 18/20
181 BANK ST. SOUTH MELBOURNE
03 9078 8381
INFO@BELLOTA.COM.AU
EVENTS@BELLOTA.COM.AU
