Borcelli Ristorante
Regarded by many – myself included – as the finest Italian restaurant in Bendigo, this award-winning restaurant can be found just opposite the Art Gallery. Indeed, it’s not a bad idea to stop off here for lunch before taking a gander at whatever’s on display at the exhibit – or vice versa.
The restaurant itself is very small, and its intimate set-up would lend itself well to dates, I’d imagine. If you happen to think it’s a bit cramped, there is an outdoor seating area available.
I’ve been there a number of times, and never been disappointed. As for my favourite dishes, I’ve always ordered their fettuccine-based pastas – fettuccine carbonara, fettuccine salmone, and fettuccine polo e fungi (mushroom based).
Occasionally I’ll order garlic bread as an appetizer, but their serving sizes are quite generous, so most of the time I just stick with the main dish alongside a wine.
Now would be a good time to segue forth to their wine list, which is quite good. I’ve only tried their Moscato, which was delightfully fruity, a definite step up from Brown Brothers. Those who prefer pinot noir, Reisling and so on, are certainly catered for.
Aside from pasta, Borcelli offer main meals such as Rolled Roasted Chicken, Fish of the Day, and Lamb Shank, but I’ve never bothered with these options, simply because I regard them as specialists at pasta.
It’s also worth noting, that if you don’t feel like dining in, they also offer takeaway.
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Rocks on Rosalind
Earlier in the year, one of my teachers told me something interesting about this place:
He and his wife had been there for dinner and had endured a nightmare experience.
This surprised me as Rocks on Rosalind is one of my favourite restaurants in Bendigo.
The thing is, it’s only because of one dish. But what a dish it is.
As you can probably tell by now, I’m a huge Italian cuisine fan. And this was another pasta dish – better than anything even at Borcelli’s, those specialists of pasta.
So it happened a few years ago that I ordered spanner crab pasta. And if I was about to be executed, it’d definitely be my last meal request to the prison guards. Either that or those ginger prawn dumplings, back when we lived in Melbourne…
But I digress. Unlike my teacher, I never had any issues with service. What’s important to note, however, is that he and his wife dined during “peak hour,” while I always had lunch when it was quiet.
Like Borcelli, they have a solid wine list, and like Borcelli, the Moscato I opted for was very satisfying.
The people who own this restaurant also own The Dispensary. And like The Dispensary, they’ve got a rotating menu in action – when I showed up one day, and discovered my beloved spanner crab was gone, I felt like crying. Well, not really. But I asked the owner, in stricken terms, “where’s the spanner crab?!”
They thought the new food options suited the new season and weather conditions.
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Wine Bank on View
This is a really lovely restaurant that I’ve only been to once, with my family. It has an interesting history, formerly being a bank – as its name suggests – before its new owners converted it into the restaurant it is today.
My main meal was soft shell tempura – it had a pleasant crunchyness on the outside and was nice and soft on the inside. Presentation wise it was also top notch, as it came accompanied with iceberg lettuce.
The definite highlight was the handmade sausage rolls – they were so delicious, we had to order a second helping for ourselves.
And yes, yet again, for drinks I had a Moscato. Of the three restaurants I’ve discussed in this post, Wine Bank on View has the most impressive range for sure. They even offer wine tasting sessions on select days, if you’re interested.