15/20
Contemporary
Montalto is probably the peninsula's top destination restaurant, and not without reason. It combines art and culture and food and wine with truly special scenery. The property is dotted with extraordinary sculptural pieces and visitors can stroll the wetlands boardwalk or have a private picnic table set up under the gums. Popular? Yes, and you will need to book, as the spacious dining room is usually full of diners creating a noisy, happy buzz. The small menu focuses on local produce – really local, like herbs and vegetables harvested from the kitchen garden (finely chopped zucchini and its flowers in a creamy risotto with a buttery white-wine base, for example). Port Phillip Bay snapper might come topped with asparagus and finished with an intense but not overpowering seafood-based sauce fragrant with saffron, tomato and basil. Desserts include old favourites such as panna cotta, but always with interesting yet complementary flavours – one infused with orange-blossom water and paired with refreshingly tart rhubarb sorbet. Chef Barry Davis is much influenced by French cuisine and has an eye for detail, beautifully plating each dish – it's all part of Montalto's immense charm.
Open Daily noon–3pm; Fri–Sat 6.30–11pm (extended hours in summer)
Typical prices E $19 M $37 D $17
Cards AE DC MC V Eftpos
Wine Four pages of estate wines, locals and the odd European
Owners John and Wendy Mitchell
Chef Barry Davis
Seats 120; outdoor seating; private room 
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