Gold Coast Taste review: Nero Dining, Broadbeach Waters

AS one door closes, another opens. Nero Dining is shaping up as a strong successor to the longstanding Verve at Broadbeach Waters.

Nero Dining’s pork belly with white bean puree and broccolini.

OLD-fashioned service meets a modern menu at the new Nero Dining.

It’s a culinary collision personified by father-son team Andrew and Jayden Barker.

Patriarch Andrew looks after front of house, delivering the kind of assured, attentive service that’s becoming a rarity.

He’s generous with his time and passionate about wine matching.

Head chef Jayden, on the other hand, presides over an on-trend collection of share plates that would fit in the hippest of tapas bars.

Nero Dining’s coal roasted lamb, chargrilled radicchio, black garlic and preserved lemon.

Nero’s intimate space, for so long home to Verve, has had a spruce up, with ambient lighting and the namesake noir extending to midnight table linen.

It’s a more comfortable experience than fine dining, although it has many of its hallmarks.

Emerging from the kitchens of Cavalier and Pablo Pablo, Jayden’s menu is full of Spanish and Italian influences.

Nero Dining’s skirt steak with potato puree and shallot butter.

To kick start the indulgent theme, every table receives a complimentary round of just-baked bread.

We enjoyed ours as per Andrew’s recommendation — smothered in the house-made butter and layered with soft folds of jamon serrano ($12).

Complete the picture by chasing it down with French fizz, or more accessibly priced Australian sparlings available by the glass.

Nero Dining’s beef carpaccio with smoked turnip and brown butter.

Nero doesn’t stand on pretension when it comes to tackling the woodfired corn on the cob ($5 each). Dusted with an addictive combination of pecorino and spicy aioli, you’ll need to get your hands dirty.

Pickled mushrooms provide piquant contrast with chargrilled haloumi, sandwiched by flat bread in the nightly special.

Nero Dining’s Corn with spicy aioli and Pecorino Romano.

Continue with seasonal staples of pork belly on white bean puree ($26) and chargrilled lamb with coal-roasted radicchio delivering a splash of winter colour ($26).

Gnocchi ($20) melts in your mouth, while the tagliatelle ($28) is sheer, buttery pleasure, with Moreton Bay bug meat, black garlic, a generous hand of extra virgin olive oil and a faint lacing of chilli.

Nero Dining’s beef brisket with cauliflower puree and pickled vegetables.

We enjoyed every bite, but it’s almost too much of a good thing.

The menu would benefit from a side salad option or some token greenery to break up all those beautifully rich courses.

Overall it’s a satisfying dining experience, with Nero’s split personality offering the best of both worlds.

The easy parking is an unexpected bonus.

Nero Dining’s gnocchi with pumpkin and woodear mushroom.

Nero Dining

3/1 Sunshine Boulevard, Broadbeach Waters

Book it: 5526 7364

Open: Dinner Wednesday to Sunday from 6pm until late

Nero Dining’s dirty rice with soffrito, egg yolk and spice.