Tarra Queenscliff restaurant review 2024

$10 wines, mains for about $30 and pub-friendly fish and chips — this coastal hidden gem is making waves for its great-value eats.

Tarra has been hiding in Queenscliff for six months.

Help! Queenscliff is under alien attack.

A shiny mothership has landed at the old ferry terminal; a monstrous glass and steel void beaming across Port Phillip Bay, with views of the great beyond.

Visible signs of life show the workings of a restaurant, with out-of-this-world prices that will shock humanity.

Wines for $10, mains hovering about $30 and the ultimate “pub-fecta” of menu items: fish and chips, salt and pepper calamari annnd chicken schnitty. Winner winner, indeed.

A foreign land where foams, fuss and tweezers are forbidden and you won’t get whacked with the snack tax. Forget paying $10 for a lone arancini, it’s bulk for buck here.

Welcome to Tarra.

Futuristic yet familiar, MasterChef Australia alumni Michael Demagistris (Noma, Copenhagen/ Polperro Winery) isgiving the people what they want (and need) in his new executive chef gig. He’s uniting both sides of the ’Ninch, bringing a taste of Mornington to the Bellarine with fancy and functional food, without a fat price tag.

Scallops tickled with bonito butter and fermented chilli oil.

Phew, they serve fish and chips.

For the past six months, the untapped coastal gem has sailed under the radar to Melbourne mouths. Unless you’re local, you really have to seek this place out.

The behemoth structure, built by Searoad ferries, is a two-level hub playing home to a cafe and passenger lounge upstairs, with a gift shop and 60-seater restaurant on the ground floor.

The smaller than expected, long-narrow dining room dots blonde timber tables over terrazzo concrete floors. It’s a pragmatic space, much like Tarra’s food philosophy.

It’s not fine dining — a term Demagistris refuses to be defined by — though I’d argue his execution, skill and flavour of each dish should be illegal at that price.

Maybe you’ll start with kangaroo tartare tartlet ($15); two boats of Skippy meat tumbled in miso mayo and horseradish, topped with fried saltbush that’s plucked from the foreshore.

Crowd-pleasing scallops ($22 for three), bob in bonito butter and fermented chilli oil pepper that warms both body and soul. Shame I missed the pink fingerlimes for garnish, camouflaged on the beautifully styled plate, a slip-up easily avoided if the waiters reminded me tableside.

Su Mai ($18 for three), Chinese pork and fermented cabbage dumplings, bob in a black vinegar and bone broth so good I guzzled clean from the bowl.

Pork belly sans crackle? You won’t be disappointed.

Disclaimer. While mains hover around $30, Demagistris’s new menu (which launched the week we dined) has larger shares designed for two at a higher price.

You may try a glazed veal cutlet with celeriac and sorrel ($52), or the Southern Rock Lobster ($60) glowing an eye-popping shade of orange it demands attention when whisked from the kitchen.

Or you could stick to the pork belly ($36). Don’t worry, Demagistris hasn’t done us a dirty by scrapping the crackle. Instead he replaces it with an equally shatter-fine tapioca sheet that does the job nicely. The buttersoft belly, glazed in a sticky sweet char siu sauce, comes with a refreshing coil of crisp green apple and perfectly seasoned salad of watercress and witlof.

Though one of Tarra’s biggest wins is dessert. You get not one, but two, bittersweet orange ice-creams dunked in caramelised white chocolate for $15.

It’s important to remember Tarra still abides by country dining prices: cocktails dare not to edge over $18, wine by the glass (straddles both sides of the Ninch with Mornington and Bellarine pours) range from $10-$13, while bottles start at $40.

There really is something for all tastes — whether you’re wanting to push the boat out or stick to familiar faves.

I’m surprised Tarra, translating to wings in Wadawurrung Country, hasn’t already taken flight.

Sorry Queenscliff, the Bellarine’s best kept secret is out.

Prepare for the Melbourne invasion.

It’s been smooth sailing at Tarra Queenscliff for the past six months.