Eschalot Restaurant

The restaurant is in a cute little building in Berrima which is a sleepy little picturesque village in the southern highlands. I have been wanting to try Eschalot ever since seeing they are hatted. Our group was seated in the wine room which was so cozy and warm and the perfect setting - i mean who doesn't enjoy being surrounded by wine ? We had the Chefs Signature menu, a shared menu which was generous but it wasn't all stand out. some were just okay. The wine we chose was delicious we had 2 - we were there with friends and the restaurant did it's job it was great for a catch up. We could still talk. The food was good but not outstanding as I had expected from a highly awarded restaurant. I didn't mind the ceviche and i'm a sucker for croquettes which looked like arrancini. the croquettes were great and reminded me of authentic spanish ones i had in barcelona (except not round) The fish was well cooked and the gnocchi was ok. I really enjoyed the desert which had crunchy pops of chocolate.

Best roasted pork belly ever. With really nicely grilled asparagus. Chicken tenders with sriracha honey sauce was delicious too as was gnocchi with smoked eggplant and shimeji mushroom. The yuzu miso pana cotta was however too funky for my taste. Friendly attentive service too.

​The chefs feed me menu didn't deliver on its promise of a unique, local, inventive experience for me. It felt like a selection of safe, familiar meals - it was less like a curated showcase and more like a predictable tour of standard menu items, with long waits between courses. While the food was good, it didn't represent the kind of high-level, imaginative cuisine the price and menu's concept suggested. In hindsight, I would have been happier ordering less from the regular menu. Environment was lovely indoor and outside and the restaurant itself is located centrally within Berrima. Good range of local drinks and cocktails.

We visited Eschalot in Berrima for a long lunch with close friends to celebrate my wife’s birthday, and it couldn’t have been more perfect. The Feed Me menu was an absolute hit — every dish was beautifully presented and full of flavour. Jonathan, our host, and Matt, the Head Chef / owner, went above and beyond to make the day feel truly special. Exceptional fresh food, stunning setting, and wonderful hospitality, see you again soon!

After many recommendations we decided to venture to the Southern Highlands for lunch as Eschalot. We were not blown away. The day started off well with a lovely greeting and being seated quickly. Our waiter was friendly and attentive. We opted for the Signature feed me $140pp so that we could try a variety of dishes. None of the dishes blew us away, often under seasoned, overcooked or not fresh. The ceviche was equivalent to what you would expect from a pub – bland and drowning in sauce, the snapper was almost tough, the spatchcock on the drier side, the dessert like grandma would make, the hummus was a chunkier version of pilpel, the burrata salad was dry and overly bitter. The waiter explained to us that the feed me menu is decided on the day and the chefs make it up as they go, which is fine but what that meant was that we didn’t know what was coming and neither did our waiter so he couldn’t recommend wine pairings accordingly. Wine pairings feel like a basic necessity for a restaurant that claims to be ‘upscale’ and in a big wine region. The staff also couldn’t explain the dishes beyond ‘lamb with labneh’ ‘hummus with bread’ ‘oysters.’ We thought they prided themselves on using produce from local farms and their own garden, however, if that is the case it seemed odd for the staff not to be able to explain those finer details. While in a lovely building, the venue was cold, I kept my coat on for the entirety of the meal, and we were seated in the backroom right near the toilet hand dryer which did not add to the ambience.

Hands down one of the best restaurants we have been to, the food was like art on a plate, delicious, fresh, full of flavours, our waitress was fantastic, took time to chat to us and explained the dishes really well, cant wait to return again when visiting Berrima.

Spying the corpse reviver #2 ($23) on a cocktail list always makes me happy. The version at Eschalot Restaurant in Berrima wasn’t acidic enough to vanquish the memory of The Owl House, where I first fell in love with this drink. However, being in a side room of a historic, sandstone cottage felt like a more salubrious place to imbibe than the former Darlinghurst bar. The building dates back to 1840, when it was known as Breen’s Inn. It has been sympathetically restored in a way that preserves its history. By contrast, the menu created by chef Matty Roberts, feels contemporary. Divided into snacks, small plates, grills, and vegetables, his dishes are predicated on sharing across the well-spaced tables. Fire is a bit of a through-line, starting with smoked butter ($5)—which was oddly priced separately from the house-made bread ($8). I suspect it’s to allow you to choose your own smearing poison, but it just meant we added on hummus, sumac and olive oil ($6) too. Fermented mushroom and charcoal dumplings ($23/3) were packed with flavour: their chewy texture yields to a mushroom duxelles. By contrast, leek, jalapeño and manchego croquettes ($18/3) were crunchy edged balls of molten liquid. With fresh oysters still en-route from Tuross Head, we settled for oyster cream on an enjoyable venison tartare ($30). A second small plate of reimagined surf’n’turf saw a fatty log of pork belly ($31) teamed with a tenderly-handled Moreton Bay bug with samphire and a mild sea urchin crème. Playing with the Italian winter salad ($21) I so enjoyed at Small Town Provisions, Roberts switches out persimmon for grapes and currants, hazelnuts for walnuts, and vincotto for honey and lime dressing. It shows the versatility of radicchio, which really should be our standard winter salad ‘green’. By-the-glass wines are interesting, with the 2021 Serere Roussanne ($24) drinking best.

Return diners who chose to be surprised by the Feed Me Menu once again and we weren't disappointed. A wonderful array of fresh and delicious courses served by friendly and attentive staff.

Really wonderful atmosphere, nice food and service, in a historic building in the charming village of Berrima. We've been here on several occasions and always enjoyed the seasonal menus. Absolutely beautiful location in Summer.

Had a fantastic lunch. They are not cheap but worth it. Ordered 'Chef feed me' package and it was divine. Highly recommended if you are going into the area.

Rude and not children friendly at all - unless you want to be schooled on how to parent. We dined with another family. 2 kids were on devices, 2 were playing together with their dolls. No one was yelling or screaming, no fights, just one moment of crying from my 3 year old and we got told we weren't monitoring our children and they were being disruptive. Waitress was passive aggressively rushing us through our meal to get us out. We will never be back and do not recommend this to any families.

Booked for lunch at 12.30pm - When we arrived we were seated quickly at one of the rooms towards the front at a window so that was nice as we got to people watch. There are heaps of different rooms within the restaurant. Where we were seated there were only 4 tables in our room (3 seated 2 pax and the 4th was for a group of 4 pax). Offered still or sparking on arrival - opted for still. Took me awhile to decide whether to go for their signature duck, spatchcock or lamb. Asked the waiter and he said the lamb. My partner got the beef tenderloins and we got bread to start and the onion rings as a side with our mains. We were given a little something to get our tastebuds going - it was a malibu infused cucumber with mint, yoghurt and olive oil - Yum! Loved it. The bread with cured butter, balsamic vinegar and olive oil was delicious! We were literally scrapping the bowl of the olive oil and vinegar. Mains - my partner loved his beef - the meat was tender and juicy. The first few bites of my lamb was good but the meat was very chewy! It got to the point where i gave up and had to give some to my partner in exchange for some of his beef. The onion rings were plentiful - we got a bowl overflowing with stringy onion rings and they were lightly fried so not oily at all. I would recommend this as a side as it would compliment most dishes on the menu. Overall, the service was great, loved all the dishes except the lamb. We were pretty stuffed by the end so we did not get a chance to order dessert.

One of the best restaurants I've ever been to, and quite possibly the best in the Southern Highlands. Lovely fresh produce and quality ingredients, couldn't fault the service provided, I will be happily revisiting sometime soon. My fiancé proposed to me here with some close friends (although I thought we were going out for his birthday), with the restaurant providing a private room for all 6 of us. The restaurant has a lovely warm cosy atmosphere that is so relaxing and inviting, I just cannot wait to go back. Definitely recommend to anyone wanting to try something that is a little more special than your local feeds.

What a wonderful meal. My partner and I went to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. Service was fantastic. A mix of "city" fine dining with "country" hospitality. We started with a glass of champagne, and then decided to do the tasting menu. At $110 ($165 with paired wines), we found it to be great value. The food was all superb, and we look forward to going back to try some of the food a la carte.

Had a fantastic anniversary dinner here! Service and food top notch. Prices are very reasonable compared to Sydney! Hint-Go for the lamb cutlets, divine!