Berton is a medium sized, one star Michelin restaurant with a modern decor. Spacious tables are provided for all guests. They offer a broth tasting menu as well as a degustation tasting or a la carte items. All tables are brought a rack of crispy chips to snack on while you look over the menu and wine list. The rectangular one was tasty with a parmesan flavor. The staff were nice and friendly that were helpful and attentive. We chose the degustation tasting and the pacing moved along at a nice pace without too much lagging. Most things were served more warm than hot and with the ingredients sounding better than the end result. The food was good but a little soulless, but overall it was a pleasant dining experience, just not one to repeat.
The initial snack tray included a carrot and pine nut tapioca crisp with a touch of curry seasoning. It was the best of the three and quite yummy. The ball was a liquid parmesan, served cold. The bottom one they called a beignet topped with zucchini cream and roe. It had a nice crunch and good taste.
The first course was scallops and they were the smallest things you’ve seen. It was really light dish with the licorice providing a sweet taste.
They brought more bread – 2 kinds of crisps, some white bread and olive rolls. The rolls were croissant like pastry with a very mild hint of olive but a lovely taste of butter. The bread sticks were thin and crispy and you could eat a ton of them.
The shrimp salad included some raw as well as fried shrimps. The greens had been seared which added a depth. It was served with a “hot sauce” that was not really hot but was fun to mix with the salad. A really good course.
The conchiglioni pasta was filled with a savory veal sauce. It rated an extra yum.
The trout was cooked nicely but I had to peel the skin cause it lent a strong flavor I didn’t care for. The fennel was nicely cooked but nothing on this plate wowed me.
The risotto was supposed to look like a pizza and it did. It was covered with tomato powder and mozzarella. It smelled just like pizza but that didn’t translate into a similar taste. The rice was cooked nicely al dente but overall another blah course.
The eel was served with dots of swiss chard and basil and spinach. However the green dots ended up tasting of liver instead. The eel itself was oily but nice to have it not smoked. This course called for a heavy wine and overall was interesting.
The lamb was served with leek and black garlic. It was a tad boring. This cut of meat had lots of tendons and fat chunks and needed the sauce. The meat was cooked a perfect pink but the course would only rate good not outstanding.
A pre-dessert was served that was not on the menu, of coconut ice cream and beet root. Some of the coconut reminded me of meringue squares and it blended very well. I enjoyed the intense tastes of this course a lot. The waiter was most kind and brought us a glass of sweet wine to accompany our dessert courses.
The peach course looked spectacular but overall I’d say I liked it not loved it. Peaches underneath were cooked and thus had a bit more flavor but the raw ones on the top needed the herbs and cream to give them flavor. This course looked better than it was.
The mango roll had a nice smokiness to it. It tasted good but it needed to be warmed in your mouth to get the flavor. When you did this it was tasty.
They brought some extra dessert treats that included a rectangular chocolate with peanuts, macaroon with fennel and olive oil, a rhubarb tart, beignets with Marsala, and a long chocolate thing with corn.
The last dessert with a chocolate and mint that wasn’t as good as the tray of treats. We were offered a tour of the big kitchen but by then the it had been mostly cleaned up but at least we got to meet the chef de cuisine. Before leaving we were given one last bite – a cucumber, watermelon and vodka ball.
