The Courthouse Restaurant, Berwick

Never underestimate the South East suburbs of Melbourne. I love living in Berwick. There are so many amazing restaurants around Berwick that are just as good if not better than some restaurants in the city. I love that I can drive just a few minutes from home and dine at a restaurant that serves quality food and provides excellent service.

Last night, hubby and I went out on our first Date Night ever since Micah was born. It only took us 15 weeks to finally go on this date, lol. This date was also to make up for the dinner reservation back in December, it was to celebrate our wedding anniversary and my birthday, but we had to cancel it... all because I had to go into labour and give birth to our son :-)

Being the first time away from Micah, we are so lucky to have great choices when it comes to where to go out to dinner that is closeby (in case our babysitter freaks out and we had to rush home) and yet special enough to commemorate the occasion. It wasn't hard to decide that we wanted to return to The Courthouse. Hubby and I have only been there once before with some friends, and he had "the best steak he's ever had" last time we were there so I decided we should go back. I wasn't a food blogger back then I don't think, so I never posted a review nor did I take photos!

Scallops with Chorizo, Cauliflower Puree, Sauteed Mushrooms & Truffle Oil

We were not disappointed. The staff were friendly and prompt, and the food was absolutely amazing. Oh wait, I am jumping ahead of myself here.

We arrived and I ordered a "Fruit Tingle" cocktail whilst hubby ordered one of the International Beers from New Zealand - Monteith's. Coincidentally hubby and I have visited this brewery in Auckland so he was very happy with the beer and ordered the same beer throughout the night. The Courthouse restaurant offers a wide selection of International Beers (two whole pages on the menu!) so if you are a beer fan, you really should check it out!

Hubby ordered the Scallops with Chorizo for entree. It was served over cauliflower puree and sauteed mushrooms, dressed with truffle oil. It was mouthwateringly delicious! Yes, hubby and I share meals so I got to taste everything in this review okay? The scallops were melt in your mouth and the combination of the scallops with the sliced chorizo, mushrooms, and everything else was just divine!

Crispy Pork Belly served with Tangy Soy Dressing and Asian Coleslaw

I couldn't overlook the Crispy Pork Belly on the menu. It is my ultimate favorite and must have dish at a restaurant! Again, we were not disappointed. The pork crackling was crispy as it can be, and the dressing complimented the pork perfectly. Even the seemingly plain Asian Coleslaw seemed to have worked in this combo. It was just pure heaven. I was just sad it was only Entree sized, I could've eaten so much more of the pork belly, hehe. I want more! Plus because I was sharing with hubby I only had one. They should serve Crispy Pork Belly as a Main dish *hint hint*

Black Angus Porterhouse Steak with Garlic Cream Sauce

Then it was time for our Mains. Of course hubby ordered his steak. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as the last time he had it! It was still a decent steak - but some of the fatty chewy bits of the steak were not trimmed so he had to spit them out because they were way too chewy. It was still a really good steak though, and I suppose "Best Steak He Ever Had" was a huge expectation to live up to.

Fillet Mignon served on a bed of buttery mash, French beans and garlic cream sauce

I went and ordered a "blokey" dish too - the Chef's Specialty - Fillet Mignon! It is basically a fillet steak wrapped in bacon... mmmmm bacon. So much meat! I actually finished the whole thing myself, but felt like I couldn't eat red meat for the rest of the week! My favorite part of this dish was actually the French beans. They had this wonderful sweet taste that is so much different compared to regular green beans. It was so delicious! Funny that my biggest compliment in a meat dish goes to the greens, haha!

Peach Crumble served with Homemade Peach Ice Cream

Time for dessert and hubby went for the Peach Crumble and it was delightful! Can't go wrong with warm peach crumble and the ice cream was so yummy! By the time we tucked in for dessert though, we were both getting pretty full so we really struggled to finish our desserts, lol. They were not small desserts either!

Sticky Date Pudding with English Toffee Ice Cream

I ordered my favorite dessert, the Sticky Date Pudding and boy was I melting when I took my first bite. The pudding was warm and gooey, the sauce was so sweet and delicious, the ICE CREAM was even sweeter and delicious! You need to have a real sweet tooth to really enjoy this. My mum would probably complain that it is too sweet.. but I didn't care. The sweeter the better! It was the perfect finish to our meal and it was really good for us to be out and have a proper conversation without being distracted by a 3 month old baby.

In fact, we did really well! They say the first time away from your baby is always the hardest. Meh, we were relaxed and didn't worry at all. We knew Micah would just sleep and our babysitter would be fine. We just took our time and enjoyed each other's company, something we haven't done for months! Thank you Courthouse for a wonderful night :-)