Booth St Bistro

Nurtured. That's how diners feel at Booth St Bistro, with its ambient lighting, cosy booths, friendly staff and mellow tunes. The care factor extends to the menu, which features line-caught squid, ingredients from small producers, and gluten-free options. Some dishes are rustic and comforting, such as Sunday roast served on a wooden chopping board. Thick slices of sirloin are accompanied with a medley of roasted kipfler potatoes, sweet potato, beetroot and artichoke, a jug of jus, and a pumped-up Yorkshire pudding. It's flawless. Other dishes offer a white-tablecloth finesse, but can be less reliable. Suckling pig cooked three ways was crackled and pull-apart soft in all the right places, but it was meat-heavy and jus-light and just a little dry. Nicely seared scallops got a hit of crunch from celeriac and toasted hazelnuts but also lost out on juiciness. Lemon tart, however, was a well-judged balance of sweet and sharp, with a blob of clotted cream on top.