Berta

Really nice tucked away restaurant and bar. The staff are friendly and know the products, and the food itself is excellent. Think of tapas/​sharing style modern Italian

Great location, ambience, service, menu, wine list, and overall highly recommend this great place. Cannot wait to go back. Was not as noisy as some suggest. Staff very friendly and helpful.

Nice match of serious wine and food. Does get a bit crowded and noisy however, which can take the edge off the experience.

Amazing amazing place. If I could give 10 stars for the service, I would.
I went to Berta solo on a Friday night. Given that the menu is designed to be shared and I was alone, the waitstaff were kind enough to suggest that the kitchen could do half plates so I could try more. The waiters were also super helpful with describing the dishes and made me feel at ease at the bar.
Everything on the menu sounded so good. I settled on a few entrees:
— Cauliflower and green tomato fritti — a tasty way to eat cauliflower which I usually dislike
— Prosciutto with fig — I don’t think I could ever get sick of eating good prosciutto and good it was! Served on a simple wooden board, it is a lovely way to start the meal
— Mozzarella and nectarine salad — the buffalo mozzarella was absolutely devine and perfectly paired with the sweet nectarine and rocket
— Beef brisket — larger dish served with iceberg lettuce and egg. The brisket was smoky but could have been more tender
For dessert, I opted for the honey almond cheesecake which was as far as cheesecakes go, a little average but nothing could possibly have ruined the good mood I was in

Atmosphere: small, intimate, roughly 60 seats, with ²⁄₃ falling in a small dining room, and ¹⁄₃ in a small bar area adjoining the relatively open kitchen. Great romantic lighting, and lively but not overwhelming noise level.
The wine: good selection of Italians by the glass, with some more traditional stuff as well as an outrageously funky red that’s open-​fermented in concrete vats and served cold. Also had a silky-​smooth Nebbiolo by the glass that was perfect.
The food: pear and fennel salad, ricotta-​stuffed zucchini flowers, and lamb with polenta all among the best Italian food I’ve had in a while! Apparently the menu is seasonal, so I won’t waste too much time describing these. Just go with the recommendations from your server, and you’ll be fine.
The dessert: The honey, walnut, and thyme semifreddo was almost life changing. I would come back just for this, preferably if they sold it by the kilo. However, the stracciatella gelato was a little disappointing, partially due to having a bit too much consistency of texture, and partially due to not tasting any better than what one could pick up at a decent grocer.
The service: Super-​friendly service, willing to give great recommendations, obviously the type of people who take great pride in their work. Set a nice pace for the meal, too, getting the salad out almost immediately but spacing out the next 5 courses so that we had time to relax and enjoy ourselves.

As a perhaps more critical New Yorker, I’ve noticed a lot of places in Sydney get higher ratings than they really should. This place: the service, food, and drinks are exceptional. Kieran, Stuart and Mary were awesome! We had the spaghetti and crab, sirloin, and honey gelato– all flavorful and cooked to perfection. Definitely check this place out!

I came here with a group of frends for an informal joint birthday dinner — it was very highly recommended by one of the birthday girls (I am the other, lol). She and I have the same tastebuds, so I had very high expectations…
Look, it was great. The service was impeccable, the wine recomendation was spot on — we had a perfect red… right now I can’t remember if it was Sicilian or South Australian… and it doesn’t matter. Our host was very knowledgable and gave us the perfect wine for what we wanted.
I guess I’m slightly underwhelmed by the portion sizes and the price. We paid about $ 500 with a group of 5 and we all left slightly hungry and vaguely unfulfilled. I wouldn’t come here for a full meal again, I’d come for some wine and conversation and a dish or two to snack on and peck at. The menu changes frequently and clearly people LOVE this place, includng my good friend, whose tastebuds I trust implicitly, so maybe this time round just wasn’t for me.

Firstly, the location of this place can be quite tricky as it is hidden away from the all the buzz of the main strip. However, the ambience of the restaurant is quite charming and intimate. Our waiter was very friendly and inviting, which was a great start to the night.
Berta has a «tapas» style menu, which allows u to try as much as ur heart desires and share all round.
Enjoyed the first course which was the pâté with jam and crust, however everything else that we had ordered was pretty average. We had some beef, and pasta.
Will probably be going back on a different day to try the other food on offer as their menu hanged daily.

This place is amazing. Definite 5 star. The menu changes frequently, and I’ve eaten there for both lunch and dinner. The food and service has been consistently fabulous. There are some caveats though. If you like to order «the chicken», Berta may not be for you. Also, it’s relatively small so don’t expect to roll up with a party of 4 with no booking and get in. Finally, it’s impossible to find. It’s in an alley behind the Travelodge and 175 Liverpool street. There is only a door fronting the street. I had to use a GPS to find it first time and I was standing in front of it.

The food was wonderfully delicious. I had the smoked duck, fried risotto and tagliatelle. It was a little tricky to find as the entrance is very inconspicuous. There is a risk when dining internationally, because no one ever gets it quite like «home»; however, Berta holds its own. The staff was very nice and very helpful. They offered recommendations of comparable restaurants to try while in Sydney. Service here is incredible and the food execution, presentation and taste were impeccable. If I ever return to Sydney, I will definitely visit Berta again.

Loved it.
I’m transiting through Sydney en route to home (Virginia, USA). Looked around for some good Italiano before flying tomorrow, and found this gem via community reviews.
It’s a bit confusing to find, for starters. Almost an unmarked for in an alley, but do press on.
I dined alone, but the wait staff were wonderful. They didn’t hover or make me feel either freakish or unwelcomed.
Started off with a glass of prosecco and the prosciutto di San Daniele with «gnocco fritto». Odd, but sure. The gnocco are basically pasta noodles quick fried. Not oily, but certainly fried. Strange, but it worked.
For my secondo piatto, I had tagliatelle in a spicy tomato sauce (almost an arrabiatta) with capers, blanched spinach, and shaved parmigiana cheese. Paired with a rosso delba from Sicily, it was fabulous.
I rarely get dessert, but the orange sorbetto with Campari called me. Not a big fan of Campari, but the combo worked. Paired with a simple grappa biancha, the dolce was just right.
Really glad I followed the reviews. Henceforth, I will plan a «Sydney staging night» whenever I’m heading home from biz trips, and Berta is a MUST stop for me. Thanks!

Good restaurant except for its price.

Dropped in for a few pre-​dinner drinks and nibbles. It was a Wednesday and the place was buzzing with the crowd for the Sagra dinner (set menu based around a weekly theme ingredient). Clearly the staff realised we were completely ignorant about this. Instead of kicking us out for crashing the party, they offered us a table in the bar, talked us through the wines and offered us the Sagra starters as «nibbles» as that was the only dining option. OK!
Wonderful staff, amazing food and great wine. I can’t wait to come back. I’ll bee booking a table for the full Sagra dinner some Wednesday soon!

What incredible service, food and wine. Of course, you only get that if you can find the place. We stood about 3 metres away from the door discussing where the f*ck it was for about 5 minutes before we realised it was RIGHT THERE.
Food was incredible, service was ridiculously friendly. As one reviewer said, «it’s like they want you to be there.» That’s not a common thing in Sydney. Only downside (not enough to lose a star) is that ain’t cheap. It ain’t even close to cheap, actually. But who cares, it’s great.

Came here for dinner in 2010 when it was just a newborn in the Surry Hills hideaway restaurant/​bar scene. Took a while to find this place but when we finally sat down, we were greeted by the most patient and friendly sommelier, words cannot describe how valuable he is to this place.
The menu is seasonal so I can’t quite recall what we had for dinner, but I do remember how I felt following dinner, was quite satisfied and full.
I most certainly will return for a repeat of what I experienced back in 2010.

Berta. Go… just go. Dont even read this, you are wasting time.
I watched the building go up thinking what a weird place to put a small apartment block. I saw one day that a fit out was happening in the ground floor space. I read a review of Terry Durack’s that revealed his crush on Matt Preston who was also there, then I read a review from someone else that said Terry Durack was there — how many food critics can you get into one restaurant? Were there any customers?
Berta — maybe pointless to review it as you’ll probably never find it. I went with D1 and Keeno, walked them right up to the door and they still couldn’t find it.
Inside at night the mural in the lane behind is lit up and it looks fantastic. An edgy spot. Very cool crowd, but no recognisable food reviewers?
Service — as good as it gets. Helpful professional and friendly. As other reviews say there is zero attitude. Its like they are actually happy you are there! Very rare in Sydney and especially at a such a cool place. Great wine selection, all Italian perhaps a bit pricey but good — stop pretending you can read the wine list and let Berta’s people do it for you, take the weight off!
Food — Keeno surprised us again and ordered scallops, this time with a kingfish cerviche and pickled cucumber. D1 took a photo — it looks like we ate it upside down but I am sure I would have remembered that? It was a big hit and put on smiles all round. Plates are to share so no embarrasing swapping of cutlery and spilled oysters down your front. Such a good idea. The trumpeter was the nicest piece of fish I have had for a long time. The pork was brilliant.
Berta gets 5 stars — easily. Pity you will never find it.