Middle Brighton Baths

This is my latest favourite restaurant in Melbourne.
The food is really sensational! They have put in a great deal of effort to put their signature twist on some beautiful European classics such as beef tartare with raw quail egg and cassoulet of confit of duck.
The service is excellent too.
The restaurant is upstairs overlooking the Baths, hence its name. It has great views of the bay and city skyline in the not too far distance. At night the shore in front of the restaurant is lit so you can see the calm waves of the bay on the shoreline.
I really can’t fault this place!

Must say great service great space where you are not on top of each other, great view over sea baths and not to loud given concrete floors! Cozy inside amazing coffee but failed to offer water! Had the amazing Mexican stand off for breakfast served in a pan with beans two eggs floating on top cooked to perfection and spicy choritzo sausage and sour dough! Def going back to this place be prepared meter parking! Take the camera for great pics of city skyline over the bay!

Awesome location! Good food. Average service. I will go back again and bring mates to the sports facility but the café will be a special event only (kinda pricey so hard to do everytime whilst on a budget).

Biked to the restaurant for Sunday lunch. This proved to be a very disappointing experience. To start of with the positive the view is magnificent and the outdoor terrace is nice. But this is where it ends. We orderd red a Turkish bread with dips and what we got looked like a normal loaf from bakers delight. When the drinks came my partner ordered a bloody merry which was not spicy and tasted like tomato juice and vodka. We asked the waiter if we could have some spicy sauce, and they told us that they don’t have spicy sauce (makes me wounded how they can even make a bloody merry). The waiters are un attentive and the service is very slow. When the mains arrived the salmon was a bit undercooked and bland in general. The fish and chips on the other hand were decent. They also removed the bloody merry from the bill at the end. Overall it was a very disappointing experience. The food is very over priced for what it is. Would not come again.

Few times in my life that I have been this disappointed with a business.
I ordered the fish And chips (as you do when you’re next to the beach) and it was stone cold with a seafood sauce thrown on the side if my plate.
My aunty had the salmon and it was overlooked and served with a tomato sauce that looked like they use it for a spagetti!
Then if that wasn’t bad enough the service was horrid! The host was nice enough but the waiters were useless that had horrible organisational skills and frankly we’re not very nice.
Will not return. No matter how beautiful that spot on the beach is! Is rather go to the fish and chip shop across the road!

Went for a Xmas work lunch today — it was a perfectly sunny summer day when we strolled up to the second level and were seated by the large window overlooking Port Phillip Bay. The view itself was worth it.
The food was divine — I had zucchini ricotta flowers with caramelised walnuts for entrée, salmon with asparagus and prosciutto for main and plenty of pinot gris. Overall, good quality food, attentive service and hypnotising view for a reasonable price. Recommend if you’re in the hood.

This is a review of the restaurant which is on the first floor — The Café is on the ground floor and is casual.
The Restaurant;
Table cloths, attentive waiters, fabulous wine list (knowledgeable somellier-​the bloke telling us about the wines) but THAT VIEW! A great restaurant all year round, but excells in summer. There is a deck with a Northerly aspect and views of the city. The floor to ceiling windows offer superb views of the city over the Brighton Sea Baths and the marina. For winter, there is a wood fire in the area behind the bar which, if you ask nicely, the staff will set for upto about 10 people for a semi-​private and very intimate dining area in winter. There is also a private dining room for about 28 people, again with the wonderful views.
The Food;
Changing seasonally, the thoughful menu should have something for everybody. The kitchen has always been willing to create specials if they are given notice. For example, a group of males booked for a long lunch were treated to a magnificently braised beef cheek for the table. The chefs tasting menu has surprises. In winter a roasted chestnut soup which I would never have ordered was a real eye opener.
Management;
The owner/​chef — Paul Raynor is a pom who worked with Paul Wilson in his early days. Eventually owning the establishment after he had previously worked there. The restaurant managers and floor staff are as good as any in this part of town.
I have noted some of the previous reviews with surprise and wonder if they are reviewing the café or the upstairs restaurant. I have dined in the restaurant numerous times and consider that I had «dined».

The Baths has a soft spot in my heart as it was first place I dined at when I returned to Melbourne. It has magnificent views of the bay and sits over the water — what more could you want?
Well, to start with, I’d want my order to be taken and when taken, to be relayed to the bar or kitchen. Sadly, while the food is quite good and reasonably priced considering the location, the establishment has too many customers to staff ratio to be able to keep up an acceptable level of service.
On many occasions now I have been to the restaurant only to find that my drinks order has been taken, then forgotten, then retaken fifteen minutes later. Add another fifteen minutes for the drinks to appear, and you have a very hot thirsty customer a half hour later — and all this before the meals are even ordered. The service staff are very slow to take away empty plates or glasses. Generally the atmosphere is ‘you are lucky to have a seat inside out of the sun and away from the general hoi polli drinking on the main deck, so don’t expect any service any time soon’.
It’s a shame really as it could be a excellent establishment with the location, the beautiful building, the ample parking (at times — go at the wrong time or season and you’ll be parking miles away to get there) and the availability of fresh seafood, but it is let down by the complacency of the staff that seem to assume there are no other dining establishments down the bayside of Melbourne that you might take your business too.
Go, but chose your times carefully and don’t be starving or in a hurray to order or to be served. If you are looking for cocktails and beers at sunset with a few nibbles, that would be your best bet for a cruisy evening watching the sun go down on a beautiful Melbourne summer day.

In totally stark contrast to the reviewer below me, I absolutely adore the restaurant at Middle Brighton Baths. (I’ve never visited the café). I’ve found the food to be beautiful, the staff impeccable and being born in Perth and something I grew accustomed to, amongst the only places in Melbourne you can watch the sun set over the water.
I’ve eaten here twice; once on a weeknight with friends, and another time on the 24^th of December as an immediate family Christmas dinner. Both were absolutely delightful.
Perhaps I got lucky. Perhaps the previous reviewer was unlucky. Either way it’ll remain a favourite for me.

I believe it’s a physics problem, some inexplicable chasm that occurs when an ocean setting is mixed with a restaurant. Instead of the experience becoming one of the most secluded, romantic, delicious evenings, the food turns to shit, the décor is child-​friendly ugly, and the staff is all over the place. And there you have it; Brighton Baths café and bar.
I don’t mean to be rude, but this place is such a disappointing missed opportunity. You have the setting of the old baths, the sunlight reflecting off the calm bay, and then you have this great, deco-​style blonde brick building. This could have been a fantastic culinary adventure, or at least just a nice place to eat. Instead, the food is horrid and overpriced, the alcohol leaves a lot to be desired, and the only people who attend are those with screaming children who couldn’t manage to book anywhere else at such late notice. This place makes me sad.