Holy hamburgers, Batman! This Melbourne eatery is super hero worthy | Restaurant Review
Let’s hear it for restaurants that dispense of pretense and deliver where they should. Let’s hear it for the Bat Cave.
Formally, it is the Bat Cave Gastropub, and its name is about the only thing formal about it, a little eatery-drinkery located where others have been, now decorated with movie and music posters in some areas, beer memorabilia in others. On their Facebook page, its proprietors describe the Bat Cave as a “beer bar,” a good description for a place: a) dominated by a bar; and b) with a long list of beers.
We were not there for the beverages, however, and that Batman cares about his food as well is evident because he does clever things with common items.
For example, instead of offering fried mushrooms, the Bat Cave serves does Baby Boulders ($10), which are portabella mushrooms battered and fried tempura-style, but not until they’re stuffed with Cave Chili and topped with jalapenos and beer cheese. A shrimp BLT ($15) also graces the menu, as does a “Gastro Burger” ($16) covered with beer cheese, honey barbeque bacon and fried pickles, served on a pretzel roll.
We started the meal with Cave Pearls ($10), the Caped Crusader’s version of fried cheese; in this case, crisp, slightly oily, generous triangles of provolone topped with a decent marinara. I would have preferred the sauce to have been on the side because, however pretty, it made the triangles a touch soggy. Regardless, they were delicious.
So were the Cheap Ass Fries ($3), a big basket of crinkle-cuts fried as fries should be, which is to say, to a good golden-brown surface with a soft interior that tastes of potatoes and not oil.
My dining companions are burger lovers, and each ordered one: a Boulder Burger ($14) and a plain Pub Burger ($12). Otherwise, there were BBQ Peach Sliders ($12), but could I interest the others in taking at least one off the crowded plate? “You see the size of these burgers. No way.”
The Boulder Burger was a half-pound of in-house ground beef graced with one of the aforementioned Baby Boulders, minus the chili, jalapenos and beer cheese, but with Swiss cheese and caramelized onions. Everything about it was right, with no sauce to make it gloppy, just the perfect amount of everything and a piece of high-quality meat cooked to medium rare on the flattop.
The Pub Burger, which was comprised of meat and cheese, plus exceptionally fresh pickles, lettuce and tomato, earned plaudits too; it was a juicy, meaty, no-nonsense burger, and both burgers were served with “potato petals,” which are crunchy fried potatoes that are thicker than chips but not quite fries. It doesn’t matter. They’re good.
As for those Peach Sliders, what an intelligently conceived dish they comprise. Bruce and Alfred have a smoker on the premises and it is put to excellent use, each little roll being mounded with pulled pork, and I do mean “mounded;” these sliders are porkier than the “large” sandwiches served by some. It is beautifully smoky stuff, not stringy-dry, with no fat or oil, and dressed with a bit of savory-sweet, peachy sauce.
We wouldn’t have had dessert had it been offered, so full were we. Did the Bat Cave have flaws? Well, two of us ordered iced tea and though we were assured it was brewed, it had the flavor of something that comes from a mixture. The cave itself, though immaculate, could do with a little sprucing-up too, maybe a chair rail or two where the walls are nicked-up.
That’s it. Pow! Bam! Zok! See you at the Bat Cave.
The Bat Cave Gastropub
Three and a half stars
Address: 31 E. New Haven Ave., Melbourne
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Call: 321-327-7752
Online: facebook.com/BatCaveGastropub
Other: Indoor and patio dining; a wide variety of beers served; trivia nights
About our reviews
Restaurants are rated on a five-star system by FLORIDA TODAY’s reviewer. The reviews are the opinion of the reviewer and take into account quality of the restaurant’s food, ambiance and service. Ratings reflect the quality of what a diner can reasonably expect to find. To receive a rating of less than three stars, a restaurant must be tried twice and prove unimpressive on each visit. Each reviewer visit is unannounced and paid for by FLORIDA TODAY.
Five stars: Excellent. A rare establishment to which you’d be proud to take the most discerning diner.
Four stars: Very good. Worth going out of your way for. Food, atmosphere and service are routinely top notch.
Three stars: Good. A reasonably good place with food and service that satisfy.
Two stars: Fair. While there’s nothing special about this establishment, it will do in a pinch.
One star: Not recommended. Don’t bother.
Lyn Dowling is a freelance food and lifestyles writer based in Melbourne. Join the conversation at facebook.com/groups/321FlavorWhereBrevardEats.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: The Bat Cave in Melbourne: Restaurant review
