Arlo Wine Bar – Portarlington, Bellarine Peninsula (A Must Visit in 2024!)

Meet Arlo Wine Bar, located just up the hill from the Portarlington pier at 1A Harding St, Portarlington VIC 3223.

Arlo launched late December 2023 and has seen a few changes between now and then as they get to know their market. We recently (October 2024) went back for a visit to check out Arlo’s new vibe as a wine and pasta bar.

And I am not just talking any old pasta. I am talking, homemade pasta made from scratch, fresh every day. Does pasta get any better than that?

The menu

I love a small menu I have to admit. I am terrible at making decisions, especially when there are way to many delicious options on a menu. Which means a small menu definitely cuts down my ordering anxiety!

Here is a latest Arlo menu as of 5th October 2024:

The food

We went for a Friday lunch and in fact we went to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful lunch, the food was good, service was great and those water views are bloody beautiful!

They have a cracker deal running at the moment where for $35 you can get 3 plates – a focaccia + snack + pasta.

We opted for the deal which was the great amount. Seeing as it was a special occasion, we did have a sneaky dessert too!

Here’s what we ordered:

Bread: Grilled focaccia, cheese and garlic & Warm focaccia, whipped feta and olive (loooved the whipped feta, I just wish the focaccia was a bit fresher).

Snacks: Miso tuna crostini, sesame and soy & Anchovy crostini, dill ricotta, pickles

I could have ate about 10 of these, so bloody good and the bite size deliciousness made me think of going for fancy tapas in Spain.

Pasta Mains: Beef and pork ragu Bolognaise, tagliatelle, gremolata & Garlic prawn spaghetti, chilli, tomato and prawn bisque

The pasta was the stand out of both dishes, super tasty and truly cooked al dente!

Dessert: Date and apple pudding, toffee sauce, vanilla ice cream & Vanilla cheesecake, poached rhubarb, chocolate cookie

The date pudding was delicious. While the deconstructed cheesecake was nice, super creamy and moreish, it just seemed like a bite full. I could have ate about five of them… haha.

The wine and drinks

I have to admit, I am a bit sad they have condensed the wine menu so much. I did reallllllly love the old menu, it was interesting and had some super tasty options.

On this occasion we opted for a bottle of the NV Monmousseau Sparkling Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley in France.

We were also kindly gifted some muscat to have with our dessert to celebrate our anniversary which was a super cute touch!

The cocktails definitely look interesting. I think next time I will have to try one of the Tim Tam Mocha Martini’s for sure!

Will we go back? Of course we will! I am so interested to watch Arlo grow and see what is around the next corner. In my opinion, I really hope they don’t stray too far from the ‘wine bar vibe’ as for me personally, that is what I loved about early 2024 Arlo.

Arlo is owned by the Peter Roddy and Ebony Vagg who also own Pier St Cafe just down the road and Melbourne’s Noir Restaurant.

Make sure to follow Arlo on Instagram for the latest news and delicious from Julien (restaurant manager) and the team!