‘Beaut little hub’: This rebadged suburban spot crackles with community spirit

July 25, 2025
10:59 am

McCarrs on Mona Vale Road is an excellent place to sit by the fire and share pizza slices topped with pepperoni, honey and chilli.

14.5/20

Mediterranean$$

OK, take two. Back in February, I had most of the review already written for Berkelo Kitchen at 205 Mona Vale Road. After visiting for lunch and dinner across two weekends, I had plenty of choice things to say about its crisp garden-greens pizza covered with ribbons of fresh-as zucchini and well-priced wine list. I was going to tell you the 600g CopperTree Farms rib-eye (long-flavoured, butter-tender, noble crust) was worth every bit of its $105, and a seat on the verandah was the perfect spot to see out the last days of summer with “Carl’s beetroots” sitting pretty on whipped goat’s cheese.

Then, the day before Good Weekend was set to photograph the spacious white-on-cream dining room with its decorative gourds and bentwood chairs, owner Tom Eadie announced the joint would be changing its name from Berkelo Kitchen to McCarrs.

Leek and ricotta ravioli in butter and sage sauce.Jennifer Soo

Berkelo might be the Northern Beaches’ most-loved artisan bakery. Eadie founded the business in 2016 and, after expanding from Brookvale to open stores in Mosman and Manly, Berkelo attracted the attention of a bigger sourdough fish, and Sonoma acquired the bakery brand a few months ago. Eadie, with his wife, Claudia, wanted to spend more time at the Mona Vale Road restaurant. Another visit seemed like the prudent thing to do after they developed the menu with chef Nishant Pai.

If you were familiar with Berkelo Kitchen but haven’t been to McCarrs, I can tell you that dinner is still five Mediterranean-ish entrees and six-or-so mains, plus a few weekly specials and four pizzas. You can still order that massive CopperTree Farms steak. On a cold Saturday evening the other week, a group of mates had the right idea: sitting around an outdoor fire and sharing slices topped with pepperoni, honey and chilli. They were also enjoying a zucchini pizza similar to the one I’d had back in the summer.

Framed by gum trees, a car park and native shrubs, the outdoor area doubles as a cafe by day, with a general store stocking cakes, sandwiches, pastries, flowers, pantry staples and bread. You might use it as a base camp for Ku-ring-gai National Park, ordering a coffee and a macadamia brownie before hiking the Wallaroo walking track. Tomorrow, there’ll be a “winter feast” with markets, live music, mulled wine and roast porchetta. Nice one.

Crimson snow apples and buttermilk shortcake.Jennifer Soo

Meanwhile, the restaurant’s on track to become something special; the service just needs a little tightening. Floor staff are friendly, but finished plates are best left on the table while other people are still eating. “We’re saving room for cake” is code for “Can you bring a dessert menu?“, not “Please disappear for 10 minutes and return only to ask if we’d like the bill”. When dessert does arrive, it’s stewed Crimson Snow apples under a puffy golden cloud of buttermilk shortcake. Is that fire still going? Is there whisky? (Yes.) Before that, fish of the day (respectfully pan-fried snapper fillet) comes with a balanced beurre blanc spruced up with dill oil. A 300g steak thumping with veal jus is sparked by three types of pepper (green, black and Tasmanian mountain), while a fennel and cos salad shines with the right amount of mustard vinaigrette.

Pasta is a strong point, especially thick-skinned leek- and ricotta-filled ravioli, wading in butter with crisp-fried sage. The only muffed notes were a fat skewer of pancetta-wrapped swordfish that needed more acid and savoury punch, and hand-cut chips that needed more (any, really) salt. But I’ve had those chips before and they were banging. McCarrs is a beaut little hub for the Terrey Hills community and northern beaches at large. Locals, put that winter feast on your dance card.