OMG. As Parma is king in the Australian culinary heirachy, so, to me at least, any dish "Quattro Formaggi" is the Emperor of Italian cuisine. I was planning to order their exciting sounding Ortolana salad (in the hope that I bore seem semblance of the more exotic picture of said from Google Images, rather than just being a common-or-garden "Garden salad") but my card maxed out. However, just the Four Cheese Gnocchi on it's lonesome was cheesetastic perfection. And, unlike every other place I have tried via UberEats, during the current crisis, La Baia Bar Cucina were the first people not to penalise me for ordering only one dish by sending me a child's portion. And, instead, sent me almost enough liquid cheese drenched Gnocchi heaven to serve TWO.
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Did you know that La Baia Cucina now do breakfast and brunch till 3pm? I visited this restaurant on their first day doing breakfast and I just say that the food and my 2 coffees were amazing!! This restaurant does fusion food with an Italian twist.
I tried a rolled omelette on brioche w house made chilli jam, wilted spinach, Swiss cheese, braised mushrooms, house roma tomato relish and crispy bacon.
OMGosh this was hands down THE best brekkie burger that I’ve ever had. The burger was juicy, the eggs cooked perfectly, the bacon crispy, the brioche bun was crispy on top. The house roma tomato relish was full of flavour and slightly sweet and delicious!! Yummo lol.
The fries were hot and crispy, perfect.
My strong skinny latte was soo good that I had to have two coffees hahaha and why not, at $1 each. Yes a barista made coffee for a dollar!
If you haven’t tried their new breakfast menu then you’ve gotta get there! And with views across the bay, this is the perfect brunch location! Happy days.
July 2018
My partner and I dined here on the weekend. What a wonderful location, with views all over the bay.
We ordered a bruschetta for starters which was delicious. It was a pizza base, light and crispy covered w fresh tomato. Simply delicious.
We shared some calamari which was light and cooked perfectly, soft w a light coating.
For main I had a Vincigrassi/Marche or an12 hour braised beef cheek w hand made pasta and a bechamel sauce. OMGosh this was perfect.
My partner had a Tagliatelle carbonara and I quote “this is the best pasta I’ve ever eaten... outside of home!” And that from an Italian was a BIG wrap I thought.
I tried a Aperol Spritz and the most delicious Italian beer called Ichnuso which was recommended by the waitress. Wow I need to find that again lol
My partner had a local Pinot Noir from the Yarra Valley which matched the meal perfectly.
That combined w the most lovely attentive service made this a very special night. I can’t recommend this place highly enough. And give that the restaurant was quite busy it appears that the word is already out.
Thanks to the owner for the invitation to try this relatively new restaurant, that’s only been open for 5 months. This place is definitely worth a visit!
Loved it from the minute we walked in .. Nice cosy ambience.. Great variety of delish food and wine.. Ended with the Italian Donuts :: Heaven :: Will be back for more.. Thanks to staff and the chef for a great night..
We dined here on Friday night & ended up having 3 courses . Every meal was soooo delicious & well presented. Great attentive service . Highly recommended👌
4.5 La Baia, a seaside Italian restaurant in a beautiful heritage-style building, is the ideal environment for an evening meal. We recommend getting here so you can watch the sun set over the bay while you’re...
The Best Italian Food In Melbourne, Service was great and staff lovely. We had the calamari fritti for entree' it was to die for. For mains we had the eye fillet steak , oh my gosh so juicy and tender my partner had the pappardelle again was yummo! Highly recommend this place. We will be back to try the rest.. Thanks la baia..
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**update to below review**
We received a personal call from the owner after last week offering a sincere apology and asking us to give his restaurant a second chance so we could experience the real La Baia.
My partner and I went back last night with his parents and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had the same waitress serve us who was again really lovely and we were served promptly. We ordered the calamari and bruschetta for entree which were both excellent and all four of us were delighted by our mains (lamb ragu, eggplant gnocchi and barramundi) and demolished our plates.
I’m glad we came back and because of that second experience we will definitely visit again. It was nice to see the owner reach out to his customers and show how much he cares about his restaurant and our experience.
******
My partner and I had dinner here last night for Valentines Day.
Pros - the ambiance and decor are lovely, the live jazz was fantastic, the wine was delicious and the staff were really friendly. We shared the bruschetta focaccia and then had the carbonara and the chicken risotto, which we both really enjoyed.
Now for the cons - we had sat down and ordered our meal by 8:10pm. The focaccia arrived promptly (within 10-15 minutes), BUT the wait for the main was over an hour and twenty minutes. One of the waitresses came and apologised and said they were really busy but it must be pointed out that their 'busy' was only 30 people (only one couple came in after us and they only got dessert). Having such a long wait and not getting to eat until 9:45 really ruined the evening for us.
We've said we'll go back once more on a 'quiet' night as the food was good, but if the wait is anywhere near that long again we'll do what we saw two other couples do last night - cancel our mains and leave.
Love this place , we come regularly and always have great time, great food and lovely service. Our xmas party today was total success. thank you
Linnie Eats All The Food
+4
Located just opposite to the beach in a beautiful venue sits La Baia Bar Cucina, a new kid on the block that serves Italian cuisine. Friday nights are live jazz nights BUT we were luckily enough to go on a Saturday night which had a once off jazz night due to the restaurant having a full house. SCORE! There’s quite a bit of parking on the street so you don’t have to fret about parking. Entering the venue, the staff were very warm, welcoming and very professional and led us to our table to start our night.
Tucked along Beaconsfield Parade, next to South Melbourne Beach, La Baia Bar Cucina is a beautiful restaurant and bar which boasts stunning vistas of the ocean. The spacious restaurant occupies two levels and possesses a relaxed ambience. Friday nights also feature a local jazz and blue duo that keep you entertained over your dinner visiting creating a rather romantic atmosphere. The menu celebrates Italian cuisine with daily specials to keep regulars interested and coming back for more. There is also a solid drinks list to accompany the delicious food.
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