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.
La Baia Bar Cucina is an Italian restaurant facing Port Melbourne beach and every Friday they have a live jazz duo playing - you can imagine how lovely this is on a warm balmy night. The atmosphere is a bit romantic so put it on the date night list. The food, the staff, the venue, the jazz – we were happy with it all.
Absolutely amazing night out last night
Was very busy with great quick service
Delicious food making it really memorable
& most of all my family & I had a great night there.
Will recommended you to try it out
I’ll be a regular
5 stars & a 10/10 from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟
👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌
Situated right next to the beach, La Baia offers patrons a delicious and refined Italian experience fit to match the stunning view.
Their house made pizzas and pastas no doubt stole the show today, and for an authentic, well executed yet affordable Italian feast, La Baia certainly deserves a visit.
Stumbled upon this place by serendipity! Needed to charge my phone to get home & the staff were so warm and humble, the beautiful decor, soothing ambience and sultry music were so alluring I ordered off the menu whilst they kindly lent me a charger. The ragu beef pasta had such delicately balanced flavours. It arrived quickly and was nothing short of beautiful. Presentation, taste, aroma, portion size. Feel like I’ve discovered a hidden gem with this place.
Despite being so full after devouring mains, I couldn’t resist ordering the Panna cotta. Both delicious and pretty. Definetely worth trying! Customer service was amazing throughout ! I cannot wait to come back with my family & friends, as the quality and experience exceeded my expectations in every way.
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We went on Saturday for lunch with the Groupon deal purchased, and they arranged a nice window seat for us so we could have a clear view of the coastline. We ordered calamari fritti for entrée and it was served with nice sauce & salad. The quantity was big for sharing between two.
For mains we had the lasagna (vincigrassi) and grilled barramundi, both of them were really really delicious. The sauce of the lasagna was rich and full of flavour, and the barramundi was fresh, with just the right amount of sourness in the sauce. They also gave us a bowl of warm lemon water to rinse our hands as the barramundi comes with grilled yabbies.
We had tiramisu and soufflé for desserts, which the lady informed us before we order that soufflé takes around half an hour to prepare, but they definitely planned the time of serving and we didn't wait for long for the just baked soufflé. The presentation of the desserts was amazing, with a beautiful strawberry flower on top of the tiramisu cup and icing sugar sprinkled on the puffy and nice soufflé. Of course the flavour also didn't disappoint us, we were extremely satisfied with the foods and services provided.
It was definitely a pleasure to be at such a nice place and enjoy a lovely meal with your significant other, highly recommend!
Having travelled through Italy last year, quality Italian food is something that I have grown to become more and more familiar with, especially with the exceptional range offered in Melbourne. I was more than surprised with the absolutely authenticity, decadence and all-round deliciousness presented by La Baia Bar Cucina. A relatively new Italian restaurant run by a lovely Italian couple, La Baia has a prime location over looking the beautiful beach promenade along Albert Park, making it the perfect classy meal or date night location. I cannot wait to come again and experience this truly pleasurable Italian restaurant and its faultless execution.
Wow! Start to finish! This place was incredible in all aspects! This has to be one of my favourite Italian restaurants in Melbourne! The moment we walked in we were greeted by a lovely Italian background waitress who was very knowledgeable and informative. The menu was simple yet captured the significance of Italian cuisine. The special menu was also very auspicious and made choosing the appropriate course a challenging task. The Lamb rack was beautifully cooked and the rosemary complimented the meat really well. The pasta was fresh and the beef ragu was powerful in its flavours. The rib eye which was part of the special menu was cooked perfectly as per request and the cauliflower mash and mustard sauce was a surprisingly great combination. We really wanted to try the tiramisu but had no room and will definitely be coming back to explore the rest of the menu. Thank you La Baia for delivering a great dining experience and your food speaks volume. Continue to keep up the great work!
4 dishes, all 4 with cheese- we’re in heaven! La Baia is situated on the water in Beaconsfield parade and is a quiet and homey Italian restaurant. The pasta was as fresh as it comes, and the passion of our waitress was beautiful. We really enjoyed all the dishes we tried and look forward to returning to try their Friday night live jazz night
Italian food is my favourite cuisine. Good Italian food is also hard to find. This place is in prime location if your after beach views. Located just opposite st kilda beach it's a beautiful inviting place. The staff are lovely and offer you great service and food knowledge. A great traditional Italian menu with many stand out dishes. All the food was well prepared and delivered great flavour. You can taste the experience and love on the plate. The pappadelle pasta being a highlight for me. A great dining experience with high quality Italian food will be back very soon.
Fabulous location, its a great place for dinner if you are a local or tourist. Staff are lovely and know the menu well. For entree we shared the fritto milsto - the calamari was divine, so fresh and cooked in a light crumb, the White bait and crab was also good. This went down well with a glass of riesling. For mains we had the risotto pescatora with seafood cooked in tomato sugo. The lamb rack with smashed potatoes was delicious and so was the pappardelle beef ragu with housemade pasta. For dessert we couldnt resist the italian donuts, enough to share with my party of three. A great spot to eat and the live jazz was fantastic. I'll definitely come back soon.
Chose this restaurant for a romantic dinner to take my girl and was the perfect place to pick! What a spot.
Ambience was warm, stunning and comforting the entire night. Was hard to eventually leave.
Was soooooo impressed.
Amazing service, amazing views, great aura, perfect playlist of songs to dine to.
We started with an order of mussels al bianco with fresh lightly toasted pane which was full of flavour- to die for.
Proceeded with a main of a barramundi which was fresh whole market fish. Simply divine!!! Cooked to perfection!!!
We selected seed & oak shiraz which was a beautiful selection of wine, first time i tried it.🍷
Followed up with an incredible desert which was hand made, fresh mini Italian donuts called frisgioli. OMG!
Also discovered they have live jazz band every friday nights, can't wait to come back, see you Friday
Much love to the chef Gavin 🤟 cool dude who personally wanted to make sure i was happy with the food. 🍽
The food at La Baia is delicious, fresh and very well presented. They offer a wide range of Italian dishes.
The night I visited there was live jazz providing a great ambiance, this was an excellent touch and upped the romance and warmth on a cool night.
The service was friendly, polished and efficient.
Well done La Baia!
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Perfectly positioned to take in the bay views along Beaconsfield parade in Albert Park, La Baia bar cucina has stylish mood lighting and live upbeat jazz music, in a high ceiling heritage building it was perfect setting for our Friday night outing.
We tapped along as we sipped our bright coloured aperol spritz and Italian beer whilst choosing from this extensive authentic Italian menu.
For an appetizer we couldn’t go past the natural oysters, oh boy these little babies were super fresh and juicy, what a great way to start our meal.
Entree we shared the beautifully presented mussels al bianco, with chilli, garlic, fresh herbs and lightly toasted pane, thoughtfully served with a finger bowl. On this dish we were divided, whilst I thought the broth a little too salty KD thought it perfect.
After consulting the extensive pasta, meat/seafood mains and pizza options we opted for the Linguine with seafood, which came in a chilli, herbs and white wine. This flavorsome pasta had a large array of seafood, I loved the succulent prawns, with the garlic flavour and the heat from the chilli kick, an absolute stand out.
We had the Lamb rack which was served a medium rare with smashed rosemary potatoes thyme mushrooms marinated lentils and spiced red wine reduction. Quite a generous serve of
Lamb cooked tender and tasty. I paired this with the delicious 2016 Pine and Black No 8 Pinot from the Yarra Valley.
As we were so full from dinner we opted to share something small for dessert, this was a mistake. The bold Vanilla bean Panna cotta with delightful soft peach and vodka was utterly delicious and quite frankly after one bite I simply wanted it all for myself.
Thank you Gavin for inviting us and Claudia for doing such an amazing job of looking after us.
We visited on a cold autumn rainy Thursday night. It wasn’t busy, only about 5 tables. Our waitress who I think was the owner & she was from Sardinia was absolutely wonderful. We ordered the garlic pizza which I thought was deliciously crispy but only wished it had extra garlic, it was a little bland. I had the eye fillet steak for main which I loved & the rest of the table really enjoyed their food too. Overall a really enjoyable evening!!!
A wonderful location, attentive staff and remarkably generous food portions. I loved the fresh, Australian produce used in what is otherwise, an authentic Italian menu. The pizza was soft yet crispy and the meals were full of flavour and well thought out. I was suitably impressed. I highly recommend the antipasto platter...it was delicious!!
Friday nights are fabulous at La Baia - they have live chilled jazz with Lisette and friends.
The ambience is up there with views across to the bay - food great value, huge extensive menu, great friendly service and a real local hang out - spent my birthday here recently and the staff, service and music was great - nice special touches, not often seen.
Looking forward to returning this Friday
Julie
We were a party of 7 with no dinner booking. Staff were warm, welcoming and looked after us beautifully - top service. The food was fabulous with every dish a winner. Beautifully prepared and generous servings with every dish absolutely superb. Mid priced and value for money. A classy, elegant and comfortable atmosphere. Highly recommend and we will back - delightful.
Found La Baia by accident, and what a happy accident it was. The service was first rate - we were a party of 7 and tables were rearranged to accommodate us comfortably. We were given plenty of time to read the menu while continuing our conversation - no pressure. The menu was very reasonably priced and the choices more than sufficient for everyone in the group. The pasta dishes were particularly good, and the gnocchi with four cheeses wonderful. The pizzas were great. The staff were attentive but not intrusive. We will be going back for more.
We completely disagree with the other reviews. We are locals and have been to this restaurant several times. Great food and great service every time!! In fact the last time we went I had the best meatballs I’ve had in Melbourne for sometime. We eat out a lot (several times per week) at all restaurant levels so we’re pretty fussy. I would definitely recommend this place!!
What a beautiful place! Service was exceptional as was the food. It was delivered promptly and was delicious - good portions too. And easy parking!
Was very surprised at the 2 star reviews - we had the opposite experience of both. Could not be happier and will definitely be returning :)
After a nice day at the beach me and my friends checked this new place across the road in Albert Park.
This place looked amazing from the outside, but the inside is even better: nice and cozy, with 2 outdoor areas, one facing the beach directly, but even from the other side, when we went for a smoke, we still could enjoy the view.
We were planning to get only couple of drinks and something to nibble, but while looking at the menu we just had to stay for dinner! It was too inviting!!
The food was amazing! The service was attentive and friendly! The music was calm and relaxing!
I am glad we stayed because we had a wonderful night, with one of the most amazing sunsets i have ever seen!!
Must try!
Thanks for this awesome experience!
We'll be back!
We visited on New Years Eve and want to share our honest experience, You all made that evening very special with elegant music and so warm hospitality...with mouth watering food.
I am delighted to share the experience with all my friends, with in them some have already been flattered eating your food.
Again thanks a lot for the delicious food and homely hospitality, we will be delighted to be your regular guests.
Best ITALIAN by the bay.
Food was amazing
Really special experience
Been back twice a week since it’s grand opening
Keep up the secret recipes!
Fantastic food
Great venue
Loved the service and people
Very friendly
Great location
Yummmmmy food LOVED IT
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Started coming here recently and now its my favourite place to be at.
Delicious food with great and smiling staff ready to help. It has a beautiful location, from all corners i can see the beach and its tides. Please give my special thanks to the chef for the delicious food. Excellent experience.
New little gem in Albert park , had a great time ,professional staff are very frendly and welcoming. sea food was fresh and cooked to perfection highly recommend. Will be back very soon .. thanks to management. .
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