Bedda

Consistently good Italian food and friendly service. Gnocchi is always a winner, but they also have changing pasta specials which generally hit the spot. The perfect end to a meal at Bedda is their Canolo filled with sweetened ricotta and chocolate. Delish!

The foundation of good Italian food is using fantastic ingredients cooked simply — a creed that is often forgotten in Melbourne Italian restaurants in my view.
Café Bedda serves up fantastically fresh and quality Sicilian cuisine. I must admit that I may be a little biased by the fact that they serve up freshly baked bread with olive oil before each meal — which is pretty much guaranteed to win me over regardless of what fare is served subsequently. However, their entrees are more often than not brilliantly constructed dishes and their mains aren’t bad either — with a selection of simple but yummy pizzas, lovely freshly pastas and some delicious roast meats and seafood.
This place is truly an honest Italian eatery with no pretense — just fantastic food. And in my view it’s a great place to take someone on a date or your over bearing mother in-​law visiting from out of town — because the friendly, helpful staff have probably all had a lifetime dealing with the same.

Northcote’s best Italian restaurant, Café Bedda — meaning beautiful in Sicilian — is a real treat. Not for Café Bedda a clichéd menu of spaghetti carbonara, margarita pizza and suchlike. No, no, this place offers starters such as baked cheesy polenta and fresh lemon leaves stuffed with ricotta with nary a straightforward pepperoni pizza in sight.
A classic little Italian — or, more rightly Sicilian — local with traditional décor, a beautiful wine list, a small but perfectly formed cocktail menu and some of the best service I’ve experienced in Melbourne, Café Bedda should figure on every Melbournian’s foodie bucket list.
Its pizzas are beautiful and generously proportioned, its pastas divine but what really sets Bedda out from the rest are its inventive and ever changing starters. If you like great Italian food and excellent service you’ll adore Bedda.