Review of Bottarga Restaurant

Updated October 12, 2026,first published November 18, 2024

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After four years locking into their identity at a 20-seat shopfront near Gardenvale Station, Somi Paremanee and Federico Bizzaro have shifted their offering of Italian-meets-Thai-via-Australia to larger, plusher premises in the heart of Brighton. As before, Bizzaro will often serve dishes himself. Maybe he’ll tell you about the “money bag” cotechino, a spin on the pork wontons you might find on a street in Bangkok. Here, the fried dumplings are filled with cotechino, an Italian pork sausage, amped up with Thai seasonings.

Vitello tonnato hews closer to Australia with saltbush oil and grissini laced with pepperberries. Toothfish is a deep-sea fish that pulls apart in succulent flakes. A pristine fillet is glazed and perched over basil-macadamia pesto spiked with desert lime in a pool of lemon aspen beurre blanc.

Bartender Yenna Bennett is a Ngiyaampa/Muruwari woman with connections to Kamilaroi and Wurundjeri people, and she crafts excellent drinks with native ingredients: the honeyed whisky Buzzcut X is garnished with green ants. Freewheeling and fun, Bottarga 2.0 is one ambitious proposition.

Must-order: Moneybag cotechino.

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Tucked away and hiding lots of surprises.

A yum cha specialist that’ll take you on a dumpling adventure.

Neighbourhood haunt with classy service, dry-aged steaks and a star-studded cellar.