1800 Lasagne

653 High St
Thornbury, VIC 3071
https://www.1800lasagne.com.au/

The questions that 1800 Lasagne ask are easy. Garlic bread or bread and butter? Leafy salad or seasonal greens? Eggplant lasagne or ragu lasagne? And when it comes to dessert? It’s tiramisu or zilch. Yet despite (or maybe because of) the menu that is almost compact to a fault, 1800 Lasagne has nabbed itself a coveted chef’s hat. It doesn’t hurt that it has the quintessential retro Australian-Italian charm going on, but ultimately? It comes down to the food, which is genuinely the best of its kind. Everything on the menu may be simple, but the execution? Entirely flawless.

Rating: 15.5/20 – best lasagne in all the lands
Must-order: EVERYTHING. But make sure you get the seasonal greens and wedge salad – that stuff is good.

This is the Lasagne Di Carne ($26.5) that put 1800 Lasagne on the map in the lockdown days, when they drove around delivering trays of pasta. And yep, it’s an excellent confection of silky sheets layered with rich, slow-cooked ragu and creamy bechamel. If you want chewy edges? This delivers. And the extra scoop of ragu at the bottom is ideal for bread-moppers among us. I don’t know how to describe it other than a lasagne that gets everything right.

Not a lasagne fan? Well first of all, why are you at 1800 Lasagne? But not to worry – the Spaghetti ($32) has you covered. Perfectly al dente and drenched in garlic and chilli-infused olive oil, this would be delightful even without the addition of plump pipis.

Want your breath to stink? The Garlic Bread ($8) will do it. Saturated with so much butter that it oozes into a puddle on the plate, its what every other garlic bread wishes it could be.

If you don’t like veggies, the Green Seasonal Vegetables ($14) will change your mind. In winter, this is a combination of Tuscan kale, zucchini, and green beans, lightly charred to smoky sweetness, and tossed with a generous amount of olive oil, garlic, and fermented chilli for a bit of kick. It’s decadent in the way only good produce can be, and eating it makes you feel like a Roman emperor and a Goddess of Spring, all at once.

And no, being a fan of the Cos Wedge ($9ea) does not count as liking vegetables. It’s topped with such a storm of grated cheese I’m suspicious there’s even a vegetable under it. Though the contrast between fluffy, salty cheese, and crisp lettuce drizzled with creamy anchovy sauce, is delectable. Still doesn’t count as a vegetable though.

To finish, Tiramisu ($14). Once again, they hit it out of the park (because after all, isn’t tiramisu just dessert lasagne?) with just the right amount of sweetness to balance out the rich bitterness of espresso.

They’ve even got the non-drinkers covered here, with an extremely refreshing Rhubarb and Apple Spritz ($10) that’s highly reminiscent of an Aperol Spritz.